We Need Your Help to Save a Life

[Bryan Buchan]

Dear Abolition Partners,

As you all know, Troy Davis’ stay of execution is for up to 90 days, but in reality we could have much less time than that. For those of you who have access to various email listserves or other outlets where actions can be disseminated, please pass along information and encourage your various groups to take action. The url to take action through Amnesty’s website, as well as find more background information, is below. I am also attaching a postcard signing action that can be used in large events, churches, etc. to garner signatures, as well as a template letter that people can sign on to.

Before the last hearing, on July 16th, Troy supporters delivered boxes filled with thousands of letters and petitions in support of clemency. This made a powerful statement, and we need to keep these letters coming in to ensure that Troy gets clemency. This is especially important as another hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, August 9th, at the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. We greatly appreciate any help that you can provide.

Please reply and let me know if you pass this information on, so that we can keep track of where it is being disseminated. Many many thanks, and apologies for those who have already received this message.

www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis

*************************
Jessie Cohn
Program to Abolish the Death Penalty
Amnesty International USA // [e-mail]

TEMPLATE LETTER:

State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, Georgia, 30334-4909
Fax: [phone]

Dear Board Members,

Re: Troy Anthony Davis

I am writing out of deep concern for Georgia death row prisoner Troy Davis. I appreciate the time you have spent reviewing Davis’s case and I trust you will continue to look very carefully at all of the information available.

Seven of the nine non-police prosecutorial witnesses whose testimony was used against Davis at his trial have since recanted or contradicted their trial testimony. One key witness who has not changed his story, Sylvester Coles, could indeed be the perpetrator according to information presented in witness affidavits. These affidavits reveal statements that Coles made, actions he took, and his possession of a weapon that was likely to have been used the night of the crime. Many of the trial witnesses have come forward stating that their original signed statements implicating Davis, were written for them by police officers, and were signed under conditions of intense pressure and fear. These statements, which have come out after the high-pressure time of the Davis trial, reveal a very different picture about what happened the night of the crime than what was presented to the jury that convicted and sentenced Davis.

Given that over 120 people have been wrongfully convicted in capital cases since 1976, including six from Georgia, it is especially vital that you review all the information in this case so that the state of Georgia does not make an irreversible and horrific error. The reliability of witness testimony has been a strong contributing factor leading to many wrongful convictions. And with the lack of physical evidence or a murder weapon in Davis’s case, this is especially critical.

Davis has not had a hearing in the appeals courts on the reliability of the witness testimony used against him at trial and thus, has not been able to obtain meaningful review in the appeals process. Your power to grant clemency in death penalty cases is a critical safeguard against the state of Georgia making the worst possible error a state can make.

Thank you for your attention to this compelling case. I strongly encourage you to grant clemency to Troy Davis.

Sincerely,

Name:

Address: