As the entire world watched, you put the needle in Troy Davis’ vein. As candlelight vigils were held in London, Paris and New York, you ignored the outcries and decided it was more important to be right than protect justice. As Davis refused his last meal and last words, you continued to reject every last minute plea.

This particular case is not even about whether the death penalty is right or wrong. This case is not about Troy’s guilt or innocence. It is well beyond all that. This case proves our criminal justice and legal system are beyond repair. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that people from low socioeconomic status or minorities are far more likely to be convicted than rich white people.

Not only convicted, but likely will have longer sentences or death. Does that seem fair? Furthermore, the burden of proof during the original trial rests with the prosecution. However, for every other appeal, the defendant must prove his innocence. You, dear Georgia, completely botched this case from the beginning.

Witnesses were tainted, the jurors were tainted and the police never even considered any other suspects. The trial should have been moved to a different location after you flashed Davis’ picture on the news with the words “Cop Killer.” You should not have had all the “witnesses” together to reenact the crime.

Any two-bit police department in the nation knows this. What is your excuse for acting so unprofessionally on this case? Without any evidence of Troy’s guilt, how can he prove he is innocent? Yet, that is what the courts have expected of Davis.

I cry tonight as your state murders a man. I think that maybe this will open up the eyes of the nation of the problems with the death penalty. However, that won’t bring Troy Davis back. He has spent most of his life in jail only to be killed by your state to teach him killing is wrong. I wonder if the victim was not a cop or not white if the outcome would be different?

I already know the answer to that. A police officer’s life is worth more than other people. I hope everybody feels good down there for this state-sponsored lynching. Please know that I will never spend another moment in your state again. I would hate to be wrongly accused of a crime in your backwards ass state.

Yours truly,
Erin

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The world is still coming to terms with the shocking execution of Georgia inmate Troy Davis as more details emerge of Davis’ final moments. Davis spoke to the spectators gathered to watch him be put to death on Tuesday night. His final words before the lethal injection took his life were chilling.

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.”

Outside, the crowd of nearly 700 people cried and held hands as Troy Davis was killed. Over a million people from around the world signed petitions in support of Davis. Riot police and helicopters were dispatched as the execution approached, however there were no incidents of violence. Even though, many protesters were angry.

Davis’ lawyers amounted the execution to a “legal lynching.” “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,” his lawyers told reporters outside the jail.

Polls show that 57 percent of Americans believe Davis is innocent. This may be, as I have been saying, the catalyst that ends capital punishment in America. 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. Davis released a final message to supporters earlier in the day.

Edward Dubose, a member of the Georgia NAACP, met with Troy before his execution. “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.”

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The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Troy Davis’ appeal. Davis was killed at 11:0PM EST  in Georgia. Troy Davis’ case was long and complicated. Davis has been scheduled for execution four times, appealing the decision successfully each time.

Although Davis was scheduled to die at 7 PM EST on Wednesday night, a last minute plea by Davis’ lawyers to the Supreme Court, caused a delay in his execution while the Supreme Court weighed in on the controversial case. Troy Davis reportedly was strapped to a gurney waiting to die for four hours.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the jail while dozens of riot police officers barricaded the jail and arrested those that crossed the line. During the lengthy delay, Davis’ family remained quiet outside the jail. The slain officer’s family waited inside to watch the execution. Laura Moye, an organizer with Amnesty International, was on prison grounds all evening long.

“We are just profoundly saddened and upset,” Moye said. A prayer circle had formed around the Davis family earlier in the evening and remained through the execution. “We knew that it was a long shot,” Moye said. “Troy Davis has always had difficult odds. He’s faced executions three times…We always held on to our hope.

We got this far by believing in the power of human rights. Now it seems there’s nothing that can intervene to stop this execution.” “People are trying to rally around this family. Everybody wants to be there standing in support of the Davis family,” Moye explained. “A lot of people standing in disbelief.”

All around the world, protesters held demonstrations. Residents around the world tweeted, “Dear Georgia,” reminding the state that the world is watching their decision. Earlier in the day, many people weighed in on the impending execution. Moye said that the support Davis’ case has received from the public has been very moving. ”What is a miracle in this case is so many people have raised their voices,” Moye said.

Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer, primarily of witness testimony. Since that time, Davis has maintained his innocence and the majority of witnesses have recanted their testimony. A group of former death row wardens wrote to Georgia authorities calling on them to halt the death sentence due to doubts about Davis’ guilt.

Among the group was the former warden in charge of the Georgia death chamber. ”While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end,” the wardens wrote in a press release.

“It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.” Meanwhile, the family of the murdered officer and the case’s original prosecutor have argued strenuously for Davis’s execution, and have asserted that there is no doubt that he is guilty of the murder.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/death_penalty/

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Texas has executed a Mexican-born man on July 7, ignoring appeals made by the U.S. Supreme Court, President Obama, and Mexico to spare the convicted murderer’s life in order to protect U.S. interests abroad.

Humberto Leal Garcia, 38 was convicted of the rape and murder of a 16-year-old San Antonio girl in 1994. He was executed by lethal injection at a Texas death chamber in Huntsville.

Leal suffered from brain damage and was sexually abused by a priest as a child. On May 21, 1994, Leal kidnapped, raped, and murdered Adria Sauceda. Sauceda was at a party where she became intoxicated and a group of men gang-raped her. According to the case, Leal offered her a ride home and the two struggled when Sauceda tried to get out of the car.

Both forensic evidence and witness statements tied Leal to the crime. In statements to police, he acknowledged fighting with Sauceda and pushing her to the ground, where he said she hit her head.

At the time of his arrest, Leal was not informed that, as a Mexican citizen, he was entitled to assistance from a Mexican counsel. However, Leal had not revealed his Mexican citizenship, and the issue of consular access was not raised during the trial. The failure to inform Leal of his rights created legal controversy.

Shortly before Leal’s trip to the death chamber, the Supreme Court rejected, by 5-4, an appeal from the White House to stop the execution on the grounds that it was in breach of an international convention governing the treatment of foreigners who are arrested and would therefore cause “irreparable harm” to U.S. interests abroad.

“That breach would have serious repercussions for United States foreign relations, law-enforcement and other co-operation with Mexico, and the ability of American citizens travelling abroad to have the benefits of consular assistance in the event of detention,” the court brief said.

But, Stephen Hoffman, an assistant attorney general for Texas, said in a brief to the Supreme Court: “Leal’s argument is nothing but a transparent attempt to evade his impending punishment.”

A number of retired military officers, diplomats and prominent Republicans backed the appeal. Maintaining the integrity of an international treaty protecting the legal rights of Americans abroad was more important than delivering swift justice to one criminal, no matter how depraved.

Donald J. Guter, a retired rear admiral in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, called the case terrible and said he had no sympathy for Garcia.

“I’m looking to protect American citizens and American service members who travel overseas, and making sure they have the protection of the treaty,” Guter said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry declined to intervene in the Leal case and the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons voted on Tuesday, July 5 to allow the execution to proceed.

“Texas is not bound by a foreign court’s ruling,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Perry. “If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws.”

Currently, the U.S. government is working to limit the diplomatic fallout that has taken place since the execution in hopes that American interests abroad will not have to be subject to any harm.

Image Courtesy:

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The Islamist Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip in the torn Palestinian territory has executed two men on Tuesday in defiance of President Mahmoud Abbas government from the West Bank.

According to Reuters, Hamas officials said that the Palestinian father and his son confessed to providing Israel with intelligence that assisted in the capturing and killing of Palestinians, including Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, the co-founder of Hamas who was killed by the Israeli Air Force in 2004.

Human rights groups have been vocal against the execution of the two men, who had made an appeal to the court but lost. In accordance with Palestinian law, executions are permitted but they require the approval of Abbas. Since the 2007 civil was, Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip after driving out Abbas’ secular Fatah party.

Despite signing a reconciliation agreement in May, Fatah and Hamas are still disputing the implementation of a power-sharing government. In this case, the US-backed Abbas has declined to implement his provision on executions to impose an effective ban on death penalty in the West Bank, which is currently being occupied by Israel.

Since 2010, eight Gazans have faced the firing squad for espionage at the hand of the Hamas government.

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The great state of Texas executed a man last week. In and of itself, this is hardly newsworthy. However, this particular man was a citizen of Mexico and not of the United States. This single execution could lead to a foreign crisis.

