Federal Appeals Court Stays Execution of Troy Davis Based on New Evidence

By
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 2:25 pm

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has agreed to stay the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, the 40-year-old Georgia man convicted of killing a police officer in 1989. After 15 years on death row, Davis was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection  Monday, despite protests from world leaders and local advocates that new evidence indicates he may be innocent of the crime.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court had refused to hear the case last week, Davis’ lawyers on Wednesday asked the 11th Circuit to stay his execution to allow them to file a new round of appeals.

“Mr. Davis’ execution in light of new evidence concerning his innocence is constitutionally intolerable,” Davis’ pro bono lawyers wrote in their motion to the court. “Society recoils at state execution of an innocent person.”

In issuing its ruling today, Judges Joel Dubina, Rosemary Barkett and Stanley Marcus wrote: “Upon our thorough review of the record, we conclude that Davis has met the burden for a stay of execution.”

The court added, however, that the stay was only temporary: Davis must show that he can meet the “stringent requirements” of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 to pursue another habeas corpus lawsuit.

This is the third time a court has granted a last-minute stay of execution just days or hours before Davis was scheduled to be put to death.

Comments

2 Comments

DOUGLAS FIELD
Comment posted December 3, 2008 @ 7:16 pm

WORLD COURT FINDS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN USA ?

*** GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT THE INNOCENT BECOME THE GUILTY ***

PRESIDENT OBAMA NEEDS TO TELL THE LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD ~

GIVE THEM LIBERTY OR GIVE THEM LAWYERS !

WILL THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD COURT AND THE POPE COME TO THE RESCUE OF THESE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ENSLAVED POORER AMERICAN'S ??

***The CATHOLIC CHURCH could really help AMERICA right now by arranging a speech from the VATICAN by the POPE concerning THIS modern day ENSLAVEMENT of POORER AMERICAN'S by our complacent US CONGRESS who appears to be more interested in financing other US Congressional interests then our UNDERFUNDED AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM.**THERE ARE REPORTED TO BE OVER 100,000 INNOCENT AMERICAN'S IN US PRISONS NATIONWIDE WITHOUT PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND MANY ARE EVEN ON DEATH ROW !!

****THE POPE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STATE MURDER OF TROY DAVIS IN GEORGIA, AND A JUDICIAL EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS IN GEORGIA ***
MANY INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO BOYCOTT THIS ROGUE STATE OF GEORGIA !

WILL MILLIONS MORE OF CARING AMERICAN'S AND INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS AVOID GIVING THE STATE OF GEORGIA ANY FUTURE BUSINE$$ IF A 3YR. BOYCOTT TAKES PLACE OVER THIS STATE NOT EVEN OFFERING JUSTICE WITH A NEW LEGITIMATE CRIMINAL TRIAL FOR MR.TROY DAVIS? IT'S BEEN SAID BY MANY THAT A THREE YEAR INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF THIS STATE MIGHT VERY WELL COST IT TENS OF MILLION$ WHERE A NEW AND FAIR TRIAL OF TROY DAVIS MIGHT COST THE STATE $100,000.

**** A SPECIAL FEDERAL TASK FORCE MADE UP OF INVESTIGATORS AND LAWYERS DESIGNED TO VERIFY EVERY ASPECT OF THE 3,300 VARIOUS DEATH ROW LEGAL CASES NATIONWIDE,IS OUR COUNTRIES ONLY REAL METHOD TO MAKE SURE WE DO NOT ALLOW STATES LIKE GEORGIA TO CONTINUE ATTEMPTING TO MURDER POSSIBLE INNOCENT POORER AMERICAN'S LIKE MR.TROY DAVIS!

*** FOR THOSE MILLIONS OF AMERICAN'S WHO BELIEVE IN GOD, WE ALL HAVE TO WONDER IN TOTAL AMAZEMENT, HOW OUR AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAVE ALLOWED THIS HORROR TO CONTINUE WRONGFULLY EXECUTING AND INCARCERATING INNOCENT AMERICAN'S ALL ACROSS OUR COUNTRY ???

LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS IS DEDICATED TO PREVENTING FURTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONTINUING TO BE INFLICTED ON MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS WHO ARE BEING DENIED PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION & BEING FALSELY IMPRISONED AND EXECUTED ALL ACROSS AMERICA!!
lawyersforpooramericans @ yahoo.com (424-247-2013)
******************************************************************************************

THE GREAT LIE
by Gerry Spence

The idea that we should furnish the poor with a public defender has been an effort to save our nation from shame – for sending the poor to prison without adequate representation. But today the nation's public defender system has become a mockery of justice.

To provide an accused with a public defender who has three hundred other cases to defend is simply to laugh in the face of both justice and the accused himself. It takes me months to prepare the average criminal case for trial. The trial itself can take weeks, even months.

While O.J. Simpson was being tried in Los Angeles for murder, a case that cost millions to defend and months to conclude, another black man was being tried in the same courthouse for a similar murder. It took only three days for a jury to find him guilty. He had a public defender with scores of other cases to defend. Many prosecutors boast that they have over a 90 percent conviction rate. Little wonder. Under the present public defender system the prosecutors should enjoy one hundred percent convictions, and many in fact approach perfect conviction rates.

The public defenders in seven states have finally refused to take on any new cases. It's about time. If I walked into court to defend my client and had never talked him, never previously opened his file, never discovered the witnesses against him, much less interviewed them, never reviewed the evidence in the hands of the prosecution, never demanded my clients rights to discovery, never read the cases relevant to the case at hand, never prepared the cross examination of the witnesses against my client, never … and on and on, I would be guilty of legal malpractice.

Every public defender who purports to represent an accused under circumstances in which he or she has neither the time nor the resources to fully defend the client is guilty of malpractice. These public defenders cannot be saved from malpractice because they are crushed under a ridiculous case load – some with even as many as five hundred cases or more. No one who was accused with such an attorney has received a fair trial and every such accused is entitled to an appeal on that basis alone. The judge must not sentence the accused under these circumstances because the judge would be taking part in a fraud on the system. Yet hundreds of thousands of indigent persons go to prison each year under circumstances no better than those outlined above.

When I was coming up as a young prosecutor, the defendants were represented pro bono by the lawyers in the local bar. It was part of the duty of members of the bar to take part in the justice system. Today that idea is unheard of. The practice of law is first and foremost a money-making profession. I see nothing wrong with that notion, but what about giving back?

Every trial lawyer should be required to take on a couple of pro bono cases every year. At our office we have a separate pro bono law firm and have for over ten years. It often brings us more satisfaction than our big money wins. The job of a lawyer is to represent the people – the lost, the forgotten, the damned, the hated, the voiceless and the poor. Indeed, God forbid, we may one day become one of those who are entitled to representation but cannot afford it.

Every time an accused goes to prison without having received a fair trial we are one step closer to the loss of our own freedoms. Our rights are, in fact, being fought for by public defenders who can never fulfill their duty to their clients because of their pathetic, impossible, caseloads. When they fail, we are in danger. Our system becomes a hypocritical charade. And we prove, once and for all, that the promised justice for all in America is an evil lie that is imposed on the poor.

If only those with money can receive justice, then how can we permit our children to recite a horrible falsehood in school when they chant, “with liberty and justice for all.” That can no longer be the truth in America.
******************************************************************************************
GERRY SPENCE IS A RENOWNED LAWYER AND PATRIOTIC AMERICAN WHO EVEN AT THE AGE OF 82, CONTINUES TO SHOW A KEEN INTEREST IN WANTING TO BETTER AMERICA FOR THE MASSES OF POORER AMERICANS BEING CAUGHT IN OUR UNDERFUNDED JUDICIAL SYSTEM.LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS THANKS YOU MR.SPENCE FOR TAKING YOUR TIME AND INTEREST IN SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT A JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN NEED OF C*H*A*N*G*E…

** WE CAN ONLY HOPE AND PRAY OTHER AMERICAN LAWYERS AND JUDGES WILL FOLLOW YOUR LEAD SO THE PROPER FINANCING CAN BE ALLOCATED BY OUR IVORY TOWER US CONGRESS !

