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Archaeological Site of Troy *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Turkey
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, vi
Reference	849
Region **	Europe and North America
Coordinates	39°57′23.184″N 26°14′20.4″E / 39.95644°N 26.239°E / 39.95644; 26.239Coordinates: 39°57′23.184″N 26°14′20.4″E / 39.95644°N 26.239°E / 39.95644; 26.239
Inscription history
Inscription	1998 (22nd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Troy VII, in the mound at Hisarlik, is an archaeological layer of Troy representing late Hittite Empire to Neo-Hittite times (ca. 1300 to 950 BC). It was a walled city with towers reaching a height of nine meters; the foundations of one of its bastions measure 18 meters by 18 meters. Manfred Korfmann, who excavated the site in the 1980s, estimated the area of Troy VII at 200,000 square metres (50 acres) or more and put its population at five to ten thousand inhabitants, which makes it "by the standards of its day a large and important city".^[1]

The city was built following the destruction of Troy VIh,^[2] probably by an earthquake, in about 1300 BC. A number of layers are distinguished:

• Troy VIIa: ca. 13th century BC
• Troy VIIb₁: 12th century BC
• Troy VIIb₂: 11th century BC
• Troy VIIb₃: until ca. 950 BC

VIIa[link]

The city of the archaeological layer known as Troy VIIa, which has been dated on the basis of pottery styles to the mid- to late-13th century BC, lasted for about a century, with a destruction layer at ca. 1190 BC. It is the most often-cited candidate for the Troy of Homer and is believed to correspond to Assuwan Wilusa known from Hittite sources dating to the period of roughly 1300–1250 BC.

These dates correspond closely to the mythical chronology of Greece as calculated by classical authors, placing the construction of the walls of Troy by Poseidon, Apollo and Aeacus at 1282 BC and the sack of Troy by the Greeks at 1183 BC.

Troy VIIa appears to have been destroyed by a war, perhaps the source of the legendary Trojan War, and there are traces of a fire. Partial human remains were found in houses and in the streets, and near the north-western ramparts a human skeleton with skull injuries and a broken jawbone. Three bronze arrowheads were found, two in the fort and one in the city. However, only small portions of the city have been excavated, and the finds are too scarce to clearly favour destruction by war over a natural disaster.

Until excavations in 1988, one of the problems with this identification was that Troy VII seemed to be a hill-top fort, and not a city of the size described by Homer. The 1988 discovery of a small section of a possible city circuit wall enclosing a much larger area suggests a city "at least ten times larger than earlier excavators — and thus the broader public — had supposed".^[1]

VIIb[link]

Seal found in the Troy VIIb layer, featuring Luwian hieroglyphs.

The site remained inhabited following the destruction of Troy VIIa. Troy VIIb dates to a time when Greek influence began to extend to the area (the "Greek Dark Ages"). Troy VIIb₁ (ca. 1120 BC) and Troy VIIb₂ (ca. 1020 BC) appear to have been destroyed by fires. Troy VIIb₃ was deserted in the mid-10th century BC, and the site remained uninhabited for more than 200 years before a new settlement, Troy VIII, was established around 700 BC. The site was again uninhabited throughout Classical Antiquity, until the foundation of Roman Ilium at the site (Troy IX) in the 20s BC.

See also[link]

• Bronze Age collapse
• Historicity of the Iliad

References[link]

External links[link]

• Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War

Coordinates: 39°57′27″N 26°14′20″E / 39.9575°N 26.23889°E / 39.9575; 26.23889

Archaeological Site of Troy *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Turkey
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, vi
Reference	849
Region **	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1998 (22nd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Troy (Ancient Greek: Ἴλιον, Ilion, and Τροία, Troia; Latin: Trōia and Īlium;^[1] Hittite: Wilusa or Truwisa;^[2][3] Turkish: Truva) was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida. It is best known for being the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey seems to show that the name Ἴλιον (Ilion) formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον (Wilion). This was later supported by the Hittite form Wilusa.

A new city called Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually during the Byzantine era.

In 1865, English archaeologist Frank Calvert excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer at Hisarlık, and in 1868, Heinrich Schliemann, wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, also began excavating in the area after a chance meeting with Calvert in Çanakkale.^[4][5] These excavations revealed several cities built in succession. Schliemann was at first skeptical about the identification of Hissarlik with Troy, but was persuaded by Calvert^[6] and took over Calvert's excavations on the eastern half of the Hissarlik site, which was on Calvert's property. Troy VII has been identified with the Hittite Wilusa, the probable origin of the Greek Ἴλιον, and is generally (but not conclusively) identified with Homeric Troy.

Today, the hill at Hisarlik has given its name to a small village near the ruins, supporting the tourist trade visiting the Troia archaeological site.^[7] It lies within the province of Çanakkale, some 30 km south-west of the provincial capital, also called Çanakkale.

Troia was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.

Homeric Troy[link]

Portion of the legendary walls of Troy (VII), identified as the site of the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC).

Ancient Greek historians variously placed the Trojan War in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries BC: Eratosthenes to 1184 BC, Herodotus to 1250 BC, Duris of Samos to 1334 BC. Modern archaeologists associate Homeric Troy with archaeological Troy VII.^[8]

In the Iliad, the Achaeans set up their camp near the mouth of the River Scamander (presumably modern Karamenderes),^[9] where they had beached their ships. The city of Troy itself stood on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, where the battles of the Trojan War took place. The site of the ancient city is some 5 km from the coast today, but the ancient mouths of Scamander, some 3,000 years ago, were about that distance inland,^[10] pouring into a large bay that formed a natural harbour that has since been filled with alluvial material. Recent geological findings have permitted the reconstruction of how the original Trojan coastline would have looked, and the results largely confirm the accuracy of the Homeric geography of Troy.^[11]

Amphitheatre of Troy

In November 2001, geologists John C. Kraft from the University of Delaware and John V. Luce from Trinity College, Dublin presented the results^[12][13][14] of investigations, begun in 1977, into the geology of the region. They compared the present geology with the landscapes and coastal features described in the Iliad and other classical sources, notably Strabo's Geographia, and concluded that there is a regular consistency between the location of Schliemann's Troy and other locations such as the Greek camp, the geological evidence, descriptions of the topography and accounts of the battle in the Iliad. Further work by John Kraft and others was published in 2003.^[15][16]

Besides the Iliad, there are references to Troy in the other major work attributed to Homer, the Odyssey, as well as in other ancient Greek literature. The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid. The Greeks and Romans took for a fact the historicity of the Trojan War and the identity of Homeric Troy with the site in Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the site in 334 BC and made sacrifices at tombs there associated with the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus.

After the 1995 find of a Luwian biconvex seal at Troy VII, there has been a heated discussion over the language that was spoken in Homeric Troy. Frank Starke of the University of Tübingen recently demonstrated that the name of Priam, king of Troy at the time of the Trojan War, is connected to the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".^[17] "The certainty is growing that Wilusa/Troy belonged to the greater Luwian-speaking community," although it is not entirely clear whether Luwian was primarily the official language or in daily colloquial use.^[18]

A small minority of contemporary writers argue that Homeric Troy was not in Anatolia, but located elsewhere: England,^[19] Croatia,^{[citation needed]} and Scandinavia^{[citation needed]} have been proposed. These theories have not been accepted by mainstream scholars.

Chronology in the search for Homeric Troy[link]

Initially, the layers of Troy VI and VII were overlooked entirely, because Schliemann favoured the burnt city of Troy II. It was not until the need to close Calvert's Thousand Year Gap arose—from Dörpfeld's discovery of the walls of Troy VI—that archaeology turned away from Schliemann's Troy and began working towards finding Homeric Troy once more.^[20]

Calvert's Thousand Year Gap[link]

Part of the city's archaeological chronology occurred during what is called "Calvert's Thousand Year Gap" (1800-800 BC), a period not accounted for by Schliemann's archaeology and thus constituting a hole in the Trojan timeline. In Homer's description of the city, a section of one side of the wall is said to be weaker than the rest.^[21] During his excavation of more than three hundred yards of the wall, Dörpfeld came across a section very closely resembling the Homeric description of the weaker section.^[22] Dörpfeld was convinced he had found the walls of Homer's city, and now he would excavate the city itself. Within the walls of this stratum (Troy VI), much Mycenaean pottery dating from LH III A and III B was uncovered, suggesting a relation between the Trojans and Mycenaeans. The great tower along the walls seemed likely to be the "Great Tower of Ilios".^[23]

The evidence seemed to indicate that Dörpfeld had stumbled upon Ilios, the city of Homer's epics. Schliemann himself had conceded that Troy VI was more likely to be the Homeric city, but he never published anything stating so.^[24] The only counter-argument, confirmed initially by Dörpfeld (who was as passionate as Schliemann about finding Troy), was that the city appeared to have been destroyed by an earthquake, not by men.^[25] There was little doubt that this was the Troy that the Mycenaeans would have known of.^[26]

Archaeological Troy[link]

Archeological plan of the Hisarlık citadel

The layers of ruins in the citadel at Hisarlık are numbered Troy I – Troy IX, with various subdivisions:

• Troy I 3000–2600 BC (Western Anatolian EB 1)
• Troy II 2600–2250 BC (Western Anatolian EB 2)
• Troy III 2250–2100 BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 [early])
• Troy IV 2100–1950 BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 [middle])
• Troy V: 20th–18th centuries BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 [late])
• Troy VI: 17th–15th centuries BC
• Troy VIh: late Bronze Age, 14th century BC
• Troy VIIa: ca. 1300–1190 BC, most likely setting for Homer's story^[27]
• Troy VIIb₁: 12th century BC
• Troy VIIb₂: 11th century BC
• Troy VIIb₃: until ca. 950 BC
• Troy VIII: around 700 BC
• Troy IX: Hellenistic Ilium, 1st century BC

The archaeological site of Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.

Troy I–V[link]

The first city on the site was founded in the 3rd millennium BC. During the Bronze Age, the site seems to have been a flourishing mercantile city, since its location allowed for complete control of the Dardanelles, through which every merchant ship from the Aegean Sea heading for the Black Sea had to pass. Around 1900 BC a mass migration was set off by the Hittites to the east. Cities to the east of Troy were destroyed, and although Troy was not burned, the next period shows a change of culture indicating a new people had taken over Troy.^[28]

Schliemann's Troy II[link]

When Schliemann came across Troy II, he believed he had found Homer's city. Schliemann and his team unearthed a large feature he dubbed the Scaean Gate, a western gate unlike the three previously found leading to the Pergamos.^[29] This gate, as he describes, was the gate that Homer had featured. As Schliemann states in his publication Troja: "I have proved that in a remote antiquity there was in the plain of Troy a large city, destroyed of old by a fearful catastrophe, which had on the hill of Hisarlık only its Acropolis with its temples and a few other large edifices, southerly, and westerly direction on the site of the later Ilium; and that, consequently, this city answers perfectly to the Homeric description of the sacred site of Ilios."^[30]

Troy VI[link]

Troy VI was destroyed around 1300 BC, probably by an earthquake. Only a single arrowhead was found in this layer, and no remains of bodies. However the town quickly recovered and was rebuilt in a layout that was more orderly.

Troy VII[link]

Troy VII, which has been dated to the mid- to late-13th century BC, is the most often cited candidate for the Troy of Homer. It appears to have been destroyed by war.^[31] The evidence of fire and slaughter around 1250 BC, which brought Troy VIIA to a close, led to this phase being identified with the city besieged by the Greeks during the Trojan War. This was immortalized in the Iliad written by Homer. ^[32]

Troy IX[link]

Silver tetradrachm from Troy during the Hellenistic period, 188–160 BC. Head of Athena in Attic helmet. Reverse female figure and owl with inscription: ΑΘΗΝΑΣ ΙΛΙΑΔΟΣ, ΚΛΕΩΝΟΣ ΙΛΙΟΥ, "Athēnas Iliados, kleōnos Iliou".

The last city on this site, Hellenistic Ilium, was founded by Romans during the reign of the emperor Augustus and was an important trading city until the establishment of Constantinople in the 4th century as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. In Byzantine times, the city declined gradually and eventually disappeared.^{[citation needed]}

Beneath part of the Roman city, the ruins of which cover a much larger area than the citadel excavated by Schliemann, recent excavations have found traces of an additional Bronze-Age settlement area (of lower status than the adjoining citadel) defended by a ditch.

