Sister of Death Row Prisoner: "There's No Gun, No DNA, No Case, But These People Say It's Okay to Kill Him"

On September 23rd, Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled to die, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. This Friday, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles will meet for a final hearing on his case. On Wednesday, September 10 and Thursday, September 11, people all over the country will be taking action to stop Troy's execution and let Georgia officials know that they are watching to make sure they do not execute an innocent man. For more on what you can do, go here.

Last summer, Troy Anthony Davis came within 24 hours of being killed by the state of Georgia, before winning a stay based on alarming evidence of his innocence. Despite compelling proof of his innocence, this spring, the Georgia Supreme Court denied him a new trial -- despite the fact that the case against Davis was built entirely on eyewitness testimony; despite the fact that seven out of nine of those eyewitnesses against Troy have recanted their testimony. Several have signed sworn affidavits stating that police coerced them to testify.

Earlier this year, Troy's sister and advocate Martina Correia, discussed the court's decision and the fight to save her brother's life with Julien Ball, of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Julien Ball: Can you talk a little about the Georgia Supreme Court's ruling?

Martina Correia: The Georgia Supreme Court ruled 4-3 against Troy not based on the merits of the case, but based on a technicality. The judges that ruled against him said recanted testimony does not carry as much weight as trial testimony.

They didn't even know that these witnesses had testified at the parole board. They said the witness testimony was old, even though it had not been heard in a court of law. They ruled on a technicality--the same thing we've been fighting for 18 years. They were cowards, if you ask me, because they didn't rule on the merits of the case.

Justice Leah Sears said the court was "morally wrong" and "too rigid," and the standard set by the court for recantations was so high that nobody would be able to meet it. They didn't have anything to compare Troy's case to, and they set the bar so high that nobody would be able to reach it.

JB: Can you talk about the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the effect it's had on Troy's case?

MC: That law is responsible for many people already being executed. The law is so disgusting. You're giving someone a time limit. The law was put in place to attack "terrorists," but they attached the death penalty to it. It's hindered Troy's case. It doesn't matter if the actual murderer came forward and said, "I did it."

When Troy was arrested, he didn't have good lawyers and good investigators in his case. But they made the law retroactive, so by the time we did get lawyers and investigators, it didn't matter, because the law was retroactive 10 years, and it was too late to present the evidence.

JB: Can you tell us a little about Troy?

MC: He is one of the most giving people. When we were growing up, Troy was the mama's boy. He was very close to home, I was outdoorsy. My father was a contractor and former police officer. I was into the outdoors, like camping. He was into whatever his mom wanted him to do.

When Troy got older, he played ball and coached for the police athletic club. He would cut the neighbors' grass. When the ice cream truck would come around, he would line up all the kids and buy them ice cream. He was a really good kid. He was the quiet one. He didn't get in trouble. He didn't hang with the crowd.

He was always the peacemaker. He told me, "If I had not been myself and had let Larry Young be attacked, I wouldn't be in this situation, but because I helped someone else, I'm on death row." People might think that sounds corny or Leave-It-to-Beaver, but that's the type of person Troy was. He gave up a lot of his teenage years to take care of my sister, who was in a wheelchair.