Innocence Ignored: Scott Davis

Physical Evidence

There is no physical evidence that incriminates Scott Davis. No DNA, blood, fibers, weapons or any other evidence incriminates Scott Davis.

1. The evidence collected exonerates Scott Davis.
   Fingerprints found at one of the four crime scenes, which were the only evidence that could identify the killer, were not Scott’s. Had the State not “lost” the prints in 2005, we might know who killed Coffin, see the Missing Evidence section for more details.
2. torn piece of clothing found by an APD officer on Scott Davis’ fence left by an attacker might have identified Scott’s attacker and Coffin’s killer, but it was lost and never tested.
3. Do you have information on any of these circumstances?

Eyewitnesses

There was not one eyewitness who placed Scott Davis at any of the 3 or possibly 4 crime scenes in this case.

1. No one saw Scott Davis or his cars near a crime scene, not even Coffin’s next door neighbor who had a view of the property. A witness at the crime scene in DeKalb County who reported Coffin’s burning car, testified that the person she saw walk by, could have been the criminal, but it was not Scott.
2. Prosecutors said that Scott parked Coffin’s very visible red Porsche in the Peachtree Hills Post Apartments after they say he stole it, but not one of the hundreds of residents saw the car there.

Alibis

Scott has alibis that prove he did not commit the crimes against David Coffin, but when Scott showed that he was somewhere else, the prosecution changed their claims of when the crimes occurred. The fact is that Scott had solid alibis for the times that many of the crimes occurred. Scott’s defense team tried to put forth his alibis during the trial, as required by law. However, in pre-trial, prosecutors refused to specify the times when their investigation indicated the crimes had occurred….yet during the trial the prosecution said that Scott did not reveal his alibis.

Alibi #1

Coffin’s Porsche was found burning in DeKalb County, at 11:28 a.m. on 12/10/96.  Due to the fact it was actually burning at that time, the car arson could only have occurred a few minutes before the fire was reported.Scott could not have set the fire because he was in his office in the Georgia Pacific Building, miles away, in downtown Atlanta.  There is much evidence to prove this: The State witness, Clayton Turner, testified that Scott called him from his office at 11:00 a.m.  Interviews with two of Scott’s co-workers, David Henry and Lee Spitalnick show that Scott was with them in a meeting, downtown, which ended between11:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m.  Testimony from one of Scott’s investigators proved that it was impossible for Scott to have been able to get to DeKalb County in time to have set the car fire.  Forensic tests proved the fire was not set by a timing device as suggested by the prosecution.

There is no record that prosecutors or police have ever run the fingerprints taken from the Coffin car through AFIS or any other database during the nine years between the crimes and the indictment of Scott Davis. (AFIS = Automated Fingerprint Identification System, it contains over 70 million fingerprints.)  Wasn’t it their duty to use every resource available to them to examine all the evidence     collected in the case? Did they skip it because they knew that if the search turned up a known criminal it could establish reasonable doubt, which might destroy their case against Scott Davis?

Why didn’t the prosecution process the fingerprints when historically fingerprints are the most important evidence in a case because they could identify the killer or provide another suspect?Everyday police and prosecutors around the world use DNA and fingerprints to identify and convict criminals.  This type of identifying material is the “holy grail” of evidence because it is almost indisputable. Unfortunately for Scott, in this case, the State treated the fingerprints like children treat toys – they kept the evidence they wanted and lost what they didn’t.  See the Missing Evidence section of this website for more details. Scott’s fingerprints were not found on the car, so the fingerprints that were found on the car disappeared.

This alibi for Scott is probably the most important evidence that supports his innocence.  Scott proved he could not have burned the car, the prosecutors changed their story and claimed that Scott must have had a co-conspirator. There is zero evidence of this claim, but the prosecution suggested in court that the co-conspirator could have been Scott’s brother, ignoring evidence that Scott’s brother proved that he was on the phone at his house when the Porsche was burned. Undeterred, the prosecution asked for and received a jury charge during the trial, which basically allowed the jury to ignore Scott’s alibi and assume there was a co-conspirator effectively making Scott’s alibi worthless.

The fact is that Scott’s alibi and the fingerprints that weren’t his, prove one thing.  Scott is innocent.