Excavation campaigns[link]

With the rise of modern critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were consigned to the realms of legend. However, the true location of ancient Troy had from classical times remained the subject of interest and speculation, so when, in 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren reviewed the available material, he was able to identify with confidence the position of the acropolis of Augustus's New Ilium in north-western Anatolia.^[33]

In 1866, Frank Calvert, the brother of the United States' consular agent in the region, made extensive surveys and published in scholarly journals his identification of the hill of New Ilium (which was on farmland owned by his family) as the site of ancient Troy. The hill, near the city of Çanakkale, was known to the Turks as Hisarlık.^[34]

Schliemann[link]

In 1868, Schliemann visited Calvert and secured permission to excavate Hisarlık. In 1871–73 and 1878–79, he excavated the hill and discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period. Schliemann declared one of these cities — at first Troy I, later Troy II — to be the city of Troy, and this identification was widely accepted at that time. Schliemann's finds at Hisarlık have become known as Priam's Treasure. They were acquired from him by the Berlin museums, but significant doubts about their authenticity persist.

The view from Hisarlık across the plain of Ilium to the Aegean Sea.

Although it is widely believed that Heinrich Schliemann was responsible for starting archaeology on his own with the discovery of Troy, this is inaccurate. Schliemann became interested in digging at the mound of Hisarlık at the persuasion of Frank Calvert. The British diplomat, considered a pioneer for the contributions he made to the archaeology of Troy, spent more than 60 years in the Troad (modern day Biga peninsula, Turkey) conducting field work.^[35] As a principal authority on field archaeology in the region, Calvert's findings supplied evidence that Homeric Troy might exist in the hill, playing a major role in directing Heinrich Schliemann to dig at the Hisarlık.^[36]

Dörpfeld and Blegen[link]

After Schliemann, the site was further excavated under the direction of Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1893-94) and later Carl Blegen (1932-38). ^[37][38] These excavations have shown that there were at least nine cities built, one on top of each other, at this site. In his research, Blegen came to a conclusion that Troy's nine levels could be further divided into forty-six sublevels .^[39]

Korfmann[link]

In 1988, excavations were resumed by a team of the University of Tübingen and the University of Cincinnati under the direction of Professor Manfred Korfmann, with Professor Brian Rose overseeing Post-Bronze Age (Greek, Roman, Byzantine) excavation along the coast of the Aegean Sea at the Bay of Troy. Possible evidence of a battle was found in the form of bronze arrowheads and fire-damaged human remains buried in layers dated to the early 12th century BC. The question of Troy's status in the Bronze-Age world has been the subject of a sometimes acerbic debate between Korfmann and the Tübingen historian Frank Kolb in 2001–2002.

In August 1993, following a magnetic imaging survey of the fields below the fort, a deep ditch was located and excavated among the ruins of a later Greek and Roman city. Remains found in the ditch were dated to the late Bronze Age, the alleged time of Homeric Troy. It is claimed by Korfmann that the ditch may have once marked the outer defences of a much larger city than had previously been suspected. The latter city has been dated by his team to about 1250 BC, and it has been also suggested — based on recent archeological evidence uncovered by Professor Manfred Korfmann's team — that this was indeed the Homeric city of Troy.

Pernicka[link]

In summer 2006, the excavations continued under the direction of Korfmann's colleague Ernst Pernicka, with a new digging permit.^[40]

Hittite and Egyptian evidence[link]

In the 1920s, the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer claimed that the placenames Wilusa and Taruisa found in Hittite texts should be identified with Ilium and Troia, respectively.^[41] He further noted that the name of Alaksandu, a king of Wilusa mentioned in a Hittite treaty, is quite similar to Homer's Paris, whose birthname was Alexandros. Subsequent to this, the Tawagalawa letter (CTH 181) was found to document an unnamed Hittite king's correspondence to the king of the Ahhiyawa, referring to an earlier "Wilusa episode" involving hostility on the part of the Ahhiyawa. The Hittite king was long held to be Mursili II (c. 1321—1296), but, since the 1980s, his son Hattusili III (1265—1240) is commonly preferred, although his other son Muwatalli (c. 1296—1272) remains a possibility.

Inscriptions of the New Kingdom of Egypt also record a nation T-R-S as one of the Sea Peoples who attacked Egypt during the XIX and XX Dynasties. An inscription at Deir el-Medina records a victory of Ramesses III over the Sea Peoples, including one named "Tursha" (Egyptian: [twrš3]). It is probably the same as the earlier "Teresh" (Egyptian: [trš.w]) on the stele commemorating Merneptah's victory in a Libyan campaign around 1220 BC.

These identifications were rejected by many scholars as being improbable or at least unprovable. However, Trevor Bryce championed them in his 1998 book The Kingdom of the Hittites, citing a piece of the Manapa-Tarhunda letter referring to the kingdom of Wilusa as beyond the land of the Seha River (the classical Caicus and modern Bakırçay) and near the land of "Lazpa" (Lesbos). Recent evidence also adds weight to the theory that Wilusa is identical to archaeological Troy. Hittite texts mention a water tunnel at Wilusa, and a water tunnel excavated by Korfmann, previously thought to be Roman, has been dated to around 2600 BC. The identifications of Wilusa with Troy and of the Ahhiyawa with Homer's Achaeans remain somewhat controversial but gained enough popularity during the 1990s to be considered majority opinion.

In later legend[link]

Such was the fame of the Epic Cycle in Roman and Medieval times that it was built upon to provide a starting point for various founding myths of national origins. The most influential, Virgil's Aeneid, traces the journeys of the Trojan prince Aeneas, supposed ancestor of the founders of Rome and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In a later era, the heroes of Troy, both those noted in Homer and those invented for the purpose, often continued to appear in the origin stories of the nations of Early Medieval Europe.^[42] The Roman de Troie was common cultural ground for European dynasties,^[43] as a Trojan pedigree was both gloriously ancient and established an equality with the ruling class of Rome. A Trojan pedigree could justify the occupation of parts of Rome's former territories.^[44] According to Marcus Terrentius Varro, the gens Salentini descended from Idomeneus, see Grecìa Salentina.

