The Legal Lynching of Troy Davis

[Steve Biko Thomas]

The criminal justice system in America has long been upheld by its proponents and advocates as the most fair and impartial judicial system in the world. Many of these advocates point towards the selective process of appointing jurors, the democratic process in electing prosecutors, and the government’s involvement in the clearing of potential judges, as evidence of the near infallibility of the nation’s system of justice. However, Black people and most other people in America know, through observation and experience, that nothing could be farther from the truth in terms of the inherent corruption and racism that lies in the very foundations of the judicial process in this country; and the murder of Troy Davis by the authorities in the state of Georgia further proves that which many Americans have come to discern concerning the reality of injustice that guides the implementation of “justice” in America.

Troy Davis, an African-American, was convicted in August 1991 of the shooting death of a white off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail, that had occurred in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989. He maintained his innocence from the beginning, and was subjected to a trial that included absolutely no physical evidence linking him to the crime, and the presentation of no murder weapon, whatsoever. In fact, Troy Davis was found guilty solely based upon the testimony of nine witnesses for the prosecution, all of whom in one way or another implicated Mr. Davis as the perpetrator of the killing of MacPhail. Although these issues alone are typically enough to constitute the supposed standard of “reasonable doubt” proclaimed to be adhered to in the courtrooms of America, in the case of a Black man accused of killing a white police officer, it was enough to have Troy Davis sentenced to death.

In the years that followed the trial, numerous inconsistencies were revealed to have taken place during those initial proceedings, along with the facts that Mr. Davis had ineffective counsel and that several prosecution witnesses had been intimidated and coerced by police into testifying against Mr. Davis. By 2010, four of the witnesses whom had previously alleged that they saw him commit and/or heard Davis admit guilt for the murder, had totally recanted their stories with all now accusing law enforcement officials of forcing them into false police statements by both intimidation and threatening. What is more outrageous, another potential witness for Mr.Davis' defense came forward and signed a sworn affidavit which alleged that one of the prosecutions original witnesses had confessed to her that, in fact, he was the triggerman and thus solely responsible for the killing. However, this particular potential witness was never permitted to testify in appeals proceedings after a ruling by a federal judge that her statements would have constituted “inadmissible hearsay”.

The case of Troy Davis would eventual garner worldwide attention, with prominent politicians, celebrities, religious leaders and the like, all demanding the judiciary to grant him a new trial and appealing to the government to intervene. A record number of over one million people went on to sign numerous petitions in support of as much; yet all were to no avail. On the night of September 21, 2011, at 11:08 p.m., Troy Davis was executed in Georgia with the world watching on.

What is undeniable in the case of Troy Davis is that guilt or innocence was never a priority in the minds of his killers. For the moment, many citizens of the world will mourn his death as a miscarriage of justice. Going forward, this case may infuse America’s disenfranchised with an element of militancy not seen in quite some time. As a Black man in America, he had been accused of committing the ultimate, unforgivable and condemning crime: the murder of a white law enforcement officer. This fact alone undoubtedly assured his death from the very beginning of his...OUR, ordeal. A "legal" lynching.