Troy Davis

By William Dinesen

  • Mark MacPhail shot

    19 August 1989 – Mark MacPhail, a police officer in Savannah working at night as a private security guard, intervenes to help a homeless man who is being beaten by a man in a car park. MacPhail is shot twice and killed by the attacker of the homeless man.
  • Period: to

    Troy Davis

  • Troy Davis is arrested

    23 August 1989 – Troy Davis is arrested and charged with the murder of MacPhail, based largely on the word of another man present at the shooting, Sylvester 'Redd' Coles.

  • Trial starts

    August 1991 – Davis goes on trial. The jury is shown no physical evidence and the murder weapon is never found. But nine witnesses, including Coles, say they saw Davis shoot MacPhail. Davis pleads not guilty, saying he had seen Coles hit the homeless man, but had then left the scene before the shooting took place. The jury sides with the prosecution and Davis is found guilty.

  • Davis is put on death row

    30 August 1991 – Jury recommends death penalty, and Davis is put on death row.

  • Stories change

    September 2003 – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper begins to publish stories in which key witnesses at Davis's trial recant their testimony. In all, seven of the nine witnesses who said they saw Davis shoot MacPhail later changed their stories, several saying they had implicated Davis having been pressured by police. Other witnesses come forward to point the finger at Coles, saying that he had boasted that he was the real killer.

  • Stanby on the execution

    16 July 2007 – The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles grants 90-day stay of execution, just one day before Davis is scheduled to be executed.

  • Washington steps in

    23 September 2008 – At his second execution date, the Georgia supreme court and Board of Pardons and Parole both decline to get involved. The US supreme court in Washington steps in, delaying the execution pending its decision on whether or not to hear the case. Davis is spared just two hours before he is scheduled to die.

  • Third execution date

    27 October 2008 – Davis's third execution date. The date is set after the US supreme court decides not to hear the case. Three days earlier, the Georgia court of appeals puts a hold on the execution to allow a new petition to be made.

  • Apeals fail fourth execution

    7 September 2011 – After several more appeals fail, Georgia sets a fourth execution date for 21 September.

  • 663,000 signatures

    15 September – A petition with 663,000 signatures is delivered to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles calling for clemency.

  • Jimmy Carter joins the fight

    16 September – Jimmy Carter joins other public figures and celebrities in calling for a stay on the execution. "When there's doubtful evidence about whether someone's guilty, they certainly shouldn't be executed," he says.

  • A march is held in Atlanta

    17 September – Crowds march through the streets of Atlanta calling for a stay of execution.

  • Board of Pardons and Paroles

    19 September – The five-member Board of Pardons and Paroles hear pleas for clemency.

  • Set to die for the last time

    21 September – Davis is set to die on his fourth execution date.

  • Troy Davis is executed

    21 September, 11.08pm ET: Troy Davis is executed four hours after the appointed time when the US supreme court refuses to grant a stay, dashing his hopes of a reprieve.