Humberto Leal Garcia, 38, was convicted of the rape and murder of a 16-year-old San Antonio girl in 1994. He was sentenced to death and has remained on death row since that time. A U.N.-backed tribunal court ruled in 2004 that Garcia was one of dozens of Mexican nationals sentenced to death by U.S. courts who had been denied their right to legal help from the Mexican consulate, violating a U.N. treaty.

The U.S. is part of a treaty that grants the right of consular assistance to all foreigners charged with a crime.  The U.N. court’s decision was even endorsed by then-President George W. Bush. However, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the U.N. decision, stating only Congress had the power to force states to review criminal cases.

Obama administration lawyers and a number of foreign policy experts expressed concern over the execution. However, Garcia was executed by lethal injection at the Texas death chamber in Huntsville despite the concerns.

In June, Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced legislation to force state courts to review the cases of Mexican nationals, but no further action has been taken on the bill. Late Thursday afternoon, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., who stated in a brief that Garcia’s execution violated international law and could do “irreparable harm” to U.S. foreign policy interests. Verrilli argued that the court should grant Garcia a stay of execution until Congress could vote on Sen. Leahy’s legislation.

In a 5-4 decision, the court rejected his argument. “Our task is to rule on what the law is, not what it might eventually be,” the unsigned majority decision declared. A dissent by Justice Stephen Breyer, however, said that the majority was “wrong in each respect” in its decision to reject the petition.

A number of legal experts, military officials and prominent Republicans backed the appeal. Donald J. Guter, a retired rear admiral in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, who signed a letter endorsing the Obama administration’s appeal, called the case “terrible” and said he had “no sympathy” for Garcia.

“I’m looking to protect American citizens and American service members who travel overseas, and making sure they have the protection of the treaty,” said Guter, now president and dean of the South Texas College of Law. “I think we need to take a step back and ask what principle is at stake here, and what’s best for American citizens,” he said.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry declined to intervene in the Garcia case, and the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons voted on Tuesday to allow the execution to proceed.  ”Texas is not bound by a foreign court’s ruling,” said Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Perry. “If you commit the most heinous of crimes in Texas, you can expect to face the ultimate penalty under our laws.”

Remember Michael Fay? He was the American that was lashed six times in Singapore for vandalism. The canings created an international controversy. Most Americans were outraged that Singapore punished the American teenager.

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A Mississippi man who was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday was granted a last minute stay.  Robert Simon, Jr., who was convicted of killing a family of four in 1990, received a stay by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, according to a court document.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections said it was waiting for the court’s opinion, and was ready to carry out the orders of the court. The lethal injection was scheduled for 6PM local time and would have been the state’s third execution this month.  Simon and an accomplice robbed and killed a couple and their two children in Marks, Mississippi in February of 1990. Corrections official say that the pair shot all four family members and cut off the husband’s ring finger in order to steal his wedding band. The house was set on fire with all the bodies inside. A passing motorist saw the flames from the house and alerted authorities.

Simon had confessed to the killings following his arrest. He was found guilty of all murders and received three death sentences and one life sentence. His accomplice, Anthony Carr, also was convicted of four counts of capital murder and is currently on death row.

Judge Grady Jolly of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said the execution was halted to allow Simon time to prove mental incompetence. The panel determined that medical records including sworn affidavits of Simon’s lawyers and from a clinical neuropsychologist raised questions if Simon suffered a neurological injury when he fell in prison back in January.  Jolly, in a document released Wednesday, said the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that inmates cannot be executed unless, at the time of execution, they are aware of the crime, aware of the fact that they are about to be executed, and aware of the reason for execution.

“These medical records and affidavits, made under oath, raise substantial questions as to whether Simon had a neurological injury in January 2011 at the prison, which injury has so affected him, either temporarily or permanently, that he neither understands that he committed a crime nor that he is about to be executed,” Jolly wrote.

“Although this evidence has been presented, this panel has no basis to consider whether his claim has any merit, whether it is believable or unbelievable. Because there is no time for such a hearing before the date and time of execution, a temporary stay of his execution is necessary in order to answer these questions.”

Eighteen people have been executed in the United States so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

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