Parole board denies clemency for death-row inmate in Georgia

Marcus Ray Johnson is scheduled to died by lethal injection on November 19 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7:00 p.m. In March 1994, Johnson and Sizemore met at a bar in Albany, Ga., and left together.

Unlike others put to death, he had no final statement, he did not look at any of the witnesses, and he said no when asked if he would like a prayer. Prosecutors say there is no doubt Johnson killed Sizemore. “It’s time to end the death penalty once and for all”. “Georgia should be erring on the side of caution, not rushing its citizens pell mell to the execution chamber”.

This means An execution date has been set for a Dougherty County man convicted of a 1994 murder.

The protesters said it is possible to be against the death penalty and also have compassion for the victim’s family.

With the decision of the board still pending, Johnson’s attorney, Brian Kammer, filed a second writ of habeas corpus and a petition for a stay of execution in the Superior Court of Butts County.

Attorneys for Johnson have also said they are petitioning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The board, as is its custom, did not give a reason for its denial.

That case drew worldwide attention after the pope urged the state parole board to spare her life.

Her body was found lying across the passenger seat of her vehicle the following morning by a man walking his dog. Later reports showed she’d been cut and stabbed 41 times with a small, tiresome knife.

Claims that important forensic evidence remained to be tested were not enough to stop the next scheduled execution in Georgia. The rest of the state’s case is circumstantial and is based on unreliable and inconsistent eyewitness testimony, he said in court filings.

Kammer has maintained Johnson’s innocence, stating that no incriminating DNA or fingerprints were found in Sizemore’s SUV, that there was only a “drop” of Sizemore’s blood found on Johnson’s leather jacket, and none was found on the alleged murder weapon.