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( Troy Davis song lyrics )
THE WRONG MAN
( SITS ON DEATH ROW )
Copyright © 2009 - MickTerry.com

On a street curb,
a homeless man sat drinking
when he's hassled by a bully with a gun.
Then, an off-duty cop at a fast food shop
as security came to his aid.
A crowd of kids was thinking
this was entertainment in a night of fun.
But the gun went- off and the rent-a-cop- dropped.
In three days he'd be laid in his grave.

    THE WRONG MAN SITS ON DEATH ROW
    since 1991,
    convicted on the strength of testimony given by nine.
    THE WRONG MAN SITS ON DEATH ROW:
    no evidence, no gun
    linking this WRONG MAN to- this crime.

As the crowd split,
what happened still is sketchy,
but the cops had to avenge one of their own.
Then, some man nicknamed Redd, with his lawyer came & said,
"It's Troy Davis &, you know, he's on the lam".
The truth had started stretching
as the white-hot bare-bulb lamp was glaring down.
Cops put pressure- on for each witness to conform
to the story that Troy Davis was their man.

    CHORUS

        One witness grilled for sev'ral hours-.
        One witness was told she'd go to jail.
        One witness couldn't read the statement,
        but he signed, 'though to him it looked like Braille.
        One witness swore he couldn't ID,
        but in two years he swore that it was Troy.
        One witness, named Redd, with a lot on his head,
        testified he knew for sure that Troy's their boy.

Through the years,
all but those last two recanted.
Court appointed lawyers strapped by budget cuts.
Technicalities arose. Troy has had his share of those
and restrictions by laws that don't apply.
The truth was bent and slanted.
Witness said that Redd had bragged he killed the cop.
No "beyond a doubt", time is running out.
No reason given, Troy's appeals have been denied.

    CHORUS

(spoken)
        Is this what you call justice?
        Is this what you call right?
        Is this what you call being tough on crime?
        For 20 years, Troy Davis fought for his life  ...
        in what little time he still had left.

Copyright © 2009  MICK TERRY  Silent Tree Music  All rights reserved
[ Reprinted here by permission of the composer-lyricist ]   BMI
|   CONTACT   |

9-21-11:
Troy Davis denied clemency & executed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Davis_case
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/douthat-justice-after-troy-davis.html
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/troy-davis-willing-to-1185439.html?cxtype=rss_news
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44601908#44601908

4-16-09:
11th Circuit Court of Appeals 30-day stay of execution for Troy Davis
to expire on May 15th.   US Supreme Court refused to review case.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/14/opinion/courtwatch/main4522093.shtml
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/page.do?id=1011343

Since 1991, Troy Davis has been on death row in a Georgia prison,
convicted for Mark MacPhail's murder.
7 of 9 eye-witnesses recanted testimony, claiming pressured by police,
now implicating 1 of other 2 witnesses, Sylvester "Redd" Coles.
Georgia courts have refused to hear new evidence due to technicalities
& "tough-on-crime" statutes that severely restrict a convict's appeals.
http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

8-19-89:
Off-duty Savannah, GA, police officer Mark MacPhail,
working as a security guard at a Burger King,
was murdered as he came to aid a homeless man being harrassed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Anthony_Davis

To other crime song lyrics:   FORTY BIBLES
To other police song lyrics:   IT'S JUST A JOB
To other prison song lyrics:   FRANKLINTOWN FLOOD
LITTLE TIMMY (McVEIGH)
HEY, YOU TALKING TO ME?
SADDAMI, SADDAMI, BALONEY
GIVE THE POOR GUY A BREAK
NEW NEIGHBOR FROM ATASCADERO
SECURITY STRIP-SEARCHED GRANNY
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