(posted in its entirety, with consent)
http://savannahherald.net/letter-to-the-editor-p562.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=94&mad=NoLetter to the Editor
• Wed, Jun 30, 2010
As I sat in the courtroom I wondered if my ancestor’s experienced the same sick feeling I was having in my stomach watching Troy Anthony Davis on trial for his life. His life in the hands of a racist judicial system that looks at the life of a black man like it is a joke. I saw Spencer Lawton, a man who was in charge of prosecuting those who committed crimes in Chatham County from 1981 to 2009 for 29 years display blatant racism and classism while on the stand. When the defense attorney asked retired district attorney Spencer Lawton if he remembered promising anyone deals in 1989 for lying on Troy Anthony Davis he said no but when asked if he wrote letter’s to the major newspaper’s and radio stations trying to get them published in 2008 asking them to publish the story for Troy Anthony Davis he couldn’t remember, he lied and got a case of amnesia. It also amazed me that Judge William T. Moore would not allow the defense to show that the credibility of the District Attorney’s office during the 1989 trial of Troy Anthony Davis, the office was truly tainted. The hearing in my opinion should have been held somewhere else, not in this county.
One by one the witnesses got on the stand under oath and told how they were interrogated by three and four police officers at one time, yelling at them, threatening them and being told if they did not say Troy Anthony Davis was the killer they would go to jail as an accessory to murder. After each witness the State Attorney brought up all the witnesses criminal records, to break down their credibility. It seemed amazing it was the same criminal records they had when Spencer Lawton used them to testify against Troy Anthony Davis; their credibility was never an issue when they spoke against Troy Anthony Davis.
Then one by one each police officer got on the stand and said they never coerced or threatened a witness. One witness signed a statement against Troy Davis and he could not read or write. One officer got on the stand and said he could not remember the details of the Davis case. He said and I quote, “I can remember the 70’s but I cannot remember the 80’s.
The state tried to talk about the shorts found in Mrs. Davis’s washer, they had not been washed, the police went to the house at night and the shorts and other clothing was still in the washer. DNA testing showed there was no blood on shorts, the DNA for blood was not in existence, the state was pulling straws hoping to find something but came up with nothing. Now let us talk about the weapon, the only person who testified they had a gun, a 38 caliber, the same caliber the police officer was killed with was Sylvester Red Coles. Coles was the man who was arguing with the homeless man over the can of beer as he testified to, not Troy Anthony Davis. Then when asked by the lawyers if they ever found Mr. Coles gun, the police officers on the stand said he was not a suspect so there was no need to look for Coles’ gun. They looked in some bushes and that was it, never got a warrant and searched Coles home for the gun. It was also suspicious that this man Sylvester Red Coles the next day after the shooting went to the office of a well known attorney in this county, John Calhoun for representation on a crime he didn’t commit.
It was obvious that, all the state witnesses, the prosecutors, the lawyers, some of the police and the judge were familiar with each other and therefore, some bias against Troy Anthony Davis does exist in the Chatham County judicial system. It was very sad to hear the state say that actual innocence is still not as important as procedure. In all the hearings Troy Anthony Davis has had over the years, his lawyers have always received a split decision, 4 to 4, 2 to 1, 3 to 2. Troy has always lost in a close split decision. What that says is that many judges have problems with Troy’s case and believe he should have a new trial.
One thing is for sure no matter what the decision by Judge William T. Moore in the federal court here in Savannah, the United States Supreme Court has said something is wrong with this case; the sad part is they thought fairness exists in our courts in Savannah, when it comes to people of color and the poor. After dealing with individuals in this community with legal issues and seeing the system at work it’s time for a change. People of color wake up and see what’s going on in our community. Educate yourselves on the judicial system, young men and women of color learn what your rights are so that something like this doesn’t happen again.
Alicia Blakely, President
Savannah Chapter - National Action Network
— Savannah Herald
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