‘I am innocent’ – then Troy Davis was executed

AN AMERICAN man, who had proclaimed his innocence of the murder of an off-duty policemen throughout 22 years on death row, has been executed by lethal injection in Georgia.

Troy Davis repeated his claim of innocence of the 1989 murder moments before his execution.

His case had drawn widespread support from anti-death penalty campaigners. As the countdown to Wednesday night’s execution ticked away, vigils were staged in the US and across Europe. Many supporters wore T-shirts declaring “I am Troy Davis”.

His supporters included former US president Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, a former FBI director, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, several conservative figures and many celebrities, including hip-hop star Sean P Diddy Combs.

Just before the execution, he told assembled witnesses: “I am innocent. All I can ask… is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.

“I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.”

But prosecutors and police officer Mark MacPhail’s family said justice had finally been served.

“I’m kind of numb. I can’t believe that it’s really happened,” Mr MacPhail’s mother, Anneliese, said. “All the feelings of relief and peace I’ve been waiting for all these years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace.”

She dismissed Davis’ claims of innocence. “He’s been telling himself that for 22 years. You know how it is, he can talk himself into anything.”

But former president Mr Carter said he hoped Davis’ execution “will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment”.

A last-ditch appeal to the US Supreme Court failed at 10pm on Wednesday, when it declared it would not intervene.

His lawyers said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their testimony, but state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against him – three times on Wednesday alone.

When asked yesterday if he thought the state had executed an innocent man, US civil rights leader the Rev Al Sharpton said: “I believe that they did, but even beyond my belief, they clearly executed a man who had established much, much reasonable doubt.”

President Barack Obama deflected calls for him to get involved in the controversy.

As many as 700 demonstrators gathered outside Jackson prison in Georgia as a few dozen riot police stood watch on Wednesday, but the crowd thinned as the night wore on and the outcome became clear.

As the execution neared, Davis, 42, turned down an offer of a special last meal and met friends, family and supporters.

“Troy Davis has impacted the world,” his sister Martina Correia said before the execution. “They say ‘I am Troy Davis’ in languages he can’t speak.”

Members of Davis’ family who witnessed the execution left without comment.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing MacPhail, who was working as a security guard. No gun was ever found, but prosecutors say shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting for which Davis had been convicted.

Witnesses placed Davis at the scene and identified him as the gunman, but several recanted their accounts and some jurors later cast doubt on the verdict. Others have claimed another man has admitted the shooting.