Alibi #2

In the case of the fire being set at Coffin’s residence on 12/10/96, the State did a fire analysis to determine when the fire was set….but it took them almost nine years to run this analysis. The results of the fire analysis showed Scott could not have set the fire.  Once again, the prosecutors ignored the evidence.  When ADA Sheila Ross got these results from her investigator, she immediately wrote a memo to the investigator asking him to “re-analyze” the probable time of the fire. The investigator then came back with new results that changed the estimated time of the fire.  The time frozen on a burned watch found at Coffin’s house supported the original estimated time of the fire but during the trial prosecutors questioned whether the time on the watch was correct even though the burned watch was a high quality piece that Coffin often wore so the watch would have been correctly set and therefore supports Scott’s alibi.

Alibi #3

Scott was at his parent’s home on Saturday 12/7/96 between 7:00 p.m.  and 8:15 p.m. He went over to return Christmas decorations he had borrowed for a party he had at his house the previous night. This is important only because prosecutors  waited until trial to claim that David Coffin’s house was burglarized around that time.  There is no evidence to pinpoint the time of the robbery of the Coffin house. The prosecutors base their claim on phone records that show that a call was placed from the Coffin house to Scott Davis at 7:20 that night. Megan Bruton claimed  at trial that David Coffin was at her house at 7:00 p.m. and could not have made the call.

Therefore the prosecution claimed in the trial that the call showed not only the time the Coffin house was burglarized but also claimed the call was made by Scott or to Scott from a co-conspiritor. However, Megan Bruton told Scott Davis’ attorneys in her original interview,  that David Coffin did not get to her house  until  7:30 p.m.  She did not change her story until after she was told about the call to Scott’s home that appeared in the phone  records.    Curiously, there were no calls to or from Megan’s phone between 6:39 and 8:49 p.m., but when Scott returned from his parent’s home there was a short message from  Megan on his answering machine.  Megan had told Scott she would not be home that evening. When Dr. Davis, Scott’s father, testified about Scott’s visit, the prosecutors claimed he was lying because he had never told anyone about it before trial. He said no one had ever asked him about that night, since the prosecution had not disclosed a timeframe for the crimes before trial,  The prosecution attacked Dr. Davis for not having divulged this in the previous 10 years, his answer on the stand was “Nobody asked.”  Why would the defense have disclosed thisinformation when they didn’t know the alleged time of the burglary?  The defense wanted to account for all of Scott’s whereabouts that weekend, but the prosecution didn’t want to hear it.  They made it look like the defense was withholding evidence or making up evidence.  This did not come out at trial.

Prosecutors alleged that Scott’s father knew the time, based on a tabloid type article published in Atlanta Magazine, as if the article was somehow proof that the time was known.  This claim is completely disproved by the fact that Scott’s father sued Atlanta Magazine for slander related to the unfounded claims made in the article,  Atlanta Magazine offered $15,000 to settle the claim but Scott’s father wouldn’t settle because the claims were egregious.  Unfortunately the suit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out before Dr. Davis’ lawyer filed the case.  It in no way indicated that Dr. Davis had changed his mind.

Scott’s cell phone records also support his being at the home of his parents. Calls made  in this time period confirm that Scott was in the area of their home because the cell  phone towers that registered the calls, were the ones near his parents home. Had Scott or his mother testified, they would have confirmed Dr. Davis’ testimony.  Furthermore, Scott made his living as a computer and telecommunications expert.  He has worked with phone companies and is very familiar with the technology.

If Scott had been involved in the crime, he would never have called his own phone number from David Coffin’s house thereby incriminating himself.  That makes no sense.   When confronted with these facts the prosecution theorized that there was a co-conspirator, but there is no evidence of a co-conspirator, they make that claim each time  Scott provides an alibi.

Other Issues

Scott made mistakes following the grueling all night questioning by Detective Chambers, thatmade him appear guilty.  However, when you consider the circumstances of the questioning and the threats made by the Detective, one can see these actions do not prove he is guilty of anything but stupidity and fear.

Talking to his friends

Soon after Scott was threatened by Detective Chambers in the police interview and after Megan Bruton lied to the police about telling Scott that Coffin had been shot, Scott went to talk to his friends Greg Gatley and Tom Elias about the case.  This was a big mistake which he greatly regrets.

However, these actions looked, they were not guilty actions.  Scott was exhausted, scared and paranoid.  Detective Chambers yelled at Scott all night and threatened him repeatedly by telling him Georgia had the death penalty and that he would ensure Scott was executed if scout did not comes immediately. Chambers promised he would do “whatever it takes, just or not”to convict Scott. Megan lied about telling Scott that Coffin had been shot (her lies were proved as seen in the Megan Bruton Section.)  Chambers told Scott that he needed answers, so Scott stupidly went to his friends for more information.  Scott hadn’t slept for 3 days, had been assaulted at gunpoint and was dazed, confused, scared and paranoid.  He knew Megan and Chambers were lying and he simply didn’t know how to handle the situation, so he did things that made no sense.  He simply wasn’t thinking correctly.  He wanted to be able to prove his innocence, but went about it the wrong way.  He was so confused that he even asked his best friend for contact information that he knew and had known for years.

