zangality:

America is known for double standard.Troy was executed without clear evidience and even when 7 out of 9 witnesses recanted their words.They are the on clarmouring for democracy but they want it to happen in the middle east,they want them to remain forever under the implanted puppet regime see what's happenning in Yemen,Bahrain e.t.c.Iran that's practicing democracy has be isolated by the european countries.May God save us from their hypocracy,

What does the legal system in the state of Georgia have to do with the middle east and democracy?
if anything, this shows the power of democracy at work. In Georgia state, not even the Governor can get someone off Death Row. Only the prisons and parole board can. Compare that to Nigeria where a commissioner can even order the release of a hardened criminal  

Princek12:

sharap

in Iran the accused will be sentenced today and hung tomorrow, leaving no time for the accused to appeal his conviction and at least try to prove his innocence. This guy had 22 years to do so, and I see no human rights abuse here. He was convicted of killing a cop. He was also executed by lethal injection, which is a painless way to die because the condemned is first put to sleep before being injected with the lethal dose of chemicals. In Iran the accused would be hung or stoned to death.

Iran does not go around lecturing Americans or any other on how to govern
If you play holier-than-thou, people expect you to live up to that high standard
Let me give you another example. America always rail against torture
Is waterboarding torture? If yes, America is being hyprocritical; if no, Can I waterboard an America in order to get evidence

BetaThings:

Iran does not go around lecturing Americans or any other on how to govern
If you play holier-than-thou, people expect you to live up to that high standard
Let me give you another example. America always rail against torture
Is waterboarding torture? If yes, America is being hyprocritical; if no, Can I waterboard an America in order to get evidence

^^^^^
America is fully double standard country. America shouting democracy around like they believe in it, yet supporting many oppressive governments around the world. If not that the Arabs guys in some countries liberated themselves.

What of Guantanamo Bay.

Even America killing of Bin Laden was wrong. They went purposely to kill not to arrest.

Well sha, other countries (power) are rising.

America divided on death penalty, Troy Davis

(CNN) -- What was a somber mood following convicted cop killer Troy Davis' execution Wednesday night turned to disgust and outrage by morning.

Casey Anthony was a trending topic Thursday because so many people had taken to Twitter to express their dismay over Anthony being deemed innocent in the death of her daughter while Davis is executed.

"Casey Anthony is offered a book deal, Troy Davis is only offered his last meal. Wake up America, our justice system is screwed," came a tweet from the handle JamesKlynn.

Another, from TRizzleComedy, read, "If the Troy Davis situation has taught us anything today, its that Casey Anthony should've been black."

A jury found Anthony not guilty of murder in July, whereas a jury and several judges on appeal have determined that Davis killed Savannah, Georgia, police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. Spencer Lawton, Davis' prosecutor, has said the case withstood every legal challenge but couldn't win the battle of public opinion.



Officer's mom: Davis 'deserves' death

Witness: Davis execution was different

Troy Davis offers blessing as last words

Davis lawyers: Innocent man 'lynched' Race has been a major factor in people's perception of the case, with many claiming Davis was railroaded because he was black. It also has raised questions about the fairness of the death penalty and whether it is more often applied to African-Americans than whites.

While assertions that the U.S. executes more blacks than whites are incorrect -- the country has executed 263 more white people than black people since the death penalty's 1976 reinstatement -- inequalities exist when a murder is interracial.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 15 white defendants have been executed for the murder of black victims, but 246 African-Americans have been executed for killing whites.

It's just one of many factors that have Davis supporters and death penalty opponents -- often one and the same -- demanding that capital punishment be re-examined in this country.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI was among the most influential voices calling for clemency, said as much in his statement after Davis' lethal injection.

"If one of our fellow citizens can be executed with so much doubt surrounding his guilt, then the death penalty system in our country is unjust and outdated. We hope this tragedy will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment," Carter wrote.

Certainly, the death penalty is an issue for which American support has flagged and spiked in the decades since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted it, but Americans have largely supported it since the 1930s, according to Gallup.

The only exception, according to the polling agency, is 1966, when 47% of Americans said they opposed it, compared with 42% who backed it. Since the country began performing executions again, critics have been heavily outnumbered, with opposition never topping 32%, Gallup says.

Support jumped to 80% -- compared with 16% against -- in 1994, and a poll last year showed a 64-29 split, with 6% expressing no opinion, Gallup reported.

