VIA FACSIMILE TO (404) 651-8502

May 1, 2007

Mr. Garland Hunt, Chair
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, Georgia, 30334-4909

Dear Chairman Hunt and Board Members: 

I am writing to urge you to carefully consider the case of Troy Davis, whose appeals are running out and whose case may soon appear before you for review.  I would hate for Georgia to make a tragic irrevocable mistake. 

Troy was not convicted on the basis of any physical evidence while recantations and new testimony from key witnesses has created serious questions of doubt about his guilt in the murder of police officer Mark Allen McPhail.  The death sentence is the harshest punishment the law can impose – it should never be undertaken where legitimate doubt exists. New evidence, not available to the jury, must be weighed in the balance. 

Inasmuch as six people from Georgia have been wrongfully convicted in capital cases since 1976, it is especially urgent that you review the information in this case so that our state does not make an irreversible and horrific error.  Many studies show something we did not know when this conviction was rendered – that eyewitness testimony is extraordinarily unreliable.   

Davis has not had a hearing in federal court 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 our state making the worst possible error a state can make.  Thank you for your attention.  I strongly encourage you to consider clemency to Troy Davis. 

Sincerely,

 

Janice L. Mathis, Esq.
Vice President for Legal Affairs