Charles Lane, a liberal columnist for the Washington Post, says Troy Davis being executed is nothing to celebrate, but it’s not a miscarriage of justice, either.

The defense and Davis’ supporters have argued on television, in the newspaper, and in statements that Davis is innocent. But as Lane notes:

[I]t’s one thing to argue your case in the court of public opinion; it’s quite another to do so in a real court, with sworn testimony offered and cross-examined by both sides.

And when Davis had an opportunity to have his entire case reexamined by a federal judge last year, the judge concluded, “Davis is not innocent”. In fact, no court or jury has ever been convinced of Davis’ claims of innocence.

But what about the claims of racism? That he was only convicted on such supposedly shaky grounds and sentenced to die because he’s black. Well, it turns out 7 of 12 jurors were themselves black. They both convicted him and sentenced him to die after hearing the evidence.

And what about those witness recantations and “new” evidence showing his guilt? Davis had the opportunity to present all of that in his 2010 re-hearing. This is how it fared:

Chief Judge William T. Moore of the U.S. District Court in Savannah, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, convened the hearing in June 2010 — whereupon Davis’ case crumbled. Much of his “new” evidence had already been heard by the original trial jury. Some of his witnesses fared badly on cross-examination, while prosecution testimony stood up.

Davis’ lawyers declined to put two of Davis’ purported recanting witnesses on the stand, though they were available – one even waited outside the courtroom. Judge Moore quite logically found these omissions “suspicious.”

Davis’ lawyers did not call the “real” shooter; nor did Davis, with his life on the line, testify. Perhaps this reflected his experience at trial, where he told his story to the jury, and the jury did not believe it.

The “new” evidence was old, his lawyers mysteriously failed to call in several “recanting” witnesses, Davis himself refused to testify, and his own witnesses fared badly on cross-examination. Meanwhile, the prosecution’ case stood up.

Judge Moore didn’t dismiss Davis’ claims outright, though. He reviewed each and every one separately, after which he concluded, “The vast majority of the evidence at trial remains intact.” The defense’s case was, “largely smoke and mirrors”.

Davis has 22 years of legal appeals. He failed to convince a single judge or jury of his innocence over two decades. Legal authorities who did review his case — both state and federal — concluded the original jury was right to convict him. And finally, in the hours before his execution, the Supreme Court decided unanimously that no reason existed to doubt his guilt.

Troy Davis was not innocent. He was guilty, rightly convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an officer in cold blood. His supporters have done an excellent job on his PR campaign, it’s true. But when it comes to the actual evidence — stuff reviewed in court under testimony — he was shown to be the guilty man he was.