Some of those who favor executions as a criminal deterrent flocked to CNN to post their thoughts on Davis' death.

"Justice served," wrote dplandy, while SuperSlim32 wrote, "But he was a good guy when he wasn't pistol whipping people or shooting them in the face."

The latter is a reference to a jury also finding Davis guilty of two aggravated assault charges: that he shot a man outside a pool party in Savannah before striking a homeless man with his pistol. It was the pistol-whipping that prompted MacPhail to respond to the Burger King parking lot where he was killed.



Davis maintains innocence to end

Davis case sparks death penalty debate

MacPhail's mom: I'm waiting on the call

Witness: I believe Davis is innocent Some CNN commenters defended the police work and prosecution that led to Davis' conviction and execution. One, fitat50, even said, "The reason some people care about him is because they are sheep."

Added DTiger901, "How about you just read the facts concerning the case, like that there were 34 witnesses against him, some of whom knew him before the cold blooded murder then identified him. Oh wait, you would never take the time to read the case you just want to jump on the 'he's innocent bandwagon.' "

But some death penalty supporters, like commenter marciavolk, said there was too much doubt to administer the ultimate punishment. The commenter further said that the death penalty is "administered arbitrarily" and that the "long-standing discrimination against minorities in the south (yeah it's still there)" played a role in the decision to execute Davis.

"We will never know if Troy Davis was or was not guilty of the crimes he was charged with and that alone should have prevented him from being executed," marciavolk wrote.

Another commenter, jangar, took issue with the evidence in the case, which has been in question since seven of nine witnesses recanted or changed their original testimony from the 1991 trial. As Amnesty International and others have pointed out, Davis' supporters also have problems with the lack of physical evidence and the investigation's failure to produce the .38-caliber pistol used in the slaying.

"As we have seen over the years eye-witness testimony a lot of times is unreliable," jangar wrote. "People say they saw something, convince themselves they really did see something, and then determine they could have been mistaken; but with physical evidence -- gun, body, video tape -- the evidence is there in front of you and can be tested for DNA."

The divergence of sentiments regarding Davis' death was apparent around the globe. While right-wing legal analyst and author Ann Coulter wrote a Thursday article headlined "Cop Killer is Media's Latest Baby Seal," the NAACP slammed the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles' refusal to intervene.

"There is too much doubt to proceed with an execution. No amount of deliberation will change the fact that the case against Mr. Davis has too many holes," President Ben Jealous wrote.

The European Union, the French Foreign Ministry and Germany's junior minister for human rights joined Jealous in denouncing the execution, with the EU saying that America must abolish capital punishment "to protect human dignity."

In the U.S., protests were not limited to Jackson, Georgia, where the state has been electrocuting or lethally injecting death row inmates since 1983.

As we have seen over the years eye-witness testimony a lot of times is unreliable.

--CNN commenter jangar
In Washington, more than a dozen people were arrested outside the White House during a protest organized by Howard University.

Matt Tapie, 32, a CNN iReporter from Alexandria, Virginia, and doctorate candidate at Catholic University, said he joined the demonstrators there. He was busy writing his dissertation Wednesday but said he knew he had to participate. He said he was appalled by the final outcome.

"We can see how much further we have to go in a country where we have an African-American president , but an African-American in Georgia can be executed," he said.

In Chicago, David Manning, 31, who had not been following the case, was taking photographs in the city when he ran across forlorn protesters in "I Am Troy Davis" T-shirts leaving a protest in Daley Plaza after the execution.

"What struck me was the looks on their faces as they walked away," the iReporter said. "They looked very frustrated and down."

.

Why is America known for double standard there ?

Do you mean, when a man go out to the street and start killing innocent souls, do you mean he should be free because it is America.

THis is America, not Nigeria.

They prosecute based on evidence and not speculations or suspicion  like Nigeria.

Before they sentence to death, all evidences will be subjected to forensics.


But all the same, death penalty is abnormal.

It is still in practice in China. If you embezzle public funds, you will be given death penalty in China. Nobody is talking about China.

The plight of the African American as the game said is that we're born in a trap. Guilty until maybe/maybe not proven innocent.