Scott was wrong and he has apologized for his actions, but they were not actions of a guilty person.  They were the mistakes of a scared and innocent person who thought he might be executed for a crime he did not commit.

Car Cleaning

Much has been made about the fact that cars Scott had recently used, were cleaned. These cars were Scott’s own Acura, his brothers Jeep, and a friend’s car. Prosecutors claim that because Scott had them cleaned, he was hiding evidence. First, Scott’s brother had his Jeep cleaned because Scott used the car to carry equipment he borrowed to clean his yard that weekend,  Scott didn’t realize there was any odor in the car when he returned it on Sunday, but his brother called him Monday morning and insisted that Scott pay to have it cleaned.

Prosecutors brought this up during the trial as though it incriminated Scott in the Coffin case. However, Scott did not even have the Jeep on Tuesday the day of the burning of the car and the burning of Coffin’s house…so what could  his brother’s car possibly have to do with the case?

The prosecutors offered as evidence the fact that Scott asked his friends for allibis.  Scott made a mistake when he talked about the case to his friends, but more importantly, if Scott had been involved, why would he even discuss this with anyone, when all he had to do was be quiet?  Talking about these events actually proves that Scott knew nothing about the fire.  Prosecutors claimed that Scott had some master plan to commit these crimes they say that evidence of his plan can be seen by the following:

Scott had his car detailed on Tuesday, December 10, 1996, while he was at work.  This is important for a couple of reasons.

• First, Scott’s car was being cleaned during the day, so he had no access to it to go anywhere.
• Second, prosecutors have claimed that Scott detailed his car to hide evidence.

Again, Scott did not even have his car on Monday, when the State alleges the murder  occurred!  So, there would be nothing in the car to hide or to be cleaned up.  As well, the detailer who cleaned Scott’s car found nothing of significance in the car.  This detailer changed his story many times, and only claimed some vague dirty spots in Scott’s car, which were not relevant to any crime, and only made his claim after he was informed of the reward in the case.  When you review his interviews and testimony, it is clear that he was trying to create something that might get him a reward.

Regardless, Scott did not have the car during any time a crime allegedly occurred, so the testimony of the detailer is irrelevant.

• Scott had the car cleaned for one simple reason; his car was dirty and needed to be cleaned. This was important because Scott had a date the next evening and had a black-tie party on Friday for his work’s holiday party. This is just another “red herring” thrown out by prosecutors.
• Scott borrowed his neighbor Greg Gatley’s car on Monday, December 9, 1996, to try to return a keg from Scott’s Friday-night party and chairs that he had borrowed from his friend Tom Elias for the same party.
• Prosecutors have made a big deal about borrowing his neighbor’s car because it was similar to Coffin’s second car, which was a white Jeep; however, when you know all the facts, this argument is weak. Gatley’s car was also a white Jeep, but the two cars were completely different body styles and years. Prosecutors claim that Scott borrowed the Jeep because they propose the Gatley car would be confused as Coffin’s car if seen at Coffin’s residence. However, the two cars, although similar, would never be confused by anyone who had the most basic knowledge of cars. Gatley’s Jeep was the old boxy version, while Coffin’s was the newer Grand Cherokee with curved lines. Comparing them, no one would confuse the two.

There are many other problems with prosecutors’ claims.  It assumes Scott even knew Coffin     had a Jeep, when there is no evidence that Scott had this knowledge.  As well, had Scott used     Gatley’s Jeep to go to Coffin’s property to commit the murder, there would have been two Jeeps     and no one would believe both were Coffin’s.

The simple fact is that Scott borrowed Gatley’s car  because it was convenient, and he needed a larger car to return eight chairs and a keg, which would not fit in his Acura. Scott could have made multiple trips or figured out a way to get Elias to pick these things up, but borrowing Gatley’s car was the simplest way, since he lived two doors away.  Also importantly, Scott didn’t ask if he could borrow Gatley’s car until 3 p.m. Monday, which shows that his borrowing the car was unplanned.  There was no guarantee the car would be available at that time.