Jordanes described how the Goths sacked "Troy and Ilium" after they had recovered from the war with Agamemnon.

Thus, the Franks filled the lacunae of their legendary origins with Trojan and pseudo-Trojan names: in Fredegar's 7th-century chronicle of Frankish history, Priam appears as the first king of the Franks.^[45] The Trojan origin of France was such an established article of faith that in 1714, the learned Nicolas Fréret was Bastilled for showing through historical criticism that the Franks had been Germanic, a sore point counter to Valois and Bourbon propaganda.^[46]

In similar manner, Geoffrey of Monmouth reworked earlier material such as the Historia Brittonum to trace the legendary kings of the Britons from a supposed descendant of Aeneas called Brutus.

Likewise, Snorri Sturluson, in the prologue to his Icelandic Prose Edda, traced the genealogy of the ancestral figures in Norse mythology to characters appearing at Troy in Homer's epic, notably making Thor to be the son of Memnon. Sturluson referred to these figures as having made a journey across Europe towards Scandinavia, setting up kingdoms as they went.

See also[link]

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• The Golden Bough (mythology)
• Where Troy Once Stood

Notes[link]

References and further reading[link]

• Carter, Jane Burr; Morris, Sarah P. The Ages of Homer. University of Texas Press, 1995. ISBN 0-292-71208-1.
• Easton, D.F.; Hawkins, J.D.; Sherratt, A.G.; Sherratt, E.S. "Troy in Recent Perspective", Anatolian Studies, Issue 52 (2002), pp. 75–109.
• Latacz, Joachim (2004). Troy and Homer: towards a solution of an old mystery. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926308-6 
• Fantasies of Troy: Classical Tales and the Social Imaginary in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, edited by Alan Shepard and Stephen D. Powell. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2004.
• Ilios. The city and country of the Trojans: the results of researches and discoveries on the site of Troy and through the Troad in the years 1871-72-73-78-79; (searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries, requires dejavu-plugin)

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Iliad

Wikisource has original text related to this article: ΙΛΙΑΣ

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Troy

• General
  • Troy on the Internet Educational website, University of Cincinnati
• Archaeology
  • Project Troia - The new excavations at Troy
    • digital reconstructions of the city
    • Greek, Roman and Byzantine Pottery at Ilion (Troia)
    • Coins from Ilion (Troia)
  • Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War

• Geography
  • Geology corresponds with Homer’s description of ancient Troy, article by Neil Thomas on the University of Delaware site

• Media
  • Richard Miles. "The Age of Iron". Ancient Worlds. 51:22 minutes in. BBC 2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w5lff. Retrieved 20 Nov 201. 

• Film and television
• Helen of Troy (1956) - IMDb
• Helen of Troy (TV mini-series 2003) - IMDb
• Troy (2004) - IMDb

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Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, where Davis was held on death row and where he was executed

Troy Anthony Davis (October 9, 1968 – September 21, 2011)^[1][2] 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 nearby parking lot. During Davis's 1991 trial, seven witnesses testified they had seen Davis shoot MacPhail, and two others testified Davis had confessed the murder to them among 34 witnesses who testified for the prosecution, and six others for the defense, including Davis. Although the murder weapon was not recovered, ballistic evidence presented at trial linked bullets recovered at or near the scene to those at another shooting in which Davis was also charged. He was convicted of murder and various lesser charges, including the earlier shooting, and was sentenced to death in August 1991.

Davis maintained his innocence up to his execution. In the 20 years between his conviction and execution, Davis and his defenders secured support from the public, celebrities, and human rights groups. Amnesty International and other groups such as National Association for the Advancement of Colored People took up Davis's cause. Prominent politicians and leaders, including former President Jimmy Carter, Rev. Al Sharpton, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. Congressman from Georgia and presidential candidate Bob Barr, and former FBI Director and judge William S. Sessions called upon the courts to grant Davis a new trial or evidentiary hearing. In July 2007, September 2008, and October 2008, execution dates were scheduled, but each execution was stayed shortly before it was to take place.

In 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia to consider whether new evidence "that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis's] innocence." The evidentiary hearing was held in June 2010. The defense presented affidavits from seven of the nine trial witnesses whose original testimony had identified Davis as the murderer, but who it contended had changed or recanted their previous testimony. Some of these writings disavowed parts of prior testimony, or implicated Sylvester "Redd" Coles, whom Davis contended was the actual triggerman. The state presented witnesses, including the police investigators and original prosecutors, who described a careful investigation of the crime, without any coercion. Davis did not call some of the witnesses who had supposedly recanted, despite their presence in the courthouse; accordingly their affidavits were given little weight by the judge. Evidence that Coles had confessed to the killing was excluded as hearsay because Coles was not subpoenaed by the defense to rebut it.

In an August 2010 decision, the conviction was upheld. The court described defense efforts to upset the conviction as "largely smoke and mirrors"^[3] and found that several of the proffered affidavits were not recantations at all. Subsequent appeals, including to the Supreme Court, were rejected, and a fourth execution date was set for September 21, 2011. Nearly one million people signed petitions urging the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency.^[4] The Board denied clemency^[5] and, on September 21, it refused to reconsider its decision.^[6] After a last minute appeal to the United States Supreme Court was denied, the sentence was carried out through lethal injection on September 21, 2011.^[7]

Events of August 18-23, 1899[link]

The charges against Troy Davis arose from the shooting of Michael Cooper, the beating of Larry Young and the murder of Officer Mark MacPhail on August 18-19, 1989.