1. Are you saying he is innocent because he is black?
2. Would you have defended him this much if he was white?

I cant say if he is innocent or not and I certainly would have wished it was commuted to life imprisonment but it is wrong to say the justice system failed or that he is innocent just because he is black. Most bad buy don't always look bad and actually always look innocent when they are not committing a crime. We should just hope the real truth comes out someday for all to learn.

US justice system sucks! compare to UK its make UK look like heaven, imagine something like this happening in the USA a country many called free world:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040398/Cuffed-hospital-bed-hands-feet-Pregnant-illegal-immigrant-forced-birth-shackles-wins-200k-damages.html?fb_ref=LikeButtonTop&fb_source=profile_oneline

Wotz my Business with this Man? Would it increase the balance of my money in my account?

In the judicial process, there are always casualties,some on the alter of the system not wanting to look weak,some on hate and other reasons; and some on lack of defense. I think this case was one that was based on the last, when there are instances of no proof,it lies on the suspect to show beyond all reasonable doubt that he is innocent by every help he can get mostly guided by his attorney, in this case it didnt, all the drama was based on was on racism.
We killed Troy,Georgia didnt, if the petition was able to gather that number of signatures,means if someone had thought it wise that it was funding that was needed to hire private hands to prove him innocent,then people would have made donations no matter how little.
You do not win a case by claiming bais or racism,you create holes in the prosecutor's case and either have ur sentence minimized or case thrown out.
I watch the drama in courts and its pathetic how lives are toyed with by the hands of those we hand them over to.
The defense didnt do enough!

the man is dead let talk about the living and of course Nigeria the country need a serious attention from GOD

tunnytox:

US justice system sucks! compare to UK its make UK look like heaven, imagine something like this happening in the USA a country many called free world:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2040398/Cuffed-hospital-bed-hands-feet-Pregnant-illegal-immigrant-forced-birth-shackles-wins-200k-damages.html?fb_ref=LikeButtonTop&fb_source=profile_oneline

But the same system that su[i]ck[/i]s awarded her 200k for injustices done to her?

I neva knew john grisham's legal ethics were real.nw i knw better.

Atlast,this innocent man was killed on wednesday.soon,their human-rights Orgs will be after china.mtchew!

^^^Why do you people keep saying he is innocent? Is it based on facts/evidence or sentiments? There is no evidence in the case that says he is innocent, is there?

It was with a heavy heart and i thought about it all day but at night i read this chapter in the book of Psalms
ss.41

[1] Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
[2] The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
[3] The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
[4] I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
[5] Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
[6] And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
[7] All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
[8] An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
[9] Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
[10] But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
[11] By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
[12] And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
[13] Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

Then i knew that the devil or his accusers didn't triumph over him, I only pray that God will give his family the ability to bear the loss , amen.He is in a better place

justwise:

But the same system that su[i]ck[/i]s awarded her 200k for injustices done to her?  

Justwise you live in the UK pls tell me do you think this can ever happen here? It's not all about the money but according to the article this type of restraints for pregnant women are allowed to be used on some criminals so tell me is it ever justified to restraint a pregnant woman like this? I have watched several programs and read some article about several cases of wrong conviction in the USA though it happen everywhere but no one should ever be executed whenever there's any amount of doubt on evidences against them.

I want to beleive troy david is guilty.He has only gotten the symphaty of the public cos he is black
Same was the case of OJ SIMPSON, he was guilty but the case was twisted to become racial war(against black)
I think those guy just felt they've had enuf
They were leniet enough, this guy was sentenced in 1994(i think) so it took them 17yrs to finally execute him
What about a white guy executed in the Usa, same manner in 2008 for killing a blackman

@OP i dont think this has to do with being black cause on the same day,another white man was equally executed in TEXAS for tying and draging a black man on his truck until he dies.(inhuman eh i hear you mumble)


Again UNFORGIVENESS is the word, when asked,after the execution"how do you feel now"Mrs MACPHAIL replied " i feel happy and fufilled".imagine,after 22 yrs,thats another rocky and wicked heart.

until his death he defended his innocency,even telling his family to keep on fighting for the truth, if he is guilty,he wouldnt defend himself even while dying.
ONE DAY THE TRUTH WILL BE REVEALED
HE PRAYED FOR THOSE THAT TOOK HIS LIFE.
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.

