Scott Davis Wrongful Murder Conviction | David Coffin Murder Information | Free Scott Davis

Got Evidence? Scott Davis’ Family Launches Billboard Campaign; $350,000 Reward Fund Seeks Evidence Lost Before His 2006 Murder Trial

Posted by Administrator on April 20, 2010

The family of Scott Davis this week launched a new “Got Evidence?” billboard campaign, seeking new evidence in his case. In 2006, Davis was wrongly convicted of the 1996 murder of David Coffin, Jr. In spite of purely circumstantial evidence, and with absolutely no eyewitness testimony or physical evidence, Davis was convicted. He maintains his innocence and his family and supporters have created a $350,000 reward fund for information in the case (conditions apply).

The billboards, located at 345 Whitehall Street, are visible from Atlanta City Hall and are positioned to attract the attention of law enforcement officials, city officials and others who might have evidence in his case. The billboards were created by Prance Outdoor.

Vital evidence that could have exonerated Davis either disappeared before his trial, or was not provided to his defense team.

A web site, http://freescottdavis.org, has been created where people can find information on his case, submit leads, provide information regarding the location of missing evidence or leads on other suspects. The reward fund will pay up to $350,000 for information that leads to his full exoneration and freedom and proves his innocence. The family and supporters seek information on other suspects, missing evidence, or misconduct by prosecutors. Information can also be called into (404) 474-1288.

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.

70 Pieces of Vital Evidence Missing
The reward is being offered now because of new evidence uncovered after Davis’ 2006 trial and during his ongoing investigation. More than 70 pieces of crucial physical evidence disappeared without any acceptable explanation between 1997 and 2005.

“I am innocent of this crime,” says Davis. “Dozens of pieces of vital evidence were supposedly safely stored by five different state agencies, but it all disappeared, some right before my indictment, when it would have become available to me in discovery. We could have tested it then and found other suspects.”

Davis’ supporters compare his situation to the case of accused Olympic Park bomber Richard Jewell, contending that as in that situation; police did not pursue other suspects and did not test physical evidence, in spite of many other leads.

Davis notes for example: “New information found in our post-trial investigation told us the state had fingerprints from the crime scene, which were never run through the state’s automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) and more crime lab evidence in 2005, right up to the time of my indictment.”

Five state agencies, including the Atlanta Police Department, the Atlanta Fire Department, Dekalb Fire and Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Fulton County District Attorney’s office have lost evidence.

Davis maintains that various agencies withheld evidence that could have helped his case, and that there was significant prosecutorial misconduct in the case. He and his supporters would like anyone who has had significant evidence lost in their case by these Georgia agencies to submit information concerning their losses, believing there may be a pattern of this misconduct.

Among the dozens of items of evidence lost by five police and fire departments were:
• The alleged murder weapon
• Crime scene fingerprints found in Dekalb County that were tested and found not to be Scott Davis’
• Two shotguns, Blood samples, Gas cans

Anyone with information in the case can send leads via email reward1 [at] freescottdavis [dot] org or through the web site at www.FreeScottDavis.org.