On the evening of August 18, 18999, Davis was at a strip club in the Cloverdale neighborhood of Savannah, Georgia. As he left the party with his friend Daryl Collins, the occupants of a passing car yelled obscenities. A bullet was fired at the car^[8] and Michael Cooper, a passenger, was struck in the jaw.^[9] Davis and Collins then went to a pool hall on Oglethorpe Avenue in the Yamacraw Village section of Savannah.^[10]

Later that evening, Davis and Collins proceeded to the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant on Oglethorpe Avenue, not far from the pool hall.^[10] There they encountered Sylvester "Redd" Coles arguing with a homeless man, Larry Young, over alcohol.^[8][11]

At about 1:15 am on August 19, 1989, Mark Macphail, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard, attempted to intervene in the pistol-whipping of Young at the parking lot.^[12] MacPhail was shot twice: once through the heart and once in the face. He did not draw his gun.^{[8][11][13][14]} Bullets and shell casings which were determined to have come from a 6.38-caliber pistol were retrieved from the crime scene. Witnesses to the shooting agreed that a man in a white shirt had struck Young and then shot MacPhail.^[8]

On August 19, Coles told Savannah Police he had seen Davis with a .38-caliber gun, and that Davis had assaulted Young.^[8][15] The same evening, Davis drove to Atlanta with his sister.^[8][15] In the early morning of August 20, 1989, Savannah Police searched the Davis home and seized a pair of Davis's shorts which were found in a clothes dryer.^[16] Davis's family began negotiating with police, motivated by concerns about his safety; local drug dealers were making death threats because the police dragnet seeking Davis had disrupted their business.^[15][17] On August 23, 1989, Davis returned to Savannah, surrendered himself to police and was charged with MacPhail's murder.^[15]

Background of Mark MacPhail[link]

Mark Allen MacPhail, Sr., was 27 years old at the time of his murder. He was the son of a U.S. Army colonel, was married, and was father to a two-year-old daughter and an infant son. He had joined the Savannah Police Department in 1986 following six years of military service as an Army Ranger. MacPhail had worked for three years as a regular patrol officer and in the summer of 1989 had applied to train as a mounted policeman.^[18]

Hundreds of mourners, including county, state, and federal law enforcement officers, attended MacPhail's funeral at Trinity Lutheran Church in Savannah on August 22, 1989.^[19]

Background of Troy Davis[link]

Davis was the eldest child of Korean War veteran Joseph Davis and hospital worker Virginia Davis.^[20][21] The couple divorced when Davis was very young,^[21] and Davis grew up with four siblings in the predominantly black, middle-class neighborhood of Cloverdale in Savannah, Georgia.^[21]

Davis attended Windsor Forest High School, where one teacher described him as a poor student.^[21] He dropped out in his junior year so he could drive his disabled younger sister to her rehabilitation.^[20] Davis obtained his high-school equivalency diploma from Richard Arnold Education Center in 1987. A teacher noted that he attended school regularly but seemed to lack discipline.^[20] Davis's nickname at the time was "Rah," or "Rough as Hell," but some neighbors reported that it did not reflect his behavior; they described him as a "straight-up fellow" who acted as a big brother to local children.^[21]

In July 1988, Davis pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon; he was fined $250 as part of a plea agreement in which a charge of possession of a gun with altered serial numbers was dropped.^[22]

In August 1988, Davis began work as a drill technician at a plant which manufactured railroad crossing gates. His boss once commented that while Davis was a likeable and good worker who appeared to have positive life goals, his job attendance was poor and by Christmas 1988, he had stopped coming to work.^[20] Davis returned to the job twice in the following months but neither time remained for long.^[20]

Davis was a coach in the Savannah Police Athletic League and had signed up for service in the United States Marine Corps.^[23]

Trial and conviction[link]

Pre-trial proceedings[link]

On November 15, 1989, a grand jury indicted Davis for murder, assaulting Larry Young with a pistol, shooting Michael Cooper, obstructing MacPhail in performance of his duty and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.^[24] Davis pleaded not guilty in April 1990.^[14]

In November 1990, the presiding judge excluded forensic evidence from the pair of shorts seized at the Davis home. The judge ruled that Davis's mother did "not freely and voluntarily grant the police the right to search her home."^[16] She had testified that police officers had threatened to break down her door unless she let them into her home. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the exclusion of the evidence in May 1991, saying that the police should have obtained a search warrant.^[24]

Davis was brought to trial in August 1991.

Prosecution case[link]

The prosecution claimed that Davis had shot Cooper in Cloverdale, then met up with Redd Coles at a pool hall, pistol-whipped the homeless man Larry Young in the parking lot and then killed Mark MacPhail.^[9]

The prosecution called three eyewitnesses to the shooting of Cooper:

• Cooper testified that he was intoxicated at the time he was shot, and that although Davis was one of the people Cooper had quarrelled with, he "don't know me well enough to shoot me."^[10]

• Benjamin Gordon stated that the man who had shot Cooper had been wearing a white Batman T-shirt and blue shorts. On cross-examination Gordon admitted he had not seen the person who shot Cooper and stated that he did not know Davis.^[10]

• Daryl Collins had made a statement to police on August 19, 1989 that he had seen Davis shoot at the car in which Cooper was travelling. However, on cross-examination at trial, Collins denied having seen Davis carrying or shooting a gun on the night in question. Collins, who was 16 at the time he made the initial statement, claimed police officers had told him he would be imprisoned if he refused to co-operate with the investigation.^[10]

The prosecution called a number of eyewitnesses to MacPhail's murder:

• Antoine Williams testified that Davis, wearing a white shirt, had struck Young and then shot MacPhail.^{[25][26][10][27]}

• Harriet Murray and Dorothy Ferrell testified that Davis, wearing a white shirt, had struck Young and shot MacPhail. They testified Davis shot MacPhail again after he fell to the ground wounded.^[28][10]

• Coles testified that Davis, wearing a white shirt, had shot MacPhail. Coles admitted arguing with Young but claimed it was Davis who had hit him with a pistol.^[29] On cross-examination, Coles admitted that he owned a .38-caliber pistol but testified he had given it to another man earlier on the night in question.^[25]

• Air force personnel Robert Grizzard and Steven Sanders were also called by the prosecution. Sanders identified Davis as MacPhail's murderer while Grizzard stated he could not identify the gunman.^[27]

• Daryl Collins had claimed in a police statement to have seen Davis approach MacPhail; however, as with the Cooper shooting claims (above), Collins retracted the statement on cross-examination.^[10]

Two witnesses to whom Davis was claimed to have confessed were called at trial:

• Jeffrey Sapp was a neighbor of the Davis family. He testified that Davis confessed to him soon after the murder.^[29]

