ATLANTA - An inmate convicted of Georgia, which has attracted followers of a former president of the Pope is set to be executed Wednesday after losing what had been the most realistic opportunity to avoid the lethal injection.
Troy Davis was left with little to do on Tuesday, but hopes to be executed for a murder he insists he did not commit, after Georgia pardons board turned down his request for clemency. As his scheduled execution approached 19:00 Wednesday, his followers resorted to exaggerated. He asked prison officials to make a polygraph test, urged prison workers on strike or call in sick, asked prosecutors to block the execution and even seen as a desperate plea for intervention by the White House.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen described the denial of clemency as a "routine".
"Parole Board almost never grant clemency, so this is not a surprise," said Cohen. "Now, if Wednesday's performance will be stopped going to have to come from the federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court in particular, which last week halted an execution in Texas."
Davis has won the support of hundreds of thousands of people, including a former FBI director, former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI, and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court given a unique opportunity to prove his innocence last year. State and federal courts, however, repeatedly upheld his conviction for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, a police officer out of service he was working as a security guard in Savannah, when he was shot dead on the ground to help a homeless man who was being attacked.
Lawyers say Davis was convicted based on faulty testimony was in large part because witnesses have recanted, but prosecutors and the MacPhail family said they had no doubt the right man is being punished. (Left, watch "CBS Evening News" report on efforts to exonerate Davis)
"Justice was finally my father," said Mark MacPhail Jr., who was an infant when his father was shot to death. "The truth is finally known."
As Davis's lawyers to consider filing a new appeal, his supporters planned vigils and demonstrations around the world. Nearly 1 million people signed a petition asking for clemency, according to Amnesty International.
"We have been praying for her and with God on our side anything can happen," said Correia DeJaun-Davis, the man convicted 17-year-old nephew, a demonstration by hundreds of people in front of the Georgia Capitol on Tuesday night . "Let this be a case that highlights not only the death penalty, but is expected to be an important part in bringing to an end."
Later Tuesday, Davis's lawyer Stephen Marsh told The Associated Press he had asked officials of the state prison and the Pardons Board to allow Davis to take a polygraph test.
Marsh expects the Pardons Board agreed to consider the results of the test. The machines are not reliable measures of guilt, but "you can say something about the innocence," he said.
A prison spokesman said he had no knowledge of the application and the board of pardons was not immediately returned.
Georgia had initially planned to run Davis in July 2007, but the board of pardons he granted a stay of less than 24 hours before he would die. U.S. Supreme Court stepped in a year later and stopped lethal injection just two hours before he was to be executed. And a federal appeals court stop scheduled execution of another few months later.
This time, state officials are confident that lethal injection was carried out. Georgia Governor has no power to grant pardon condemned prisoners. Davis's supporters are asking Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm to block the execution. But the prosecutor said in a statement Tuesday that he is unable to withdraw a warrant for Davis issued by a judge of the Superior Court of the State.
"We appreciate the outpouring of interest in this case, however, this issue is beyond our control," said Chisolm.
Spencer Lawton, the prosecutor said that the conviction of Davis in 1991, said he has no doubt he's guilty.
"What we have is a manufactured look of doubt that it has acquired the quality of legitimate self-doubt. And all this exquisitely unfair," said Lawton.
MacPhail was shot to death August 19, 1989, after coming to the aid of Larry Young, a homeless man who was being pistol mounted in the parking lot of Burger King. Prosecutors said Davis was with another man who was demanding that the boy gave him a beer when Davis pulled a gun and hit her youth. When MacPhail arrived to help, prosecutors say Davis had a smile on his face when the officer shot him to death.
Witnesses placed Davis at the crime scene and identified him as the murderer. Caps were linked to one hour of shooting before Davis was convicted of. There were no other physical evidence. No blood or DNA linked Davis to the crime and the weapon was never located.
Davis Lawyers say seven of nine key witnesses who testified in the trial have played all or part of his testimony.
Quiana Glover, who did not testify at the original trial, one witness said that he did not recant told him he was the real shooter. That man, who was with Davis that night, could not be reached for comment Monday and Tuesday and did not answer his door this week when a reporter visited.
"Justice must be served but to serve the right man," said Glover, who urged the Pardons Board to grant clemency Monday. "There is no evidence against this young man."
As advocacy groups highlighted the case, a growing number of dignitaries involved. A lot of conservative figures are among those who have defended in the name of Davis, including former U.S. Congressman Bob Barr, former Justice Department official Larry Thompson and a one-time FBI Director William Sessions.
Their concerns helped U.S. products Supreme Court to grant a hearing in Savannah Davis to prove his innocence, a move almost unprecedented. Two witnesses at the hearing in June 2010 stated that Davis falsely incriminated in the trial, and two others told the judge that the man later that night, Davis said he shot MacPhail.
Prosecutors, however, argued that Davis's lawyers were simply a rehash old witness had already been rejected by a jury. And he said he provided the trial court could consider the sound of the other witnesses who blamed the other for the crime.
U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. sided with prosecutors and rejected Davis's request for a new trial. He said that while "the new evidence additional questions, a minimum of his sentence, is largely smoke and mirrors."
On Tuesday, Davis was spending his last hours quietly with friends, family and supporters, said Wende Gozan Brown, a staff member of Amnesty International who visited him.
"He said that in a good mood, which is the prayer and he is at peace. But he said he did not stop fighting until it's taken his last breath. And he said that Georgia is about to snuff out the life of an innocent man, "he said.
His supporters are exploring other options. State Sen. Vincent Fort asked all but a skeleton staff of prison workers to strike on Wednesday.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a group civil rights leader, said he was considering asking the President to intervene Barack Obama, a move that legal experts considered highly unlikely.
MacPhail family, who urged the Pardons Board on Monday to reject the offer of clemency Davis said that his execution will bring peace.
"That's what I wanted, and that's what we have," said MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail. "We wanted to put an end once and for him to get his punishment."
11 years ago
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