Prosecutors pointed out to the court that Scott had said that he cleaned a soft drink spill off Gatley’s car seat before he returned it.  They ominously suggested that the Sprite was really blood or gasoline.  This is disingenuous because the Prosecutors had forensics thoroughly search and run tests on Gatley’s car and found zero evidence to connect it to a crime.  Everyone who has ever watched a crime show, knows that with today’s technology, the most minute traces of blood or gas can be detected and the prosecution knew that no such evidence was found in Gatley’s car. The fact is that Scott spilled Sprite and cleaned it up.  If it had been blood or gas, why would Scott even mention it and draw attention to it?  He would not.

Scott did return the keg and tried to return the chairs to Elias on Monday, but no one was home.  Scott did return six of the chairs the following day, when he left them on Elias’ porch after having told Elias that he had tried to return them on Monday.

Scott’s Police Interview

Scott tried to cooperate with police the night he was attacked and Coffin’s body was found in his burning house on Tuesday evening, December 10, 1996.  Det. Chambers told Scott to go down to Homicide, allegedly to discuss the attacks that had been perpetrated against Scott. However, it quickly became clear that his real plan was to interrogate Scott as a suspect in     Coffin’s murder. The first typed interview conducted by Chambers began at approximately 3:00 a.m. and first concerned the attacks on Scott, but ended with questions related to the crimes against Coffin and Scott’s relationship with Megan.  These latter questions could in no way be related to the attacks on Scott. This typed interview ended at 3:32 a.m., as listed on the actual computer printed interrogation document.

Scott was told to go wait in the interrogation room while Chambers reviewed the document with other detectives. After approximately ten to fifteen minutes, Chambers returned and told Scott to     sign the document. Scott did so, then immediately Chambers began his verbal intimidation and threats, which would continue for the rest of the night.  Chambers called Scott “a murderer” and     said his story did not add up.  Chambers began this unrecorded interview at 3:50 a.m. without giving Scott his Miranda rights.

They placed him in the back corner of the room where he was continually watched and prevented from leaving the room. He had no car, no car keys, and no wallet, and felt trapped and certainly felt as though he was being arrested. Scott had never been arrested before and knew little about his legal rights, he had no idea how to handle the situation. Police even watched him use the bathroom.

For the next hour or so Chambers and other detectives roughly interrogated Scott and constantly  accused him of numerous crimes. Scott repeatedly professed his innocence, never wavering. Toward the end of this time, Scott repeated what Megan had told him about Coffin being “shot”, and detectives exploded, attacking Scott because they said they did not know how Coffin had     died, because his body burned in the fire.  Chambers escalated his threats, telling Scott, “Georgia has the death penalty.  You need to confess, to save yourself.” Scott repeated the fact that Megan told him that Coffin had been shot. Therefore, Chambers finally decided to give Scott his Miranda rights, and Scott signed the document at 5:00 a.m., in front of Chambers and the other co-lead Det. Marcel Walker, who had recently entered the room. Immediately after the signing of the Miranda form, detectives began recording the interview for the very first time.  It is important to note that, when the tape began, detectives did not announce on the tape the time or name the people in the room, as is normally done. This omission was intentional, as it would later become important to the detectives to hide the actual time of the interview, because  the method detectives used to  interview Scott was an illegal question-first-before-Miranda, and question-again-after Miranda technique.

Detectives were questioning Scott on tape now, but they went back over many of the same questions they had asked off tape, prior to Miranda. Note: the Detectives continually started and stopped the tape. They were playing the classic “good cop-bad cop” roles. However, off tape Chambers would yell, scream, and intimidate Scott, so as not to have this being recorded.  Chambers was screaming so loud his spit was getting on Scott’s face and glasses. On the tape, you can tell when the recording has been started and stopped, as the telltale sounds can be heard. As well, the questioning has obvious gaps, due to the recorder not capturing parts of the interrogation. In the middle of the second side of the tape Chambers asked if the tape was just turned over, doing so as part of the detectives’ ruse to make Scott think the whole interrogation was being recorded.

At approximately 6:20 a.m. Chambers increased the intensity of his intimidation tactics against Scott. Chambers’ verbal assault was, to Scott, physically and psychologically threatening. Scott continued to believe he was being arrested.  At this point in time, Scott had been up more than twenty-four hours, he had been interrogated for more than six hours, and he was physically and psychologically exhausted. He feared for his life, thinking he might get the death penalty because Megan had lied by denying she told Scott Coffin had been shot.

