A Rush To Punishment?

Now, I am the biggest supporter of Capital Punishment you will probably ever meet. In fact, I wish it could be expanded to include the crimes of Rape, Sexual Molestation of a Child, Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism and Aiding a Terrorist. So, when you see me writing about an execution that should be stopped ... you can take it to the bank that something fishy may be going on.

Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled to be executed in Georgia on July 17th, for the shooting death of a Savannah police officer. Davis, 38 is a former coach in the Savannah Police Athletic League and had signed up to join the Marines, when in 1989, off-duty Savannah police officer, Mark Allen MacPhail was shot dead in a parking lot while responding to an assault. Davis was at the crime scene with a friend that accused him of the shooting. No physical evidence was found to link Davis with this crime.

Since his conviction and sentencing in 1991, seven of the nine witnesses that testified against him have re-canted their testimony. Two of the jurors that found him guilty have sworn out affidavits that stated, based on the recanted testimony, he should not be executed. They are afraid they may have sentenced an innocent man to die. Remember ... there was never any physical evidence linking this man to the crime.

Still, prosecutors in Georgia are trying to push the execution through. Maybe with the Mike Nifong thing, I don't place as much faith in prosecutors, but this execution must be stopped. An execution is not a thing you can correct later if you've made a mistake. While I believe that Capital Punishment is a good thing ... the standard of law should be higher than with any other sentence. Instead of "beyond a reasonable doubt", if the State is going to execute someone, the standard should be "beyond a shadow of a doubt". That means I want physical evidence (DNA, fingerprints, photos, video etc), eyewitnesses are too unreliable.

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