Davis Execution Goes Before Parole Board

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Today the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles will hear pleas to change the sentence of Troy Anthony Davis. Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing a Savannah police officer.

Davis is scheduled for execution tomorrow. His lawyers and activists have been trying to get an appeals court to reconsider the case.

Since Davis was sentenced, 7 of 9 witnesses have recanted their testimonies. And new evidence suggests that another person shot Officer Mark McPhail.

But the courts have declined to review the case because of procedural technicalities. So Jason Ewart, Davis' attorney, says the Parole Board is nearly Davis' last hope.

EWART: If you really examine the evidence now, the recantations, and the new evidence, there is beyond reasonable doubt that Troy did not commit this crime. And we're hoping the Pardon and Parole Board plays its role as a failsafe, and I'm sure it will.

The Board can change Davis' sentence from execution to life in prison without parole. After hearing from Davis' lawyer, the Board will hear counterarguments from the family of slain Officer McPhail.