GEORGIA (USA): PARDONS BOARD DENIES PLEA FOR CLEMENCY

Death row inmate Troy Davis

20 September 2011 :

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to commute the death sentence of Troy Davis.
Davis is scheduled to be put to death in Georgia by lethal injection tomorrow at 7 p.m. The board released its decision just after 8 a.m., after spending an entire day hearing from Davis' supporters and then prosecutors and MacPhail's relatives.
The Davis family said through a spokeswoman they were not ready to comment on the decision Tuesday morning but may hold a news conference later in the day. They are still planning to visit Davis at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near Jackson, the location of the state's death row and execution chamber.
"It’s the wrong decision," said one of Davis' attorneys, Jason Ewart. "It’s a mistake." While some states give the governor the authority to commute a sentence of someone about to be executed that is not the case in Georgia; that power lies with the parole board.
 

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