Troy Davis Set To Be Executed On Wednesday

September 20, 2011 from Democracy Now!

Shortly before the Democracy Now! live broadcast ended on Sept. 20, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles announced it rejected clemency for Troy Anthony Davis. The Board has the sole authority to stay the execution under Georgia state law. Davis is now set to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Davis was convicted for the 1989 killing of an off-duty white police officer. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there is no physical evidence tying Davis to the crime scene.

(more) (less)

In This Video

Troy Davis case

Troy Anthony Davis was an American man convicted of and executed for the August 19, 1989, murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. MacPhail was working as a security guard at a Burger King restaurant when he intervened to defend a man being assaulted in a n... Explore this topic

Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles is a five-member committee authorized to grant paroles, pardons, reprieves, remissions, commutations, and, according to the Board's website, "to restore civil and political rights". Created by Constitutional amendment in 1943, it ... Explore this topic

Capital punishment

Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution... Explore this topic

State law

In the United States, state law is the law of each separate U.S. state, as passed by the state legislature and adjudicated by state courts. It exists in parallel, and sometimes in conflict with, United States federal law. These disputes are often resolved by the federal courts. Explore this topic

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. In the United States, "officer" is the formal name of the lowest police rank. In many other countries, "officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank, and the lowest rank is often "constable". In many ot... Explore this topic

Lethal injection

Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanas... Explore this topic

Pardon

A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the cancellation of the relevant penalty; it is usually granted by a head of state or by acts of a parliament or a religious authority. Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. I... Explore this topic

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! is a United States daily progressive, nonprofit, independently syndicated program of news, analysis, and opinion, aired by more than 1000 radio, television, satellite and cable TV networks in North America. The award-winning one hour War and Peace Report is host... Explore this topic

Also See

Troy Davis case

Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles

Capital punishment

Watch Next

4:04

Democracy Now! | Aug 8

Last night, Texas executed 54-year-old Marvin Wilson, despite evidence that he was mentally disabled and reportedly sucked his thumb into adulthood...