Supreme Court turns down death row inmate Troy Davis' request for a new trial

Last month, Facing South reported on the case of Troy Davis, the 39-year-old African-American man from Georgia, who was scheduled to be executed in September despite widespread concern Davis is an innocent man.

Davis was granted a last-minute stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court less than two hours before his scheduled execution, while it decided whether to hear the case. But this week the justices declined to give his appeal a full-blown hearing, thus clearing the last hurdle toward his death by lethal injection, reports the Associated Press.

This is despite calls from his supporters to reconsider the case because seven of nine key witnesses against him have recanted their testimony. The AP reports that Davis' legal team said it was frantically searching for other recourse, but those prospects seem dim.

Many tens of thousands of people in the USA and around the world have appealed for clemency for Troy Davis. Among them were former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI; the European Union, the European Parliament, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe; former FBI Director William Sessions, and former and current members of U.S. Congress Bob Barr, Carol Moseley Braun and John Lewis.

"The Supreme Court's decision is truly shocking, given that significant evidence of Davis' innocence will never have a chance to be examined," Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a press release. "Faulty eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions, and the hallmark of Davis' case. This was an opportunity for the Court to clarify the constitutionality of putting the innocent to death - and in Davis' case, his innocence could only be determined with a new hearing or trial. It is disgraceful that the highest court in the land could sink so low when doubts surrounding Davis' guilt are so high."