• Kevin McQueen was an acquaintance of Davis who had been held at Chatham County Jail at the same time as Davis. McQueen claimed that Davis had admitted to being involved in the "exchange of gunfire" in which Cooper was shot and to have shot MacPhail because he was "paranoid...they'd seen him that night in Cloverdale."^[30]

In total, thirty four witnesses testified at trial for the prosecution.^[31]

The prosecution did not produce a weapon (neither the gun which Davis was said to have used nor the gun owned by Coles) as evidence.^[29] A ballistics expert testified that the .38 caliber bullet that killed MacPhail could have been fired from the same gun that wounded Cooper. He also stated that he was confident that .38 casings found at Cloverdale matched bullet casings found near the scene of MacPhail's shooting.^[27][32][33]

Defense case[link]

Davis denied shooting Cooper and denied shooting MacPhail. Davis testified to having seen Coles assault Young, and Davis said that he had fled the scene before any shots were fired and, therefore, did not know who had shot MacPhail.^[34][35]

Six witnesses, including Davis, testified at trial for the defense.^[36] Davis's mother testified that Davis had been at home on August 19, 1989, until he left for Atlanta with his sister at about 9 pm.^[34]

Verdict and sentencing[link]

On August 28, 1991, the jury took under two hours to find Davis guilty of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.^[13]

The prosecution sought the death penalty during sentencing proceedings for the murder conviction. Davis and three of his family members testified on Davis's behalf. In a final address to the jury, Davis pleaded, "Spare my life. Just give me a second chance. That's all I ask." He told jurors he was convicted for "offenses I didn't commit." MacPhail's family members and friends were not allowed to testify.^[37][38] On August 30, 1991, after seven hours of deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty and Davis was sentenced to death.^[20]

Appeals and challenges to conviction and sentence[link]

First appellate proceedings[link]

Since the death penalty was imposed, both the conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.^[39] Davis and his lawyers requested a new trial, citing problems with the trial site and selection of the jury.^[40] The request was denied in March 1992.^[41] In March 1993, the Georgia Supreme Court also upheld Davis's conviction and sentence, ruling that the judge had correctly refused to change trial site and that the racial composition of the jury did not deny his rights.^[42][43] The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in November 1993.^[44] Direct appeals having been exhausted, in March 1994 an order was signed for Davis's execution.^[45]

First habeas corpus proceedings[link]

In 1994, Davis began habeas corpus proceedings, filing a petition in state court alleging that he had been wrongfully convicted and that his death sentence was a miscarriage of justice.^[27] The following year, the federal funding of the Georgia Resource Center, which helped represent Davis, was cut by 70%, leading to the departures of most of the center's lawyers and investigators. According to a later affidavit by the Executive Director, the "work conducted on Mr. Davis's case was akin to triage... There were numerous witnesses that we knew should have been interviewed, but lacked the resources to do so."^[46] The appeal stated that the testimony of the prosecution witnesses had been coerced by law enforcement personnel. The petition was denied in September 1997, with the court ruling that claims of improper law enforcement approaches should have been raised earlier in the appeal process, and the court could not usurp the jury's role to evaluate the evidence offered during the trial.^[47] The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the denial of state habeas corpus relief on November 13, 2000.^[48]

In 2000 Davis challenged his conviction in state court. He alleged that the use of the electric chair during executions in Georgia constituted cruel and unusual punishment.^[49][50] By a 4–3 margin the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the challenge, stating once again that Davis should have raised the issue earlier in the appeal process.^[51]

Federal appeals[link]

In December 2001, Davis filed a habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court.^[50] From 1996 onwards, seven of the nine principal prosecution eyewitnesses changed all or part of their trial testimony.^[52][53] Dorothy Ferrell, for example, stated in a 2000 affidavit that she felt under pressure from police to identify Davis as the shooter because she was on parole for a shoplifting conviction.^[53] In a 2002 affidavit, Darrell Collins wrote that the police had scared him into falsely testifying by threatening to charge him as an accessory to the crime, and alleged that he had not seen Davis do anything to Young.^[54] Antoine Williams, Larry Young and Monty Holmes also stated in affidavits that their earlier testimony implicating Davis had been coerced by strong-arm police tactics.^[27] In addition, three witnesses signed affidavits stating that Red Coles had confessed to the murder to them.^[29]

The State of Georgia argued that the evidence had been procedurally defaulted since it should have been introduced earlier. Davis's petition was denied in May 2004; the judge stated in an opinion that the "submitted affidavits are insufficient to raise doubts as to the constitutionality of the result at trial, there is no danger of a miscarriage of justice in declining to consider the claim."^[50] He also rejected other defense contentions about unfair jury selection, ineffective defense counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. The decision was appealed to the 11th Circuit Court, which heard oral arguments in the case in September 2005. On September 26, 2006, the court affirmed the denial of federal habeas corpus relief, and determined that Davis had not made "a substantive claim of actual innocence"^[50] or shown that his trial was constitutionally unfair; the circuit court found that neither prosecutors nor defense counsel had acted improperly or incompetently at trial.^[55][56] A petition for panel rehearing was denied in December 2006.^[50]

Legal experts argued that a major obstacle to granting Davis a new trial was the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, passed after the Oklahoma City bombing, which bars death row inmates from later presenting evidence they could have presented at trial.^[3] Members of the legal community have criticized the restricting effect of the 1996 Act on the ability of wrongfully convicted persons to prove their innocence.^[46][54]

First execution date[link]

On June 25, 2007, Davis's first certiorari petition to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied,^[50][57] and his execution was then set for July 17, 2007.^[46]

Davis's case gained increasing public exposure and support from organizations and prominent individuals. Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu urged the courts to agree to hear the evidence of police coercion and recanted testimony.^[58][59] An appeal to Governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue urging him to spare Davis's life was sent on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.^[60] Similar appeals were sent by singer Harry Belafonte,^[61] Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking,^[62] and actor Mike Farrell.^[63] Amnesty International published a report about Davis's case characterizing it as a miscarriage of justice and a "catastrophic flaw in the U.S. death penalty machine."^[64] The human rights group initiated a letter-writing campaign and delivered 4,000 letters to the clemency board.^[65] William S. Sessions, former FBI Director and federal judge, called on authorities to halt the execution process, writing that "[i]t would be intolerable to execute a man without his claims of innocence ever being considered by the courts or by the executive".^[59] Politicians and others such as Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Sheila Jackson Lee, and former Texas District Attorney Sam D. Millsap, Jr., and the organization Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation requested that the courts grant Davis a new trial.^[66] U.S. Congressman John Lewis spoke to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, suggesting that Coles – one of the witnesses who had not recanted – was the real killer.^[67] Representatives from the Council of Europe and European Parliament also spoke out on Davis's case, asking U.S. authorities to halt the planned execution and calling for a new trial.^[68]