*** ANYONE INTERESTED CAN GOOGLE OR YAHOO GERRY SPENCE ON THE WWW FOR MANY OTHER ENLIGHTENING HONEST ARTICLES.


DOUGLAS FIELD
Comment posted December 4, 2008 @ 3:16 am

WORLD COURT FINDS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN USA ?

*** GREAT SOCIETIES THAT DO NOT PROTECT THE INNOCENT BECOME THE GUILTY ***

PRESIDENT OBAMA NEEDS TO TELL THE LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD ~

GIVE THEM LIBERTY OR GIVE THEM LAWYERS !

WILL THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD COURT AND THE POPE COME TO THE RESCUE OF THESE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ENSLAVED POORER AMERICAN'S ??

***The CATHOLIC CHURCH could really help AMERICA right now by arranging a speech from the VATICAN by the POPE concerning THIS modern day ENSLAVEMENT of POORER AMERICAN'S by our complacent US CONGRESS who appears to be more interested in financing other US Congressional interests then our UNDERFUNDED AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM.**THERE ARE REPORTED TO BE OVER 100,000 INNOCENT AMERICAN'S IN US PRISONS NATIONWIDE WITHOUT PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND MANY ARE EVEN ON DEATH ROW !!

****THE POPE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STATE MURDER OF TROY DAVIS IN GEORGIA, AND A JUDICIAL EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS IN GEORGIA ***
MANY INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO BOYCOTT THIS ROGUE STATE OF GEORGIA !

WILL MILLIONS MORE OF CARING AMERICAN'S AND INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS AVOID GIVING THE STATE OF GEORGIA ANY FUTURE BUSINE$$ IF A 3YR. BOYCOTT TAKES PLACE OVER THIS STATE NOT EVEN OFFERING JUSTICE WITH A NEW LEGITIMATE CRIMINAL TRIAL FOR MR.TROY DAVIS? IT'S BEEN SAID BY MANY THAT A THREE YEAR INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF THIS STATE MIGHT VERY WELL COST IT TENS OF MILLION$ WHERE A NEW AND FAIR TRIAL OF TROY DAVIS MIGHT COST THE STATE $100,000.

**** A SPECIAL FEDERAL TASK FORCE MADE UP OF INVESTIGATORS AND LAWYERS DESIGNED TO VERIFY EVERY ASPECT OF THE 3,300 VARIOUS DEATH ROW LEGAL CASES NATIONWIDE,IS OUR COUNTRIES ONLY REAL METHOD TO MAKE SURE WE DO NOT ALLOW STATES LIKE GEORGIA TO CONTINUE ATTEMPTING TO MURDER POSSIBLE INNOCENT POORER AMERICAN'S LIKE MR.TROY DAVIS!

*** FOR THOSE MILLIONS OF AMERICAN'S WHO BELIEVE IN GOD, WE ALL HAVE TO WONDER IN TOTAL AMAZEMENT, HOW OUR AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAVE ALLOWED THIS HORROR TO CONTINUE WRONGFULLY EXECUTING AND INCARCERATING INNOCENT AMERICAN'S ALL ACROSS OUR COUNTRY ???

LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS IS DEDICATED TO PREVENTING FURTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONTINUING TO BE INFLICTED ON MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS WHO ARE BEING DENIED PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION & BEING FALSELY IMPRISONED AND EXECUTED ALL ACROSS AMERICA!!
lawyersforpooramericans @ yahoo.com (424-247-2013)
******************************************************************************************

THE GREAT LIE
by Gerry Spence

The idea that we should furnish the poor with a public defender has been an effort to save our nation from shame – for sending the poor to prison without adequate representation. But today the nation's public defender system has become a mockery of justice.

