Troy Anthony Davis

I had been to prisons a few times before in my life, but never to death row. I came into contact with Troy Anthony Davis through my daughter, Ledra, a staunch death penalty opponent who had been writing him for probably about a year. She had let me read witness statements and transcripts of proceedings in his case, and through these, I became convinced, as she is, that he is innocent of the crimes of which he was convicted - a drive-by shooting in Savannah and, the same night, the murder of a Savannah policeman in the parking lot of a Burger King adjacent to the bus station in  even while his trial was still in progress, the majority of the witnesses who testified to his guilt recanted their testimony. One of the witnesses who did not recant is the likeliest suspect in the murder or the policeman.

I visited Troy for the first time in November of 2005, with my daughter. From photos she had shown me, I recognized him on the other side of the bars, before we were admitted to the visitation room. He was beaming, his face alight. When we passed the bars, he swooped each of us up in a fierce, loving hug. He's a strong, handsome man who has kept himself in good shape. Ledra had been to visit him before, had been writing him for months, and they had a connection. With me, he was nervous. He talked non-stop about the circumstances that led him to the dire place where we visited him. My feeling was that he wanted so much for me to understand how he got there. I left believing, as I did when I entered the visitation room, that this man does not belong on death row, is innocent, and has been wrongly convicted.

One thing I observed while visiting Mr. Davis is the courtesy he shows to other inmates and visitors. He accorded to each person in the room dignity and respect. I think he gives others what he would like to have for himself. But he does not allow himself to get very close to people whom he may lose, on death row, in the worst of all possible ways.

Troy calls us sometimes. Our phone conversations are about the most natural communications we have. He seems less pressured and anxious on the phone. He writes us, and I write him. He had a Court of Appeals hearing a few months ago on whether he is entitled to an evidentiary hearing as part of the appellate process. One of the judges was especially interested in the witness recantations, and asked the Savannah district attorney's representative if it did not "bother her" that so many of the damning witnesses at trial had retracted their testimony. The D.A. responded that the witnesses (whom the City of Savannah had put on the stand, with great confidence, against Troy Anthony Davis, were unreliable, as a lot of them were "cousins" (i.e., unreliable black kids who would lie to protect one of their own). The Savannah Police certainly presented them as reliable when they were testifying against him. Go figure. Easy collar. Closed case.

INNOCENT MAN.