Were they to have taken the case, the question before the Court would not have been whether Mr. Davis is guilty or innocent, but instead more broadly, "whether the death penalty is barred for an individual with a strong claim of innocence."  I certainly would have been interested to see what kind of arguments would have been made on the "no" side of this question.

Mr. Davis was accused of killing a police officer named Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia and was convicted despite the fact that "no DNA or other physical evidence was found."   In fact, his conviction was based "solely on the testimony of nine witnesses...[and] seven of these witnesses have recanted" their testimony since, with "two claiming that the police had pressured them to testify against him."

I wish I could provide some glimmer of hope that Troy Davis's life will be spared, but unfortunately I cannot.  Only the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles could grant him clemency, and they would have executed him three weeks ago had the Supreme Court not intervened; the odds are certainly against him. 

Though there is little hope now that the fight to save the life Mr. Davis will end in victory, it does not mean that we can completely give up hope.  Each individual case, each letter writing campaign, each statewide ban, brings us one step closer to nationwide abolition of capital punishment.  In Mr. Davis's own words, "may God keep us all safe to do all we can to change the world, one state at a time."