A Last-Minute Plea for Help

There are few things worse than feeling helpless in situations that need - require- action.

I got a phone call tonight from a friend across the country who has been following and active with the case of a man by the name of Troy Davis, who is on death row. Back in 1991, he was convicted of murdering a police officer. After many appeals to have his case heard in a federal court, he has been denied one final time and his execution date is set for this Tuesday, September 23, 2008. That is only a few days away...

I will confess that no matter the case or the "evidence" of guilt, I do not believe the death penalty should EVER be the answer. That being said...

The facts about this case that I both heard from Karl tonight and read online (see this fact sheet for a quick timeline of the case) are so disturbing... To say the least, it seems he was convicted in such a way that would never stand in court today. No weapons, no physical evidence, etc. That, and there were 9 eyewitnesses then... and 7 of them have recanted, many of them now saying they testified because they were pressured or coerced - in some cases even paid - by police to offer the witness they did. Yet there has not been a chance for his case to even be re-heard with this new "evidence" pointing toward his innocence.

I am completely 100% against the death penalty, and in many ways it is because of cases like this one. It is such a terrible thing to hear about cases like this one, to see all that has been done before to try and change this, to try and do something to save a life, to bring justice to those to whom it is do.

I do not know what to do. I know we can pray for Troy and his family and friends. We can pray for Karl and his supporters who are actively seeking to bring attention to this case, actively seeking to save his life. We can pray for those in and working through the system that it change not only for this one case, but in the many cases that are yet to come.

It seems helpless. It seems like there are only 2 1/2 days to go until his execution so it might be too late... but the reality is, last time a date was set, it was changed within 24 hours of what could have otherwise been his final 24 hours of life. I'm clinging to hope and prayer tonight as folks continue to work for Troy in ways that will hopefully save his life, and undoubtedly change their own. I know learning of this case in the way I did tonight has already changed mine. My prayer is that a few people in the right positions of "power" will allow it to change theirs, as well. I hope you'll pray with us, and if you're in the area (Georgia), you will ACT. I'm not sure what that action needs to be... but as we pray about it, maybe we'll figure it out...