To provide an accused with a public defender who has three hundred other cases to defend is simply to laugh in the face of both justice and the accused himself. It takes me months to prepare the average criminal case for trial. The trial itself can take weeks, even months.

While O.J. Simpson was being tried in Los Angeles for murder, a case that cost millions to defend and months to conclude, another black man was being tried in the same courthouse for a similar murder. It took only three days for a jury to find him guilty. He had a public defender with scores of other cases to defend. Many prosecutors boast that they have over a 90 percent conviction rate. Little wonder. Under the present public defender system the prosecutors should enjoy one hundred percent convictions, and many in fact approach perfect conviction rates.

The public defenders in seven states have finally refused to take on any new cases. It's about time. If I walked into court to defend my client and had never talked him, never previously opened his file, never discovered the witnesses against him, much less interviewed them, never reviewed the evidence in the hands of the prosecution, never demanded my clients rights to discovery, never read the cases relevant to the case at hand, never prepared the cross examination of the witnesses against my client, never … and on and on, I would be guilty of legal malpractice.

Every public defender who purports to represent an accused under circumstances in which he or she has neither the time nor the resources to fully defend the client is guilty of malpractice. These public defenders cannot be saved from malpractice because they are crushed under a ridiculous case load – some with even as many as five hundred cases or more. No one who was accused with such an attorney has received a fair trial and every such accused is entitled to an appeal on that basis alone. The judge must not sentence the accused under these circumstances because the judge would be taking part in a fraud on the system. Yet hundreds of thousands of indigent persons go to prison each year under circumstances no better than those outlined above.

When I was coming up as a young prosecutor, the defendants were represented pro bono by the lawyers in the local bar. It was part of the duty of members of the bar to take part in the justice system. Today that idea is unheard of. The practice of law is first and foremost a money-making profession. I see nothing wrong with that notion, but what about giving back?

Every trial lawyer should be required to take on a couple of pro bono cases every year. At our office we have a separate pro bono law firm and have for over ten years. It often brings us more satisfaction than our big money wins. The job of a lawyer is to represent the people – the lost, the forgotten, the damned, the hated, the voiceless and the poor. Indeed, God forbid, we may one day become one of those who are entitled to representation but cannot afford it.

Every time an accused goes to prison without having received a fair trial we are one step closer to the loss of our own freedoms. Our rights are, in fact, being fought for by public defenders who can never fulfill their duty to their clients because of their pathetic, impossible, caseloads. When they fail, we are in danger. Our system becomes a hypocritical charade. And we prove, once and for all, that the promised justice for all in America is an evil lie that is imposed on the poor.

If only those with money can receive justice, then how can we permit our children to recite a horrible falsehood in school when they chant, “with liberty and justice for all.” That can no longer be the truth in America.
******************************************************************************************
GERRY SPENCE IS A RENOWNED LAWYER AND PATRIOTIC AMERICAN WHO EVEN AT THE AGE OF 82, CONTINUES TO SHOW A KEEN INTEREST IN WANTING TO BETTER AMERICA FOR THE MASSES OF POORER AMERICANS BEING CAUGHT IN OUR UNDERFUNDED JUDICIAL SYSTEM.LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS THANKS YOU MR.SPENCE FOR TAKING YOUR TIME AND INTEREST IN SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT A JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN NEED OF C*H*A*N*G*E…

** WE CAN ONLY HOPE AND PRAY OTHER AMERICAN LAWYERS AND JUDGES WILL FOLLOW YOUR LEAD SO THE PROPER FINANCING CAN BE ALLOCATED BY OUR IVORY TOWER US CONGRESS !

*** ANYONE INTERESTED CAN GOOGLE OR YAHOO GERRY SPENCE ON THE WWW FOR MANY OTHER ENLIGHTENING HONEST ARTICLES.


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