During this crescendo of intimidation, Scott became confused and made and said that he came home from work on Monday and only then went out to meet his friends. The State has made a huge deal bout this statement, because it was incorrect, saying Scott was lying.  Scott was not     lying.  It was a mistake made under intense pressure, not a lie. Scott, in fact, had not gone in to work on Monday, because he and the main other person on  his project both felt poorly, so they     worked from home.  This can be proven through Scott’s phone records. Also, during interrogations, Scott had told detectives that he had also gone to the gym that evening (which is verified by the gym’s check-in computer). Police acknowledge this fact in their notes, but, this as     well as other information was not recorded during the starting and stopping of the tape or during     the untaped first interrogation. By reviewing all this evidence together, one can see that Scott cooperated fully with investigators and, thus, proves he was not trying to deceive the prosecutors.

• It is very important to note that the fact that Scott did not go in to work that day is not even relevant to this case. It is another “red herring” from prosecutors
• Coffin’s last outgoing call was after 6:00 p.m. on Monday night, working hours were over, whether Scott was physically at his office downtown did not matter.

Important as well is that, if Scott had known when Coffin was murdered, Scott would have had no reason, to lie about whether he was physically at work. Altogether, it is clear that Scott simply made an honest mistake when under extreme duress he mistakenly said he had been at work on Monday.

Det. Chambers testified three times about Scott’s police interview.

• Each time, Chambers changed his testimony. It is absolutely clear that Chambers wasn’t being forthright and, from the first day of this case, he seems to have made a calculated decision to win this case against Scott and convict him at any cost.

You have just heard of Chambers’ style of intimidation interrogation and his trickery in the use of the tape recorder. Well, during the trial Chambers, unsurprisingly, denied all this as, if he admitted what he did, Scott’s interrogation would not be admissible, based on a U. S. Supreme Court case Seibert v. Missouri.

The Seibert case says you cannot question someone first on a crime before giving them Miranda and then come back and question them on the same things post Miranda. The method is just a way of circumventing Miranda. Well, this illegal technique fits Seibert to a “ T”. This is exactly what Chambers did, and now is trying to hide by denying it all in testimony.

Chambers’ Changing Testimony

Det. Chambers’ testimony has changed so much that the only thing clear is that he is being untruthful.

• In April/May of 2006, during pre-trial testimony, Chambers claimed that there were essentially three separate interrogations conducted that early morning of December 11, 1996. The first was Scott’s interview typed by Chambers. He claimed this was only about the attacks on Scott, despite the fact that Chambers asked questions regarding David Coffin and Scott’s relationship with his soon-to-be-ex-wife Megan Bruton
• Chambers then falsely claimed that both the unrecorded and taped interview occurred after Scott signed the Miranda waiver at 5:00 a.m. Chambers stated that there were only a few minutes between the two interviews. As well, he falsely claimed that he had not started and stopped the interview tape. He denied any intimidation tactics, as well. There was mention of only the 5:00 a.m. Miranda.
• During the trial Chambers continued to testify falsely about the interviews and other things. The recording was not a fair or complete representation of Scott’s interview. The Judge denied the motion.

Finally, during the post-trial motion for a new trial hearing, the defense re-questioned Chambers because his answers simply did not add up, based on all the information they then had. Chambers’ version was impossible, based on the timeline of events. Based on this timeline, Chambers again was questioned. With Chambers’ claim that both interviews happened after the 5:00 a.m. Miranda, the timeline simply does not work.

3:00 a.m.	Start typed interview about attacks on Scott.
3:32 a.m.	End typed interview based on computer “end time” printed on the typed document.
3:45 a.m.	Scott signs document and is put in interrogation room.
(1 ¼ hr. gap)	Gap of 1 ¼ hour which Chambers says didn’t happen
5:00 a.m.	Scott signs Miranda.
5:01 a.m.-6:30 a.m.	Untaped interrogation and taped interrogation. (Not enough time to have held two interviews)
6:45 a.m.	Leave Homicide to take Scott home.
7:00 a.m.	Arrive at Scott’s house.

Chambers’ above timeline is IMPOSSIBLE. It is impossible because there is over an hour’s gap between 3:45 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., which even Chambers’ words say did not happen when he said there was only a few minutes (10-15 minutes) between the typed interrogation and the untaped interrogation.

Secondly, there is not enough time between 5:01 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. to have both interrogations. These two interrogations were approximately two and one-half hours.

