On a sad and distressing note on March 17, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 4-3 against Troy Davis' request for a new trial. Davis, who is on death row for the 1989 murder of a police officer, claims he is innocent and that he was a victim of mistaken identity. Since his trial in 1991, seven of the witnesses called by the prosecution have recanted their testimony. Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the dissenting opinion that Davis should at least have a hearing because, "In this case, nearly every witness who identified Davis as the shooter at trial has now disclaimed his or her ability to do so reliably." If the presiding judge determined the new evidence to be credible, it "would show the probability that a new jury would find reasonable doubt of Davis' guilt or at least sufficient residual doubt to decline to impose the death penalty," according to Justice Sears. Last year, Davis received a stay less than 24 hours before he was to be executed in order for the Court to review his claim of innocence. Davis will likely turn to Georgia's Board of Pardon and Paroles to request clemency.

More about this case is here: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=2651&scid=64 and also here: http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/