A Shoddy Case Moves Closer to Execution in Georgia

From the NY Times:

In a split decision, the Georgia Supreme Court refused Monday to allow a new trial for a man sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer, despite recantations from seven of nine witnesses who originally testified against him.

The dissent, written by Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, called the court “overly rigid” in its considerations of the new evidence in support of a new trial and said it failed to allow “an adequate inquiry into the fundamental question, which is whether or not an innocent person might have been convicted or even, as in this case, might be put to death.”

Also, Capital Defense Weekly weighs in here with additional citation of the court opinions and Amnesty International calls the ruling "Finality Over Fairness":

There was no physical evidence against him and the weapon used in the crime was never found. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.