Scott Winfield Davis (Innocent) Georgia Department of Corrections
Scott Winfield Davis is Innocent
Scott Davis, convicted in 2006 of the 1996 murder of David Coffin, Jr., has been fighting for six years to prove his innocence. New evidence, presented in court in late 2011, strongly indicates a deliberate disregard for correct evidence handling procedures and incompetence by Atlanta police and other state agencies in the case against Davis. He seeks to have his conviction overturned or have the chance for a new trial.
In the 2011 filings, attorneys for Davis presented evidence of multiple, deliberate violations of standard operating procedure (SOP) in the case. Evidence expert and former police officer Robert A. Doran testified for the defense that the handling of evidence in this case was the ?worst (he had) ever seen.?
Overall Mishandling of Evidence
Photos provided by a former Atlanta Police Department (APD) Evidence Room Commander showed evidence in the room unsecured, falling off shelves, mixed, contaminated and unlabeled.
· Former AFD employee Linda Tolbert admitted that she lied on an affidavit she provided concerning what happened to the alleged murder weapon. She testified that Fulton Co. Investigator Chris Harvey intimidated her to do so.
Mishandling of Fingerprint Evidence
GBI Latent Print Examiner Al Pryor admitted to dozens of SOP violations concerning how unidentified latent prints found at the crime scene (known to be from someone other than Scott Davis) were mishandled. Pryor admitted to not running the prints through AFIS despite having them for more than nine years.
Pryor also admitted to intentionally destroying the fingerprint cards due to ?age,? also against SOP in an open homicide case. No backups were made of the print.
Mishandling of Gun Evidence
A key prosecution witness, gun examiner Bernadette Davy, faked or was incorrect in her conclusions in more than 13 percent of her cases according to an audit by the GBI. Davy was terminated by the GBI in 2009 and many of her cases are under review.
In 1996, David Coffin, Jr. was murdered in his Buckhead home, which was set afire to hide evidence of the crime. Scott Davis was initially arrested by police, but authorities found no evidence linking him to the murder and all charges were dropped. But nine years later in 2005, Davis was re-arrested for the murder and charged. After four days of jury deliberation, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in December 2006.
Davis has maintained his innocence from the very beginning of this case and maintains it today. He has repeatedly said, ?All I have ever wanted was a fair trial to prove my innocence. Instead, I got one tainted by altered or missing evidence as well as by perjury of the detectives and witnesses. I am innocent and I deserve a new trial.?
In the 2011 filings, attorneys for Davis presented evidence of multiple, deliberate violations of standard operating procedure (SOP) in the case. Evidence expert and former police officer Robert A. Doran testified for the defense that the handling of evidence in this case was the ?worst (he had) ever seen.?
Overall Mishandling of Evidence
Photos provided by a former Atlanta Police Department (APD) Evidence Room Commander showed evidence in the room unsecured, falling off shelves, mixed, contaminated and unlabeled.
· Former AFD employee Linda Tolbert admitted that she lied on an affidavit she provided concerning what happened to the alleged murder weapon. She testified that Fulton Co. Investigator Chris Harvey intimidated her to do so.
Mishandling of Fingerprint Evidence
GBI Latent Print Examiner Al Pryor admitted to dozens of SOP violations concerning how unidentified latent prints found at the crime scene (known to be from someone other than Scott Davis) were mishandled. Pryor admitted to not running the prints through AFIS despite having them for more than nine years.
Pryor also admitted to intentionally destroying the fingerprint cards due to ?age,? also against SOP in an open homicide case. No backups were made of the print.
Mishandling of Gun Evidence
A key prosecution witness, gun examiner Bernadette Davy, faked or was incorrect in her conclusions in more than 13 percent of her cases according to an audit by the GBI. Davy was terminated by the GBI in 2009 and many of her cases are under review.
In 1996, David Coffin, Jr. was murdered in his Buckhead home, which was set afire to hide evidence of the crime. Scott Davis was initially arrested by police, but authorities found no evidence linking him to the murder and all charges were dropped. But nine years later in 2005, Davis was re-arrested for the murder and charged. After four days of jury deliberation, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in December 2006.
Davis has maintained his innocence from the very beginning of this case and maintains it today. He has repeatedly said, ?All I have ever wanted was a fair trial to prove my innocence. Instead, I got one tainted by altered or missing evidence as well as by perjury of the detectives and witnesses. I am innocent and I deserve a new trial.?
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