High Court Slated to Consider Troy Davis Petition

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – The U.S. Supreme Court is expected today to consider a long-shot habeus petition by Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. Davis's lawyers filed it last month, asking for a new evidentiary hearing which, they claim, will show that Davis is innocent.

WABE's Odette Yousef reports.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Seven of the nine state witnesses who implicated him have since recanted.

The U.S. Supreme Court rarely grants the type of petition that Davis seeks. But even so, his sister, Martina Correia, says there are other options. They all lie with the Chatham County District Attorney:

CORREIA: He could reopen and reinvestigate this case himself. He can seek a death warrant for Troy. He could also recommend to the Parole Board that the sentence of death be commuted to life or life without parole.

Attempts to reach District Attorney Larry Chisholm were unsuccessful by airtime.

Correia says a high court decision on whether to hear Davis's case could come as early as Monday, or as late as the fall.

Odette Yousef, WABE News.