Death Row Inmate Troy Davis Executed in Georgia
Death row inmate Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for a stay in the high-profile case that drew global attention and led hundreds to protest. Davis is shown here in a handout photo from the Georgia Department of Corrections. REUTERS/Ho New

The fate of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis is in the hands of a state pardons board. The Georgia pardons board is expected to announce whether or not it will grant leniency to Davis, convicted of killing a cop and scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Wednesday.

The 42-year-old Davis has long professed he's innocent of killing police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989 in Savannah, and his looming execution has gained international attention since no physical evidence was presented against him during trial. Also, multiple witnesses have later recanted or changed their stories in the years after the murder.

The Georgia Board of Pardons has the power to change death sentences, however, the board rarely does so. The board consists of one woman and four men, and it's the only body in the state that has the power to commute Davis' death sentence barring a last-minute stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

High-profile supporters of Davis have included former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. Other protests have been held throughout Georgia and elsewhere, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles and in hundreds of other towns in the U.S. and around the globe.

Davis is set to die by injection on Wednesday, the fourth time in four years his execution has been scheduled.

Davis was convicted at a 1991 trial on the basis of nine witnesses who all said they saw him shoot the police officer. But in the years since the trial, many witnesses have said they were pressured to implicate Davis by investigating police officers.

The parole board spent several hours on Monday listening to testimony from supporters of Davis, including family and friends. Also, prosecutors and the slain officer's family attended, arguing that the execution to occur as scheduled.

MacPhail's family said after the closed-door hearing they asked the board to reject Davis' clemency attempt so they can finally have peace.

A future was taken from me. A future we would have had together, the future he would have had with his family, said a tearful Madison MacPhail, who was a toddler when her father was killed, according to CBS News. I believe the death penalty is the correct source of justice.

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