Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Last-ditch appeals as Troy Davis execution nears

ATLANTA — Death row inmate Troy Davis neared his execution Wednesday despite a furious last-ditch campaign in the U.S. and Europe to win his clemency for killing a Georgia policeman, a crime he and others have insisted for years he did not commit.

The Georgia Pardons and Paroles Board on Wednesday morning said it would not review its decision to allow the execution to go forward.

Davis was set to die at 7 p.m. for the 1989 killing of off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was slain while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked.

Davis' lawyers have long argued Davis was a victim of mistaken identity. Prosecutors say they have no doubt that they charged the right person with the crime.

Supporters planned vigils outside Georgia's death row prison in Jackson and at U.S. embassies in Europe.

Davis' attorneys Wednesday filed another late appeal aimed at blocking the execution by convincing a judge that some of the original evidence was questionable.

Earlier, defense lawyer Stephen Marsh told The Associated Press that the Georgia Department of Corrections denied his request to allow Davis to take a polygraph test. Marsh had said he hoped the polygraph would persuade the state pardons board to reconsider a decision against clemency.
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