D issue is not dat troy is innocent but dat his guilt has not been established beyond reasonable doubt and so, d public ll continue to criticise the judges for dat - a conviction based on eyewitnesses account, may of whom recanted der story wit some claiming to ve been coerced into makin dem by d police can hardly be applauded - i am saddened by his death, i am troubled dt American legal system maybe in a downhill journey, i am angered dt a man may ve bin killed too quickly bcz d judges want to rush back to der tea and der drawing room, Its all too sad

this is the time for the same  'flawless' justice system  in Us, to look at the direction of some leaders  that  selfishly invade weaker nations, where innocent women and children lose their lives.

tunnytox:

Justwise you live in the UK pls tell me do you think this can ever happen here? [/b]It's not all about the money but according to the article this type of restraints for pregnant women are allowed to be used on some criminals so tell me is it ever justified to restraint a pregnant woman like this? I have watched several programs and read some article about several cases of wrong conviction in the USA though it happen everywhere but no one should ever be executed whenever there's any amount of doubt on evidences against them.

Oh please!! don't even go there, worst happens in the UK, how many patients have been killed by nurses and doctors in the UK by deliberately injecting those patients with wrong drug? Do you remember this doctor [b]Harold Shipman?

He killed   218, deliberately and there are many such cases in the UK, so lets be honest here.

When the victim is a white police officer and the accused, a young black man, what do you expect? He stands no chance even if the evidence is inconclusive.

@ 1st citizen
So what can u say abt a white man executed in d same manner for killing a blackman?

and they will life for ever!

Spike Lee or Clint Eastwood over to you.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/09/capital-punishment

"Mark MacPhail, a 27-year-old police officer and former Army Ranger working off-duty as a security guard, was fatally shot in the chest on August 19th, 1989 in a parking lot in Savannah, Georgia, after intervening in an argument between a homeless man, Larry Young, and another man named Sylvester Coles. MacPhail was shot twice, and never drew his gun. Two years later Troy Davis (pictured) was convicted of killing MacPhail. He was sentenced to death. His conviction rested almost entirely on witness testimony, much of it conflicting. No gun was recovered, and ballistics testimony linking the shell casings found at the scene to a gun fired at a party that Mr Davis had attended earlier that night was shaky. Since his conviction seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony. Mr Young claims the police coerced him into identifying Mr Davis as the shooter. He received two stays of execution, in 2007 and 2008. But his appeal for a new trial was denied. Following a two-day evidentiary hearing a judge denied his claim of innocence. Last March the US Supreme Court rejected his appeal. On September 20th the Georgia Parole Board denied his request for clemency. Late Wednesday night, at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification prison in Jackson, the state killed him."

I support the death penalty, but only when we are sure

@iykak47
LETHAL means leads to death and not neccessarily "painful"

#sad

Troy Davis's last hours


Strapped to a gurney, and at the centre of raging international controversy, Troy Davis died the way he has spent the past 22 years: still vigorously protesting his innocence. The death row prisoner at the centre of one of the most disputed cases in American legal history lost his long-running legal battle despite desperate late efforts by his lawyers.

The 42-year-old convicted murderer was given a lethal injection half an hour after the US Supreme Court rejected his final request for a stay of execution on Tuesday. Fifteen minutes later, at 11.08pm (4.08am GMT), he was officially pronounced dead. A coroner's van later hauled his body away from the Georgia State Diagnostic Prison, near the town of Jackson.

Addressing some of his last words to the family of the victim, Mark MacPhail, who were in the viewing gallery, Davis lifted his head as needles were inserted into his arm, and insisted, as he always has done, that he was not responsible for killing the young, off-duty police officer.

“I am innocent. The incident that happened that night was not my fault,” he said, according to the four US media representatives who attended. “I personally did not have a gun. I was not the one who took the life of your father, son, brother.”

Davis then turned to prison officials. “For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.”

Those were his final words. As the lethal drugs worked their way into his system, Davis began blinking rapidly. Then he squeezed them tightly shut. After that, a curtain was drawn over the window which separated the viewing area from the execution chamber.

It was a grisly end to a case which has sparked international outrage, and the condemnation of organisations as varied as[b] the European Union, Amnesty International, the Catholic Church, and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. Over a million people, from around the world, signed a petition calling for Davis to be spared.[/b]

A crowd of 700 supporters had gathered at Georgia State Diagnostic Prison, near the town of Jackson, where the execution chamber is located. They greeted confirmation of his death by crying, holding hands, and praying, in near silence. A smaller group of roughly 10 counter-protesters cheered.

Lawyers for Davis spent the final day of his life making increasingly frantic efforts to call a halt to proceedings. The Georgia Superior Court and Georgia Supreme Court both refused to issue a stay of execution, which had been previously scheduled and then cancelled four times in recent years, in circumstances which are said by psychologists to have amounted to torture.

For a time, it looked like the US Supreme Court might intervene, as it did two years ago, issuing last-minute instructions for Georgia's legal system to reconsider Davis's conviction. This time, the highest court in the land delayed his execution - originally scheduled for 7pm - for four hours. But it ultimately decided not to make a second intervention in the case. No reason for that decision was cited.

Earlier, prison authorities had refused to let Davis take a polygraph test which was intended to help keep his case alive in the months and years to come. His attorney Stephen Marsh, who was turned away at the gate of the facility, told reporters: “We came here to try and prove Mr Davis is innocent and unfortunately we were denied that opportunity.”

Several hours before the execution, the condemned man's pastor, the Rev Raphael Warnock, was also prevented from paying him a visit during his final hours. No explanation was given. “We wanted to do a pastoral visit, to offer comfort and last rites if you will, to pray,” he said. “It's another insult to this injustice.”

Davis turned down the opportunity to choose a special last meal. He was therefore presented with the prison's standard-issue dinner: grilled cheeseburgers, oven-browned potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, cookies and a grape drink.

The execution came 20 years after Davis was found guilty of the murder of MacPhail. The case has been in and out of court ever since, as increasing doubts were cast on his conviction. The Pope, the former President Jimmy Carter and a host of public figures have spoken out against his conviction.

They say the case represents a textbook example of the flaws of the US capital punishment system.

And it carries political heat because he was a black man from the Deep South, where a disproportionate number of executed criminals hail from ethnic minorities.

Supporters believe Davis was all-too-hastily arrested and charged, by white police officers who were angered by the killing of one of their own and who leapt to conclusions regarding his guilt. After his death, lawyers for Davis described his killing as a “legal lynching” saying the execution was “racially bigoted”. [/b]They told reporters: “In the state of Georgia 48.4 percent of people on death row this morning were black males, and in Georgia they make up no more than 15 percent of the population.”

With this in mind, thousands of demonstrators spent Tuesday in Atlanta, in a mood which grew increasingly angry as the execution time approached. At one point, riot police were deployed, and helicopters took to the air. But no violence was reported.
[b]
Polls show that 57 percent of Americans believe Davis is innocent, and there is a school of thought that his execution could herald a tipping point in public attitudes to the death penalty.

The US currently executes more people than any country in the world except China, Iran, North Korea and Yemen. Although just over 60 percent of the public still support capital punishment, that number appears to have been slowly falling since the 1990s.

DNA technology has allowed several death row inmates to be exonerated in recent years, denting faith in the system.

A final message to supporters of Davis came from Edward Dubose, a member of the Georgia NAACP who spoke to the condemned man during the afternoon. “Troy wanted me to let you know - keep the faith. The fight is bigger than him , The death penalty in this country needs to end. They call it execution; we call it murder.”

The last day - 09.00-15.00

Davis is allowed visitors for the last time.

16.00

He declines the opportunity to choose his final meal. Prison staff give him a standard prison meal of cheeseburgers, potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, biscuits and a grape-flavoured drink.

18.00

Those chosen to witness the execution enter Jackson's Diagnostic and Classification Prison. Around 700 people, mostly supporters of Davis, stand outside.

19.00

As the time originally scheduled for the execution passes, it becomes apparent that the US Supreme Court has intervened - prompting cheers from the crowd outside the prison.

22.15

After more than three hours, hopes of a postponement or reprieve are dashed when the court rules that the execution will go ahead.

22.30

“Y'all ready?” a correctional officer asks the five reporters chosen to witness the execution. Davis is strapped to the gurney in the death chamber and a warden reads the execution order. Davis lifts his head and uses his last words to protest his innocence to the relatives of the murdered police officer Mark MacPhail. He asks his own family to “keep the faith” and asks God to have mercy on the souls of the medical staff about to put him to death.

23.08

Around 14 minutes after the injection is administered, Troy Davis is declared dead. -