US carries out death penalty in spite of worldwide protests

A GLOBAL campaign failed to halt the execution of Troy Davis in the US state of Georgia – and he received a lethal injection for killing of an off-duty police officer.

Davis was pronounced dead at 11.08pm local time – 4.08am yesterday UK time – and the officer’s family said they finally had justice after 22 years.

He was put to death for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail. The officer, who was working as a security guard, was fatally shot while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked by Davis and others.

Defiant to the end, Davis told relatives of Mr MacPhail the 1989 murder was not his fault.

“I did not have a gun,” he insisted.

“For those about to take my life,” he told prison officials, “may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.”

The lethal injection began about 10.55pm local time, after the Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request for a stay.

The court did not comment on its order, which came about four hours after it received the request and more than three hours after the planned execution time.

Amnesty International says nearly one million people signed a petition on Davis’ behalf, and his supporters include former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, a former FBI director, several conservative figures and many celebrities.

The US Supreme Court gave Davis an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence in a lower court last year, though the high court itself did not hear the merits of the case.

He was convicted in 1991 of killing Mr MacPhail in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah. No gun was ever found and prosecutors said shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting for which Davis was convicted.

Though Davis’ attorneys said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their testimony, state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against granting him a new trial.

As the court losses piled up, his offer to take a polygraph test was rejected and the pardons board refused to give him one more hearing.

“He has had ample time to prove his innocence,” said Mr MacPhail’s widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, “and he is not innocent.”

On Wednesday, Davis’ supporters staged vigils in the US and Europe, declaring I am Troy Davis on signs, T-shirts and the internet.

As many as 700 demonstrators gathered outside the prison while a few dozen riot police stood watch.