Davis was convicted of MacPhail's 1989 murder largely on the testimony of nine witnesses.
"When you only have eyewitness testimony and you have no physical evidence, people have fallacies and people make mistakes," Correia said.
Davis' lawyers and supporters say this is a case of mistaken identity. Seven of the nine trial witnesses have changed their statements, saying they were mistaken. Some say they feared retribution from the man they say actually killed MacPhail or that police pressured them into fingering Davis.
During the trial, witnesses said Davis and two other men were harassing a homeless man and followed him across the street from a parking lot at the Greyhound bus station in Savannah.
MacPhail was off-duty. He saw the skirmish and ran over to break up the fight. MacPhail was shot, and witnesses told police Davis fired the two shots that killed him.
A manhunt ensued. Davis surrendered nine days later.
Monty Holmes is one of the witnesses who said Davis was the culprit. He has changed his story and alleges that police coerced him.
"They were trying to get to me to say that he did it, but I know he didn't do it," Holmes said last year at a rally for Davis.
Savannah police Maj. Everett Ragan headed the MacPhail investigation. He denies allegations of coercion and said he doesn't believe the witnesses who have changed their stories.
Shortly before Davis was scheduled to be executed last year, Ragan told CNN, "There is no doubt in my mind we arrested the right man."
Davis had visitation with family members until 3 p.m. Tuesday and is undergoing a routine physical. At 4 p.m., he will be offered his last meal, followed by an offer to make a recorded last statement at 5 p.m.
According to the Department of Corrections Office of Public Affairs, Davis will be offered ativan, a mild sedative, at 6 p.m. and will be executed one hour later. His remains will then be transported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab for a routine autopsy before being released to his family.
The Georgia Supreme Court also was unimpressed with the witnesses' new stories. In affirming the trial court's judgment in a 4-3 decision, the majority said that the witnesses' new testimony failed to meet the necessary benchmark: that their original testimony "in every material part is purest fabrication."
The court also was unconvinced by allegations that one of the men Davis was with that night, Sylvester "Red" Coles, killed MacPhail.
In a telephone interview in 2007, Davis acknowledged that he never told police that Coles killed MacPhail.
"I didn't because I didn't want to be a snitch," Davis said. "Yes, I know that's stupid."
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