Chambers was caught being grossly untruthful. His whole story did not add up. The truth is that Chambers had planned this whole two-step interrogation to trick Scott. Chambers probably guessed that, if Scott had gotten his Miranda first, he would have asked for a lawyer, since Scott was very educated.

Now Chambers was caught, having committed an almost exact copy of the runaround Miranda tactics used in Seibert. Scott’s entire first interrogation was pre-Miranda and the whole thing should have been inadmissible.

Chambers was not done, however. When caught, he quickly came up with another untruth and testified that these was an “oral Miranda” done prior to the untapped interrogation.

Earlier, the untaped interrogation was post-written-Miranda. Now, it was pre-written-Miranda.

Despite Chambers’ quick thinking, his testimony was proven to be untrue. When, objectively, one looks at Chambers’ testimony was so fluid, it puts into question all of his testimony. Chambers made many unsupported claims that were untrue.

Chambers claimed that Scott’s hands had no hair on them when photographed that evening with a Polaroid in bad lighting. This was just more ingenuous testimony. The hair on Scott’s hands is light blonde and would not show up on a Polaroid photograph. He had hair on his hands.

During the trial Chambers claimed Scott denied knowing where Coffin lived. This was another fabrication. Scott was never asked this. Had he been asked, Chambers would surely have noted this in the notes. He did not. There are many more examples of this knowing all of Chambers’ deceit. None of these claims is worthy of belief.

One just needs to look at Chambers’ handling of the evidence in this case to see the quality of the prosecution on this case. He was were responsible for the over seventy pieces of evidence lost in this case. Walker’s name is attached to the majority of the lost evidence. Chambers, despite being a twenty-plus-year veteran, did not bother to follow through on the fingerprints found on the burning Porsche. He as solved many cases with DNA and fingerprint evidence, but simply forgot about or assumed the prints had been run through AFIS?

Sheila Ross, in an email said the prints were destroyed after they were determined not to be Scott’s. That, in itself, is bad faith. It clearly proves that, if evidence did not point to Scott, the State did not want it, so they destroyed it.

Attacks on Scott

Attack #1: The State claims that the two attacks that happened to Scott at his house on the evening of December 10, 1996, were fabricated. This is not true. Early on in the process of investigating these attacks the police made a conscious decision not to do the things essential to proving the attacks happened. Once Chambers and Walker saw Scott as a suspect, their entire focus became proving that Scott was involved in the murder of Coffin.

At 7:00 p.m. Scott was assaulted by an individual who came out of one of Scott’s closets in his carport when Scott got out of his car to go inside his house. This individual, dressed all in black with a black mask on, came out of the closet and sprayed pepper spray into Scott’s face, covering the right side of his face completely and the left side partially.

The carport was dark, as no lights were on, it was already dark at that time of night, and Scott was almost completely blinded by the pepper spray. The assailant pushed Scott to the side of the door and pulled a small pistol and put it to Scott’s head, and said some things to Scott in a very threatening tone with his mouth very close to Scott’s ear. To Scott, it sounded like almost screaming, but probably was of a normal volume.

The assailant then demanded Scott’s car keys. Scott gave him the keys and the assailant got into Scott’s car and attempted to start it. Scott could partially see with his left eye. He noticed that the assailant sounded white, but Scott could not be sure of this.

The assailant could not start the car, because he did not plug in the security device that allows the car to start. At about this time Scott’s neighbors’ lights came on, and the assailant got out of the car and knocked Scott down as he (the assailant) ran out of the back door, leaving the keys in the car and the pepper spray on the ground. Scott immediately went into his house and eventually police were called. Scott’s neighbor Greg Gatley came over and saw Scott’s face as being very red and his mouth frothing from the pepper spray.

Police arrived and saw Scott’s face burned, and told him to wash his face in cold water. Scott described the masked assailant, and the main officer found the pepper spray can. Because the assailant had gloves, the officer did not even collect the pepper spray can, but instead, threw it in Scott’s garbage can. Other police cars were called in to search the area. They found suspicious individuals in the area. Police called Scott about them, but they apparently did not take their names (or later hid them) and never brought the suspects to Scott for him to look at.

Police took no fingerprints from the closet where the assailant was hidden or from anywhere else. Essentially, they only did a cursory investigation. Even the officer’s police report (available to Scott only much later) was sloppy and incomplete. According to it, there was no description whatsoever of the suspect’s head. Before the officer left, he gave Scott a cell-phone number, to use to report if he found anything missing. The officer also told Scott that, if he had a gun, to make it available.