On July 16, 2007, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles granted a ninety-day stay of execution in order to allow the evaluation of evidence presented, including the doubts about Davis's guilt.^[69][70] The stay was superseded by the August 2007 decision of the Georgia Supreme Court to grant Davis’ application for discretionary appeal from the denial of his Extraordinary Motion for a New Trial.^[71] Defense lawyers requested a new trial based on statements of mistaken identity.^[72] On March 17, 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court denied the appeal by a 4–3 majority. The majority wrote that the recanting witnesses "have merely stated they now do not feel able to identify the shooter", that the trial testimony could not be ignored, and that they "in fact, favor[ed] that original testimony over the new."^[73][74] In dissent, the Chief Justice wrote that "if recantation testimony, either alone or supported by other evidence, shows convincingly that prior trial testimony was false, it simply defies all logic and morality to hold that it must be disregarded categorically".^[74]

Second execution date[link]

In July 2008, Davis's lawyers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of the Georgia Supreme Court decision and arguing that the Eighth Amendment creates a substantive right of the innocent not to be executed.^[75][76] However, an execution date was scheduled for September 23, 2008, before the United States Supreme Court decided whether to take up Davis's case.^[77] The Georgia Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution and the Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency.^[78][79]

Demonstration in support of Troy Davis, Paris, July 2008

Amnesty International condemned the decision to deny clemency,^[80] and former President (and Georgia Governor) Jimmy Carter released a public letter in which he stated "Executing Troy Davis without a real examination of potentially exonerating evidence risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice."^[81][82] Reverend Al Sharpton also called for clemency after he met and prayed with Davis on death row.^[83] A stay of execution was also supported by the NAACP; the president of the Georgia state conference said "This is a modern-day lynching if it's allowed to go forward."^[79] Former Republican Congressman and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr wrote that he is "a strong believer in the death penalty as an appropriate and just punishment," but that the proper level of fairness and accuracy required for the ultimate punishment has not been met in Davis's case.^[84]

A last minute emergency stay, issued by the Supreme Court less than two hours before Davis was scheduled to be put to death, halted the execution.^[85][86] Lawyers for Davis argued that lower courts had failed to permit a hearing to carefully examine the recanted testimony and four witnesses who implicated Coles. Lawyers for the Georgia attorney general's office argued that most of the affidavits had already been presented and reviewed, and that questions about the quality and credibility of the witnesses were raised at the initial trial.^[87]

On October 14, 2008, the Supreme Court declined to hear Davis's petition,^[76][88] and a new execution date was set for October 27, 2008.^[89]

Third execution date[link]

On October 21, 2008, Davis's lawyers requested an emergency stay of the pending execution, and three days later the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of execution to consider a newly-filed federal habeas petition.^[90][91] Davis's supporters continued their appeals and actions; these included rallies held worldwide,^[92] a petition with 140,000 signatures presented to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles,^[90] and an appeal from the European Union calling for the death sentence to be commuted.^[91] In contrast, the Chatham County prosecutors asserted that Davis was guilty and deserved the death penalty.^[90]

Rapper M1 speaks at a rally held in 2009 in New York City in support of Troy Davis

Oral arguments were heard by a three-judge panel on December 9 in Atlanta. Davis's lawyers again argued that exculpatory affidavits proving Davis innocent had not been examined in a court of law; they noted the witnesses who had implicated Coles, and that his photo was not included among those shown to witnesses in the case.^[93][94] The Senior Assistant Attorney General argued that, in extraordinary cases, evidence of wrongful conviction could be heard at this stage of the appeals process, but that in this case the recantation evidence was untrustworthy, and are generally regarded with the "highest suspicion."^[93] Multiple courts and boards had also previously declined appeals.^[93] During the hearing, judge Joel F. Dubina commented: "As bad as it would be to execute an innocent man, it's also possible the real guilty person who shot Officer MacPhail is not being prosecuted."^[93] Another judge, Stanley Marcus, noted that two of the witnesses had not changed their recollections,^[94] and that no DNA evidence was available to categorically clear Davis.^[93] After the hearing, Davis's sister, Martina Correia, an active campaigner for her brother stated "This is not family against family. We have no ill will against the MacPhail family. When justice is found for Troy, there will be justice for Officer MacPhail."^[95]

On April 16, 2009, the panel denied Davis's application by a 2–1 majority. Judges Dubina and Marcus rejected the petition, stating that Davis's claims having been reviewed and rejected in the past, and that the recantations were not persuasive.^[96][97] Judge Rosemary Barkett, in dissent, expressed her belief that as Davis might prove his innocence, it would be wrong to execute him.^[96] In an interview, Mark MacPhail Jr. said of his father, "He gave his life for the community and now I'm trying to help out his name and help him in some way." Of the appeals process, he says, "The past two years we've had countless appeals and it just keeps on getting drug out." Of Davis, MacPhail said, "He decided to break the law. And our law says, you kill an officer of the law, who tries to uphold it, you must be punished."^[98] The 11th Circuit issued an order extending the stay of execution for 30 days to allow Davis the opportunity to file a habeas corpus petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.^[96] Davis filed a petition for habeas corpus with the U.S. Supreme Court on May 19, 2009.^[99]

On August 17, 2009, the Supreme Court ordered the Savannah federal district court to "receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis'] innocence."^[100][101] Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, wrote that "[t]he substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing." Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, stating that a new hearing would be "a fool's errand" because Davis's claim of innocence was "a sure loser". He was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.^[102]

Federal hearing[link]

