It Is Done. Troy Davis Has Been Executed.

THE FINAL WORDS OF TROY DAVIS

"I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent.

The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.

I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.

For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls."
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"Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders."
-Albert Camus, French philosopher

Troy Davis is gone. We had hoped that he would have been allowed to live, as he obviously wanted to, or allowed to fight for justice as was his right, but Troy Davis was not a mass murdering master of war, he was not a voracious captain of industry and his supporters in high places could not quench the state's blood lust disguised as justice.

"[I am] haunted by the demon of error -
error in determining guilt
and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die."
-George Ryan, former Illinois Governor

The article below mentions that the relatives of the man he was alleged to have murdered, were most present even after all the intervening years, to witness his execution. I hope that they were able to finally have their satisfaction. Will they sleep well tonight? Will their relative be returned to them?

"To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice."
-Desmond Tutu

Troy Davis IS this world in the hands of brutes and whether we care to admit it or not, we have all been sentenced to death.

"I think this country would be much better off if we did not have capital punishment....We cannot ignore the fact that in recent years a disturbing number of inmates on death row have been exonerated."
-John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Troy Davis: timeline of main events in the legal saga.
The Telegraph | Thursday 22 September 2011 5:16AM

Troy Davis in a recent picture (Lt) and during his trial in 1991(Rt) Photo: AP

Troy Davis has been executed in Jackson, Georgia despite a swirl of international pleas for clemency in one of the highest-profile US execution cases in years. Georgia parole board rejects appeal for Troy Davis

Here is a timeline of the main events in a legal saga that has dragged on for more than two decades and made Davis a poster child for death penalty abolitionists:

August 19, 1989: Off-duty white police officer Mark MacPhail is working as a security guard at a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia when he intervenes in an argument between several men in the parking lot. He is shot in the heart and face without having drawn his gun and dies instantly.

August 23, 1989: Troy Davis, a 20-year-old unemployed black man, is arrested after being implicated by a witness.

April 1990: Davis pleads not guilty at a preliminary hearing.

August 1991: The trial begins with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.

August 28, 1991: The jury, composed of seven blacks and five whites, finds Davis guilty after less than two hours of deliberation.

August 30, 1991: Davis has testified during the sentencing phase of the trial, maintaining his innocence, but the jury recommends the death penalty and he is sentenced to death.

March 1992: A first request for a new trial is denied.

March 1993: Georgia's Supreme Court upholds the conviction and the sentence.

December 2001: Davis files an appeal with the US federal district court saying seven of nine original witnesses have recanted their testimony.

May 2004: A judge declines to consider the claim and rejects other claims about unfair jury selection, ineffective defense counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.

September 2006: The 11th Circuit Court upholds this decision on appeal saying Davis has failed to substantively prove his innocence or show his original trial was constitutionally unfair.

June 2007: Davis's execution is set for July 17, 2007.

July 16, 2007: After appeals rain in from notaries including Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles grants a 90-day stay of execution at the 11th hour.

August 2007: The Georgia Supreme Court grants Davis a discretionary appeal for a new trial on the basis of mistaken identity.

March 17, 2008: The Georgia Supreme Court denies the appeal by a 4-3 majority.

July 2008: Davis's second execution date is scheduled for September 23, 2008.

September 23, 2008: The US Supreme Court issues a last minute emergency stay less than two hours before he is due to be put to death.

October 14, 2008: The US Supreme Court declines to hear Davis's petition and sets a third execution date of October 27, 2008.

October 21, 2008: Lawyers for Davis request an emergency stay as rallies are held worldwide pleading for clemency.

October 24, 2008: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a stay of execution to consider a newly-filed habeas corpus petition.

December 9, 2008: A three-judge panel hears oral arguments at a hearing in Atlanta.

April 16, 2009: The panel denies Davis's application by a 2-1 majority.

May 19, 2009: Davis files a petition for habeas corpus with the US Supreme Court.

August 17, 2009: In a rare move the US Supreme Court orders a Savannah federal district court to open a new hearing.

June 2010: A panel dismisses the appeal with Judge William Moore finding only one of the witness recantations wholly credible.

January 2011: Davis files a new appeal with the US Supreme Court.

March 2011: The appeal is rejected.

September 7, 2011: Georgia sets Davis's fourth execution date for September 21, 2011.

September 20, 2011: The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denies Davis's last-ditch bid for clemency.

September 21, 2011: The five-member board refuses to reverse its decision and also denies a request to allow Davis to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

- 7:00 pm (2300 GMT): Davis scheduled time to be put to death is delayed by the Supreme Court, as the nine justices weigh a final stay of execution, which they deny three hours later.

- 11:08 pm (0308 GMT) Davis is pronounced dead after receiving a lethal injection, with MacPhail's relatives looking on.

"...I think everybody in there understood the enormity of what was going on, and acted accordingly. It was very, very quiet, very respectful and very sombre."
But did they really understand the enormity of what was going on?
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A Note From The Gull

Great Spirit, protect my country from barbarity. Give us the wisdom to recognise that the law does not guarantee justice. The most corrupt state has the most laws.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare