“Workman Claims Test Proves Witness Lied”

Amanda Wardle reports for the Nashville City Newspaper. Excerpt:

Attorneys have asked Gov. Phil Bredesen to review and consider clemency in the case of Tennessee death row inmate Philip Workman, pointing to evidence that an eyewitness in a 1982 capital murder trial was actually lying when he fingered Workman as the man who killed a Shelby County police officer.

Post-Conviction Defender Donald Dawson and attorney Jefferson Dorsey Tuesday morning said they have the results of a lie detector test which allegedly proves Harold Davis, one of the state’s key witnesses in Workman’s trial, was not telling the truth when he said he watched Workman shoot Memphis police Lt. Ronald Oliver in the chest while the officer attempted to apprehend Workman for robbing a Wendy’s restaurant.

Representatives for the state Post-Conviction Defender’s Office Tuesday morning presented an 11-page request to Bredesen, accompanied by several hundred pages of court documents and other evidence, asking that the governor commute the death sentence in Workman’s case. Workman is scheduled to die by lethal injection Sept. 24 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Davis, who is serving time for robbery in a California prison, submitted to the polygraph test June 17, the results of which indicate he is telling the truth when he claims his testimony at Workman’s trial was false, according to the request.

Davis recanted his testimony from Workman’s trial, stating under oath at an evidentiary hearing several years ago before a Shelby County judge that he was not telling the truth when he told jurors at Workman’s trial that he witnessed much of what occurred on the night of Workman’s arrest.

Defense attorneys said they do not know of any motive that would suggest why Davis, who called police to report that he had witnessed the crime, might have perjured himself. Davis is reported to be a longtime drug user who was under the influence on the night the incident occurred.

Workman’s defense said Tuesday morning that polygraph tests are not always allowable in court proceedings, but noted that the governor has complete discretion to take them into consideration in the clemency request.

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