This undated file photo provided by the Georgia Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Troy Davis. Georgia corrections officials have scheduled a Sept. 21, 2011, execution date for Davis, for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. Davis, now 42, insists he’s innocent and his lawyers, arguing they could prove it, have managed to spare him from three execution dates in the last four years. (AP Photo/Georgia Department of Corrections, File)ATLANTA – With less than half a day left to live, Troy Davis faced execution Wednesday despite a furious campaign in the U.S. and Europe to win clemency for the 1989 slaying of a Georgia policeman he claims he did not commit.
Vigils outside Georgia’s death chamber were set and protests were planned. Davis’ attorneys said he was willing to take a polygraph test if the pardons board would consider its results. And they didn’t rule out filing one last legal appeal, though they know it’s a long shot.
In Europe, where the planned execution has drawn widespread criticism, legislators and activists were making a last-minute appeal to the state of Georgia to refrain from executing Davis. Amnesty International and other groups planned a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Paris later Wednesday. Amnesty International also planned to hold a vigil outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Wednesday night.
Renate Wohlwend of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly noted doubts raised about Davis’ conviction by his supporters. She said that “to carry out this irrevocable act now would be a terrible mistake which could lead to a tragic injustice.”
After winning three delays since 2007, Davis lost his most realistic chance at last-minute clemency this week when the state pardons board denied his request. He was set to be executed by injection at 7 p.m. Wednesday for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard in Savannah when he was shot dead rushing to help a homeless man who had been attacked.