Troy Davis Story: Lawyers Issue Last-Minute Appeal Based on Flawed Evidence
In a last-ditch effort to block his execution, lawyers for convicted cop killer Troy Davis have issued an appeal based on flawed ballistic testing that linked their client to the shooting.
Defense attorney Brian Kammer said he would file the appeal as soon as Butts County Superior Court, south of Atlanta, opens its doors, the Associated Press reported. If the appeal fails, Davis will be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Legal experts contacted by The Christian Post Wednesday were unwilling to comment on the specifics of the appeal without having read it first.
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However, Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The Christian Post that late appeals in death penalty cases generally have little chance of success.
"The Supreme Court often looks unfavorably on appeals filed this late in the process," Dieter said. "Unless there is compelling evidence or the court is considering a similar case, once cases get to this point, they generally go through."
Davis' death penalty case has attracted worldwide attention due to the flawed trial proceedings, recanting of eyewitness testimony, and lack of physical evidence.
The low chances of success have not stopped Davis' supporters from seeking alternative ways to stop the execution, including asking prison employees to strike.
"I am calling for a general strike or sick-out by all but a skeleton staff of the Georgia Diagnostic Prison on September 21, 2011," State Senator Vincent Fort (D) said in a statement Tuesday. "I say to the prison staff: If you work on that day, you will enable the prison to carry out the execution of a possibly innocent man."
Change.org also sent an email to members revealing that Davis' supporters will deliver another 240,000 signatures to the offices of Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm, with hopes that he will intervene and request that Davis' death warrant be revoked.
Combined with the more than 650,000 signatures delivered there last week from Change.org, Amnesty USA, NAACAP, and other groups, the signature total will come to almost one million from around the U.S., as well as Peru, England, and France.
"When Troy saw that more than 650,000 signatures had been delivered to the board in his name, he called to tell me he was deeply moved," Kimberly Davis, Troy's sister, said in the Change.org statement. "He told me he knew that he had supporters around the world, but he had no idea that the support was that widespread."
