http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...l-2358927.html
Quote:
There was no physical evidence, blood samples, or DNA linking Davis to the crime. The murder weapon was never found. His conviction instead relied on witness statements from nine people, seven of whom have since recanted their evidence, saying they were coerced into delivering it by police officers.
Several members of the jury have since come forward to say that they reached the wrong verdict. Meanwhile, a further witness has claimed that another man, Sylvester Coles, privately confessed to the murder.
Coles is known to have owned a gun similar to the one used to shoot MacPhail, but claims to have lost it shortly after the killing. He was at the scene, and is one of the two remaining prosecution witnesses who is yet to recant his evidence. Despite the apparent flaws in the conviction, lawyers for Davis failed to overturn it because they were unable to conclusively prove that he was innocent. The mere (sic) appearance of doubt regarding evidence presented to a jury at an original trial is not sufficient to have a death sentence commuted.
|
If he was white, he'd have been released years ago .....