Troy Davis is the man who never had a chance. He never had a chance of survival even with tons of support toward his innocence. Who is Troy Anthony Davis? He was a 42 year old man that after 22 years of imprisonment was lethally injected with chemicals that would ultimately paralyze his lungs and stop his heart. Why was this man sentenced to death? Troy Anthony Davis was convicted of murdering a police officer named Mark MacPhail.

According to the court, Troy Davis was guilty and deserved to die. Troy Davis never plead guilty to the charge and the court had no physical evidence against him. Davis tried for 22 years to get a retrial because of no evidence against him except for witnesses that testified against him. This man had support from former president Jimmy Carter, reverend Al Sharpton, former FBI director and judge William S. Sessions, and many celebrities. After being convicted and found guilty of murder and other offenses, the court system set a execution date for July 17th, 2007. Davis kept petitioning and pushing appeals until the court system eventually postponed the execution date for September 23rd, 2008. Again it was postponed due to Davis’ continuous fight until October 27th, 2008. Troy noticed that the court was obviously not going to give him another chance as they kept denying his appeals and his petition of habeas corpus. After 3 years plus many more petitions and pleas for retrial, the court decided on a final date, September 21,2011. In 2008 Davis pleaded for clemency and was denied. The same situation happened on September 20,2011 where Davis was again denied clemency.

Troy Anthony Davis attempted one more petition on the morning of September 21st, 2011. Butts County Superior Court and the Georgia Supreme Court denied his appeal. Davis also sent an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court which actually reviewed his petition, thus postponing his execution from 7 pm until several hours later. The outcome for Troy Davis stayed the same and the execution began. At 10:53 pm on September 21st, 2011, lethal chemicals were injected in his body and his last words were, “I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your brother, your father.” These words were directed towards Mark MacPhails family who were present during the execution. Troy also stated that he wanted his family to continue his fight.

Troy Davis’ case will be remembered in the books, but Troy Davis as a man who continued to fight for his innocence will be remembered forever. Please read more on Davis’ story and share your comments on how this 22 year long trial came to an end that affected many people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Davis_case