Scott told him that he had a shotgun because of the items that had been reported stolen in the area recently, and because of Scott’s concern over his alarm system going off without an obvious reason. The officers left and Scott called his parents and friends to tell them of the attack. Scott cancelled a date that he had made for the next evening, because he was rattled by the attack. His dad told him to go and get some cream for his burned face. Scot said he would go up to Eckerd’s to do so, and get some pepper spray for himself, because his shotgun offered no protection outside of being at home.

Scott eventually went to the Eckerd’s located about ten minutes from his house, but he struggled to drive safely, because of his burned face and eyes due to the pepper spray. He had to pull over repeatedly to wipe his eyes. Scott got to Eckerd’s and pulled up to the store, and it appeared to be closed. A woman at the door could not get in and shook her head at Scott, as if the store were closed. Scott then considered going across I-75 to go to a grocery store, but felt like it would be unsafe to drive there, so he went home.

Scott arrived home to a phone call from his neighbor saying Megan had just left his (Scott’s) house. Megan had apparently been in Scott’s carport. Megan claimed she wanted to check on Scott, but she also had access to Scott’s closets with his gas cans and tools.

Scott got off the phone and went over to Gatley’s to relax and have some food. Scott considered going to his parents’ house, but decided not to, because he could not take his dog. Scott returned home and immediately began checking out his closets for missing things, as the officer had instructed him to do.

Scott discovered some missing items, which included some tools, a gas can, and some clothes. Scott did this before he called the police officer on his cell phone (as shown on Scott’s home phone records) to report the items. (Chambers would later claim Scott did not report the gas can gone, but Chambers again was not telling the truth.)

Missing Items: It is very important to note all the details of these missing items, because prosecutor Sheila Ross simply deceived jurors on this and, based on interviews with jurors, they mistakenly, in good faith, made assumptions about how this occurred.

As stated above, Scott went to look in his closets for missing items, because the officer had told him to, and because the suspect had obviously been in at least one of the two closets. Scott did not do this while he was on the phone, but before he made phone calls. As you can see from Scott’s home phone records, he had plenty of time after returning from Gatley’s to look, and it did not take much time to look in two small closets.

Scott would later discover his clothes had not been stolen, but were in a bag to be taken to the dry cleaner. The important items, the gas can and tools, had recently been used, during the previous weekend, when Scott had done yard work (which Scott had done all his life, despite Megan’s claim at the trial that he did not). Scott noticed these items especially because of this.

Despite D.A. Sheila Ross’ claims that Scott had said the suspect had run off with these items Scott never said this and, in fact, clearly stated in his police interview that this was not what happened. Ross’ claims were disingenuous. Scott clearly said in his statement that he had last seen the items on the weekend. So what happened?

One of the reasons Scott had a shotgun was because neighbors had recently had items stolen from their cars and yards. Someone had been coming on to people’s property and stealing things. During the trial, Scott’s next-door neighbor revealed that he had had his lawnmower stolen in the same time frame!

It is quite possible that whoever stole that lawnmower stole Scott’s items. The theft may have had absolutely nothing to do with the assaults on Scott. Secondly, Megan Bruton could have taken the items. She did come by Scott’s garage that night. As well, she still had keys and access to Scott’s house and closets. As well, Megan had already essentially taken property from Scott without permission, so this would be no surprise. She may, as well, have had a more sinister use for the items, if she, in fact, was involved in the crimes against Coffin.

This could, in fact, be related to the gas can found in Coffin’s burned Porsche in DeKalb County earlier that day. Megan might have wanted to replace the gas can she owned that she kept in her car for when she ran out of gas! The gas can found in Coffin’s car was not the gas can Scott owned, as it had the wrong coloring. Megan testified the can was similar to the one she purchased when she ran out of gas. It certainly looked like her gas can. When Scott and Megan separated, she still had that gas can, as she always kept it in her car. It was always a nuisance, because she let it bounce around in the trunk. Had police kept the gas cans and not lost or destroyed them, they could have checked the serial numbers and found out who purchased the cans.

Again, it was only Megan’s words that tied the things to Scott and, when one reads the Megan Bruton section of this website, it is clear that her words cannot be trusted. She has a huge motivation to lie, as it was she who first divulged that Coffin had been shot in the head, even before police knew.

Had the police not, again, lost the gas can, all of this could have been settled, because the gas cans had identifying marks.

