To the Editor:
 
This coming Tuesday, Troy Davis will be executed. Six days later, the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear his appeal. People across the country and around the world, from the Libertarian candidate for president and former Georgia congressman Bob Barr to Pope Benedict XVI, are calling for a stay of execution. As Barr put it in his letter to the parole board: "The doubts about the Davis case have not been resolved, and fears that Georgia might execute an innocent man have not been allayed."
This is certainly true. Of the nine witnesses who testified at trial, seven have recanted. No murder weapon has ever been found. Several witnesses have now said another man has admitted to being the actual killer. Interestingly, this man, who was at the scene and is one of only two witnesses not recanting his story, is said to have been seen with the same caliber gun used to murder Officer Mark Allen MacPhail minutes before the shooting.
In order to be sentenced in this country, a person must be guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. The standard when the irreversible death penalty is applied should be higher, not lower.
 
Paul Fleming
Ph.D. Candidate, Electrical Engineering