Troy Davis
If you want to know what could lead a federal judge in this day and age to uphold the suspect conviction that led to Troy Davis’s execution yesterday, I recommend reading Judge William Moore’s 2010 order denying Davis’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Terry Lenamon and Reba Kennedy wrote a high-level summary of the order, and Wikipedia goes into more detail, but it’s not that hard to at least skim the order itself. It’s 172 PDF pages, but they’re double-spaced, with wide margins, and the first 90 just recount the story so far. I recommend skipping to part 2 (pages 63-172) but part 1 is also available.
It’s important to understand what this order is about. It was not a normal trial, in which innocence is presumed and the prosecution must prove guilt. Instead Moore was instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine “whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis’] innocence” (PDF). On page 119, Moore’s order states that “Mr. Davis must show by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable juror would have convicted him in the light of the new evidence.”
If, like me, what you really want to understand is why the justice system ignored the recantations of seven of the original nine eyewitnesses, skip to page 125, where the judge notes courts’ general suspicion of recantations, and then goes on to examine each one specifically. Some are not found credible; some are credible but insignificant; some are undermined by the actions of Davis and his lawyers (e.g., not permitting the recanter to testify at the habeas corpus hearing). Moore also finds unconvincing the attempt to cast suspicion for the original murder on Sebastian Coles, and new evidence regarding shell casings. In the end (p. 166ff), Moore decides that the new evidence would not have been enough to lead any juror to vote not guilty.
None of this means Troy Davis should have been executed last night. Judge Moore concluded that “Mr. Davis is not innocent,” but what his analysis shows is that Mr. Davis did not prove his innocence. Even if you believe governments should in some cases execute their citizens, and that the murder of a police officer is one of those cases, it’s hard to come away from this with certainty that Troy Davis was the guilty man. And a punishment as total and irrevocable as death should not be extracted without absolute certainty.
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