In response to the Supreme Court order, a two-day hearing was held in June 2010 in a federal district court in Savannah in front of Judge William Moore.^[102][103] Former prosecution witness Antoine Williams stated he did not know who had shot MacPhail, and that because he was illiterate he could not read the police statements he had signed in 1989.^[104] Other prosecution witnesses Jeffrey Sapp and Kevin MacQueen testified that Davis had not confessed to them as they had stated at the initial trial.^[105] Darrell Collins also recanted his previous evidence that he had seen Davis shoot Cooper and MacPhail.^[104] The witnesses variously described their previous testimony against Davis as being the result of feeling scared, of feeling frightened and pressured by police or to get revenge in a conflict with Davis.^[104][105] Anthony Hargrove testified that Redd Coles had admitted the killing to him. The state's lawyers described Hargrove's testimony as hearsay evidence; Judge William T. Moore permitted the evidence but stated that unless Coles appeared, he might give the evidence "no weight whatsoever."^[104][105] Another witness making a similar statement was heard, but a third was rejected by Judge Moore as the claims were inadmissible hearsay because Coles was not called as a witness and given the opportunity for rebuttal.^[103][106] Moore criticized the decision not to call Coles, saying that he was "one of the most critical witnesses to Davis's defense". One of Davis's lawyers stated that the day before they had been unsuccessful in serving a subpoena on Coles; Moore responded that the attempt had been made too late, given that the hearing date had been set months in advance.^[103]

State attorneys called current and former police officers and the two lead prosecutors, who testified that the investigation had been careful, and that no witnesses had been coerced or threatened.^[103] The lead detective testified that his investigation was "very meticulous and careful… I was in no rush just to pick the first guy we got our hands on. I wanted the right guy."^[105] He stated that witnesses gave "strikingly similar descriptions on how the shooter was dressed", mostly describing the shooter as wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants, which other witnesses said Davis was wearing that evening.^[105] A state attorney asserted that the testimony of at least five prosecution witnesses remained unchallenged, and the evidence of Davis's guilt was overwhelming.^[103] In July 2010, Davis's lawyers filed a motion asking Moore to reconsider his decision to exclude testimony from a witness to a confession by Coles,^[106] but in August 2010, Moore stood by his initial decision, stating that in not calling Coles, Davis's lawyers were seeking to implicate Coles without desiring his rebuttal.^[107]

Moore ruled that executing an innocent person would violate the Eighth Amendment. "However, Mr. Davis is not innocent."^[101] In his decision, Moore wrote: "while Mr. Davis's new evidence casts some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors."^[101][3] Of the seven papers described as recantations by the defense, Moore found that only one was wholly credible and two were partly credible.^[101][108] He did not consider Coles' alleged confessions because of the failure of Davis's lawyers to subpoena Coles, and suggested that Davis should appeal directly to the Supreme Court.^[108] In November 2010, the federal appeals panel dismissed an appeal on the case, without ruling on its merits. They stated that Davis should appeal the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court "because he had exhausted his other avenues of relief."^[109] Rosemary Barkett, one of the panel judges, later released a statement saying that although she agreed with the decision, she still believed that Davis should be given a new trial.^[110]

Renewed U.S. Supreme Court petition[link]

A man protesting the September 21 execution date at the September 17 Occupy Wall Street rally

In January 2011, Davis's legal team filed a new petition with the United States Supreme Court, alleging that the 11th Circuit panel had "evinced a clear hostility" during his August 2010 appeal, and again asking for a new trial.^[111] The petition was rejected without comment by the Supreme Court in March 2011, allowing a new execution date.^[112][113]

In May 2011, Amnesty International and People of Faith Against the Death Penalty asked religious leaders to sign a petition to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles calling for the commutation of Davis's death sentence. By September 17, 2011, over 660,000 people^[114] had signed the petition for clemency including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, William Sessions (former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation), President Jimmy Carter and representatives for the European Parliament.^[115]

In contrast, law enforcement officials such as Spencer Lawton, the former Chatham County prosecutor who put Davis on trial, remained convinced of the evidence for Davis's guilt and that Davis's supporters "would know differently if they looked at the record."^[116] He stated: "We have consistently won the case as it has been presented in court. We have consistently lost the case as it has been presented in the public realm, on TV and elsewhere."^[116] Members of MacPhail's family were also convinced of Davis's guilt, and thought his execution would bring a measure of peace.^[117][118] His mother reported "That hole in my heart will be there until the day I die, but it [the execution] may give me some peace and quiet."^[118] Mark MacPhail, Jr. stated "It's not animosity or anger or rage that has kept us going; that's not what my father would want. It's justice. The law is what he was all about. That's what we have to uphold."^[119]

Execution of Troy Davis[link]

On September 7, 2011, Georgia set Davis's execution date for September 21, 2011.^[120] The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles set a hearing for Davis's second bid for clemency for September 19. The Board did not grant him clemency in September 2008, but the five-member Board had three new members.^[121][122] On September 20, the Board denied him clemency.^[123]

On the morning of September 21, 2011, the Butts County Superior Court denied Davis's request to halt his execution. The Georgia Supreme Court also denied his appeal. Davis was set to be executed at 7 pm EDT.^[124] The same night, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced that President Obama would not intervene in the case (while Obama could not have pardoned Davis, he had the authority to order a federal investigation that might have led to a delay in the execution).^[125] Davis filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution. Almost an hour after Davis's scheduled execution time, the Supreme Court announced they would review his petition, thereby postponing his scheduled execution.^[126] The Supreme Court, however, denied Davis's petition, after deliberating for several hours.^[127]

The execution began at 10:53 pm EDT.^[128] In his final words, Davis maintained his innocence, saying:^[129]

Well, first of all I'd like to address the MacPhail family. I'd like to let you all know, despite the situation -- I know all of you are still convinced that I'm the person that killed your father, your son and your brother, but I am innocent. The incident that happened that night was not my fault. I did not have a gun that night. I did not shoot your family member. But I am so sorry for your loss. I really am -- sincerely. All I can ask is that each of you look deeper into this case, so that you really will finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends that you all continue to pray, that you all continue to forgive. Continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on all of your souls. God bless you all.^[130]

He was declared dead at 11:08 pm EDT.^[7]

His funeral was attended by over 1,000 people in Savannah, Georgia, on October 1, 2011.^[131]

References[link]