Georgia parole board ponders fate of condemned murderer Troy Davis

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The fate of Troy Davis -- the Georgia man facing imminent execution for the slaying of a Savannah police officer -- was in the hands of the five-member state parole board Monday as it deliberated on whether to grant him clemency based on new evidence that has surfaced since his 1991 conviction.

As of 6:30 p.m. Monday, the board had not announced a decision in the case, which has garnered international attention and sparked fresh debate over the wisdom of the death penalty. Since the original trial, seven of nine witnesses have recanted their statements. But a U.S. district judge, who reviewed the case in 2010 on the orders of the U.S. Supreme Court, declared that the additional evidence was ‘largely smoke and mirrors.’

A decision could come as late as Wednesday, when Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Eastern time at a state prison in Jackson, Ga., said Steve Hayes, a spokesman for the state Board of Prisons and Paroles.

A jury convicted Davis, now 42, for the murder of Mark MacPhail, a 27-year-old Savannah police officer. On an August night in 1989, MacPhail was working as a security officer in downtown Savannah when he was fatally shot while trying to assist a beating victim.

The mood outside the board’s offices in a downtown Atlanta office tower was charged with emotion and weariness as the two-decade-old case -- in which Davis has faced four execution dates -- appeared to be winding toward a conclusion. A few dozen protesters stood in the shadow of Georgia’s gold capitol wearing T-Shirts that declared, ‘I AM TROY DAVIS.’ They held hands and quietly sang, ‘We who believe in justice cannot rest until it comes.’

Edward O. DuBose, president of the NAACP Georgia State Conference, implored the crowd to return to pray and protest through the week for Davis’ sake and ‘for the Troys who will come after Troy.’

Inside the building, just outside the doors of the parole board, members of the slain officer’s family, who had a chance to speak before the board, told reporters of the pain they continued to feel.

‘He is forever frozen at [age] 27,’ said his daughter, Madison MacPhail, 23. ‘And it’s hard.’

Widow Joan MacPhail-Harris and Anneliese MacPhail, the officer’s mother, said they were convinced of Davis’ guilt and hoped he would be executed.

‘There is no doubt in my mind,’ Anneliese said.

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--Richard Fausset in Atlanta