Convicted murderer executed in US despite protests

Sep 22, 2011, 8:19 GMT

Washington - A convicted murderer was put to death in the United States late Wednesday, after the Supreme Court refused a last-minute appeal to stay the execution.

Troy Davis, 42, received a lethal injection and died at 11:08 pm (0308 GMT Thursday). He was convicted of the 1989 murder of an off-duty policeman, Mark Allen McPhail, in the state of Georgia.

The execution was originally due to take place at 7 pm, but was delayed while the Supreme Court deliberated on an appeal by Davis' lawyers submitted an hour earlier, which it then rejected.

His execution had been delayed three times previously, while lawyers argued that seven of the nine original witnesses against him had retracted or disputed their own testimony.

Earlier in the day, when the Supreme Court decision was still pending, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, in Jackson, Georgia, where the execution was to take place, chanting: 'Save Troy Davis.'

When reports of the delay reached the crowd, people shouted, laughed and danced, according to broadcast coverage of the protests. State police in riot gear then formed a growing cordon between the protesters and the prison.

Protesters had also gathered outside the White House in Washington.

During the previous decisions to delay the execution, seven of nine witnesses recanted or backed away from their testimony in the Davis' murder trial. Some claimed police coercion, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said.

The case drew international protests. On Wednesday, France made an appeal for clemency. Nearly 1 million people signed an Amnesty petition to stop the execution.

France's appeal followed similar calls from Pope Benedict XVI, the European Union and former US president Jimmy Carter.