Attack #2: Around 11:00 p.m. that same evening Scott’s dog began barking loudly inside the house. Scott was already jumpy because of the earlier attack. He went in the living room with his shotgun, and saw, through his glass patio door, that the back of his house was engulfed in fire. He immediately grabbed his shotgun and went out the side door, through his garage door, and went to his backyard through his garage. As he entered the backyard, he noticed a person climbing over the fence in the far back left part of the fenced-in backyard.

When the suspect cleared the fence, he turned toward Scott and appeared to fire a handgun at him, which made a “pop” sound, probably coming from a small-caliber pistol. The suspect again appeared to be clad in all black but, due to the brightness of the fire in Scott’s line of vision, details weren’t clear. Scott immediately fired back, as the suspect ran and disappeared into the back woods that led to a nearby street.

When it appeared safe, Scott used his water hose to put out the now fizzling fire. Firefighters later told Scott the fire was a “flash fire” set by some type of accelerant. The fire did significant damage to Scott’s wooden porch side framing, but did not spread, due to his house being brick.

Scott again called the police, after his neighbor Gatley had come to assist him. Police responded, in force this time, as Scott waited in his neighborhood circle to remain safe from the possible return of the suspect. Uniformed officers responded and eventually Homicide officers came, as well. Scott was emotionally wiped out from the attacks on him that evening, but did his best to assist officers. Officers initially were diligent and helpful, until homicide detectives were called to the scene.

Very importantly, a uniformed officer found a torn piece of dark clothing consistent with the suspect in the exact area where the suspect had fled on the back fence. This piece of cloth would later disappear without explanation, despite the fact that it could possibly have identified the attacker by DNA. It is only logical to think that there might have been blood or other physical evidence on the cloth.

By Midnight it became clear that police were tying the attacks on Scott and the Coffin house fire together. At 12:18 a.m. Megan called Scott to tell him Coffin had been “shot”! Some time after 1:00 a.m. detectives came to Scott’s house to interrogate him. He told detectives the same story he had told police. Detectives asked Scott where the bullet might have gone that was fired at him after detectives had done a perfunctory search in the dark with only their eyes. Scott responded that he did not know, but that maybe it had gone over him, since he believed at the time he had heard the projectile go by. He would later realize that this sound was, in fact only the echo from the gunshot coming from the open garage door.

Again, police did virtually nothing to try to investigate the attacks against Scott, as they had in their minds already decided that Scott was involved in Coffin’s murder. Police would never come out and look for the bullet in daylight or use a metal detector. They never dusted for fingerprints in the closet, because Chambers testified that Scott had said the suspect had worn gloves. What if the suspect had taken off those gloves and touched something? It was simply sloppy work, and finding something would have hurt their case against Scott. Detectives never noted or investigated the tattered tree where Scott had fired his shotgun, thinking that he had simply shot the gun into the air.

Detectives left the evidence of the materials that started the fire on Scott’s porch. In essence, they virtually did nothing. This has allowed the State to claim the attacks were false when, in reality, they were very real. Scott’s neighbor Gatley heard the pistol shot. He clearly heard a differentiated shot. Since the pistol shot was only a “pop”, it is amazing he heard it, as acoustics are strange. It is similar to hearing a speaker from a stereo in one location, but not another. Each of the other neighbors’ testimony on the sound was different from the other, clearly showing the acoustics affected things quite a bit.

Had detectives done their job well, Scott would had proof of these attacks. However, the State has, so far, been allowed to ingenuously claim they were fabricated.Many people have questioned why someone would come back and set fire to Scott’s house. The answer could quite well be that they needed to destroy evidence left on that patio. This could easily be fingerprints or DNA left in an attempt to enter the house or observed Scott. As well, it could have been simply to draw attention to Scott. Regardless, the attacks were real.

Amy Kolis, a former friend of Scott’s, claimed at the trial that Scott called her before the second attack occurred and told her about the attacks. Scott did not call her and phone records prove that her testimony is pure perjury. In 1997, when Kolis was interviewed she never mentioned this, nor did she mention other damaging things she created at the trial. Her 1997 interview was positive for Scott.

The phone records are not supportive of her new version of events, two letters she wrote to Scott, found after the record was closed, show she was being deceitful. She will have to answer for this in the future legal proceedings.

Scott Is Innocent:

When one reviews this website, it is clear that Scott Davis was wrongly tried and convicted for this crime and the evidence clearly shows that he did not get a fair trial. There are too many questions left unanswered, too much evidence lost, and too much misconduct on the part of Megan Bruton and the prosecutors.

If you have information in this case, please submit a lead or call us at (404) 474-1288. Help us free Scott and possibly catch a killer.