Death Row Cases That Will Make You Question Capital Punishment

Nathaniel Woods, Leonard Taylor, Troy Davis, the Martinsville Seven and other cases

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Worst: Troy Anthony Davis Is Executed - Despite a huge public outcry and high-profile appeals for clemency, Troy Anthony Davis, a Memphis youth accused of shooting a police office in Savannah, Georgia, was executed by lethal injection on September 21. Many believe the capital punishment verdict stemmed from an inaccurate, and possibly corrupt, conviction, rattling many of his supporters' faith in the entire criminal justice system. (Photo: AP Photo/The Savannah Morning News, File)
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The Martinsville SevenCarlos De Luna, executed 1989 - The state of Texas put Carlos De Luna to death in 1989 for the killing of a convenience store clerk in 1983. De Luna maintained his innocence throughout. In 2006, The Chicago Tribune reported testimony from five people who said another man, Carlos Hernandez, had bragged about killing the clerk and that De Luna went to death row in his place.\r(Photo: Corpus Christi Police Dept.)

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Troy Davis was convicted in 1991 for the murder of an off-duty police officer, Mark MacPhail, in Savannah, Georgia. The conviction baffled advocates in support of Davis. There was no murder weapon, DNA or fingerprints linking Davis to the crime — only eyewitness testimony. Making matters more contentious, all but two of the original non-police witnesses recanted or contradicted their testimony implicating Davis as the shooter. Troy Davis always maintained his innocence. He was executed on Sept. 21, 2011, at 42 years old.

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