Op-Ed contributor Bob Barr writes about how a possibly innocent man (Tony Davis) may be in fact executed for the murder of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Ga, in 1989. Lower level courts may in fact convict him on the basis of 7 of the 9 witnesses have proclaimed him guilty. The hard part about this case is that there is nothing else to turn to. Because there is no weapon, DNA or video surveillance to back up this case, Mr. Davis’s life rests solely on the accounts of a few witnesses. Barr also adds that some of these witnesses later admit to being pressured into testifying! One lady says that since she was on parole, she did not want to make the officers resent her for not testifying against Mr. Davis. If she did not testify, she felt they would take her back to jail. Barr states many times that the United States Senate MUST take up this case to protect justice and the rights of the Constitution.
I completely agree with Mr. Barr but I will go further than he may be capable as a writer for the New York Times. In today’s world, corruption has struck many places. We as a nation try to believe that the US is free from this but it is obviously not true. It is unacceptable for a possibly innocent man to die because of the anger of other police officers. Yes they are mad because of the loss, but they can not take their authority to far. In this situation, it seems that because the officers feel they are so close to “even up” for the death of their colleague that they break a few rules to see it finished. In today’s legal system where the motives of attorneys seem debatable, the last thing this country needs is a biased police force. Policemen should be held to the highest standard because they are the first line of defense. They have the most opportunities to break the rules and if they as a whole are not the most dependable, our legal situation will continue to get worse.