On Monday 29 September, the US Supreme Court was to begin deliberations on the fate of death row inmate Troy Davis – it's the 39-year-old's last chance of appeal for his life.

Troy Davis has always said he is innocent of the murder of off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. There are serious doubts about his guilt and compelling evidence of his innocence hasn't been heard in court.

Media reports says the Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision by 6 October.

You can take action now to help try to save his life.

Just hours before he was due to put to death in the state of Georgia, on Tuesday 23 September, Troy Davis was granted a stay of execution by the US Supreme Court. The court had been scheduled to consider if he would allow his appeal six days after he had actually been executed.

Amnesty International US executive director Larry Cox says:

" …"For reasons that are unfathomable, Chatham County officials seemed doggedly determined to ram this execution through before justice could fully run its course."

" "We are grateful that the US Supreme Court has shown the foresight to stay the execution. We hope that it takes up the case and looks at it with fresh eyes, marking the first time that evidence pointing to Davis' innocence will have been heard in a court of law …"

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert says Georgia is "among the most cold-blooded of states when it comes to dispatching prisoners into eternity".

Witnesses recant evidence

Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, but authorities never produced a murder weapon or any physical evidence linking him to the crime. On top of that, seven of the nine original state witnesses have recanted or changed their testimonies in sworn affidavits.

We have campaigned intensively for clemency for Troy Davis, and have collected well over 200,000 petition signatures since launching our report on the case early last year.

In our report, Troy Davis writes:

" ..."I truly understand a life has been lost and I have prayed for that family just as I pray for mine, but I am innocent and all I ask for is a true day in a just court. If I am so guilty why do the courts deny me that? The truth is that they have no real case; the truth is I am innocent. Where is the justice for me?" "

Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter are among those who have joined the call for clemency.

AP reports the stay will remain while the court considers Davis' appeal.

" … Davis' lawyers say new evidence proves their client was a victim of mistaken identity. Besides those who have recanted their testimony, three others who did not testify have said Sylvester "Red" Coles — who testified against Davis at his trial — confessed to the killing …"

A week is a lifetime

This is the second time Troy Davis has been granted a stay of execution. In July last year he was granted a stay less than 24 hours before he was due to be executed.

The Atlanta Constitution Journal quote civil rights activist The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been supporting Troy Davis' family, saying because the Supreme Court will make its decision on the appeal in the next week or so, he may not be spared for long.

" …"One week may not seem like a long time, but when you have only two hours to live it's a lifetime," …"

We at Amnesty International believe the death penalty is always cruel, inhuman and degrading. We are opposed to its use, everywhere in the world, for whatever reason – it is never acceptable, ever.

Mark MacPhail (27) was shot in a parking lot, in the city of Savannah, Georgia, as he went to help a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped.