Davis supporters rally outside Jackson prison

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Supporters of Troy Anthony Davis outside the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia.

By Don Logana - bio | email

JACKSON, GA (WTOC) - Supporters of Troy Anthony Davis were back in Jackson, Georgia Friday where he sits on death row at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison.

Lynn Hopkins and Carolyn Bond have joined the, "I am Troy Davis" movement.

"We wrote to Troy, we exchanged letters and emails and we even visited a few times," Hopkins told us.

Friday, Davis received another visit, this time from NAACP president Ben Jealous and Georgia congressmen John Lewis and Hank Johnson.

After their two hour meeting, they told the media how they felt about Davis' case.

"I came away convinced that this man is an innocent man," said Lewis. "Never before have I felt this strongly. We need to put this on the top of the agenda of America and the world."

Earlier this month, Davis' lawyers filed an appeal to the United States Supreme Court asking for hearing in Federal Court.

See Davis attorneys filing appeal in US Supreme Court.

Davis supporters also submitted paperwork to the US Supreme Court asking the court to review the case and grant him a new hearing.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. He's been on death row ever since.

"The railroading of Troy Davis is obvious but they will not stop this train," said Johnson talking about the effort to save Troy Davis' life.

Since Davis' trial, seven out of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony.

"The State of Georgia and Sonny Perdue, if you owe anything to anybody, it's the guards who have to kill someone they know is innocent," said Jealous.

Joining the trio was Davis' sister Martina Correia, who had a message for President Obama.

"President Obama says this will not be a country of torture but my brother has faced execution three times and now a fourth time and that is pure torture," said Correia.

"The courts must stop acting on procedure and act on the truth" said Laura Moye with Amnesty International.

And while Davis continues to wait for his fate, new supporters have joined the fight.

"We must do, we must act and we must act now," said Lewis.

His longtime supporters say they are learning to deal with the fight, including the wins and losses from Davis himself.

"I think he's doing better than any of us," said Hopkins. "But there's a long road ahead."

Davis supporters have sent letter to attorney general Eric Holder and Chatham County district attorney Larry Chisolm. NAACP president Ben Jealous has also requested a meeting with Gov. Perdue.

There could be a decision on Davis' latest appeal from the US Supreme Court by mid-June.