HSAN Fights Execution of Troy Anthony Davis
By: Linda Hobbs
POSTED: 17:34 EST, July 11, 2007

Group teams up with entertainment leaders to fight for Georgia man's clemency.

In the week leading up to Davis' execution, various hip hop and social leaders have flooded the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a global letter writing campaign to spare Troy Anthony Davis' life.

Davis, 38, was tried for the 1989 murder of Officer Mark Allen McPhail, a white cop shot and killed in a Greyhound Bus parking lot of a Savannah, Georgia Burger King. Davis was also accused of assaulting a homeless man on the scene, who was reportedly struck in the face with the pistol used to kill Officer McPhail.

Though Davis vehemently proclaimed his innocence, and no physical evidence was found linking Davis to the crimes including the murder weapon, Davis has since served 15 years on death row in a Georgia prison.

Years after Davis conviction, all but three of the witnesses of the crime have recanted their testimony. One of the witnesses, who retracted their statement linking Davis to the murder, reportedly confessed that he was under "a lot of pressure" from police to finger Davis in the crime.

"We are opposed to capital punishment. In particular, in the case of Troy Davis, serious questions have been raised concerning his possible innocence in the alleged charges. The state of Georgia should not execute Troy Davis. We believe in equal justice and fairness for all people," HSAN president, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, wrote to Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Some other participants in the letter campaign have included entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Howard University law professor Peter Blum.

"It is deeply troubling that the State of Georgia might proceed with Mr. Davis' execution in the face of the strong indications of his innocence," actor Mike Farrell wrote in his letter. "I'm sure those in positions of the tremendous responsibility you enjoy cannot be unaware of the growing anxiety in our nation about errors in the use of the death penalty."

Davis has claimed that the motivation behind his lack of a "fair trial" has been racism. "During my trial I realized that, when it all came out only the color of my skin, determined how much justice I would receive and the color of the victim would determine my punishment," he wrote on his website.

Currently, Davis is depending upon mounting support to gain clemency. "The Atlanta Journal Constitution did a two page, full length, including front page story, Sunday edition about my innocence on September 21, 2001," he wrote. "Yet I still sit here on Death Row and the judges who made rulings on my case never once said let us go back at look at this case."

Davis is scheduled for execution July 17.