Georgia

Three of the young men who accused New Missionary Baptist Church minister Eddie Long of sexual coercion may have to pay back nearly $1 million of their settlement money, it has been reported Friday.

Long and his attorneys have notified the young men, Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp, alleging that they have violated terms of the confidentiality agreement included in the financial settlement, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

In letters sent to Parris, LeGrande, and Kemp, Long and his attorneys informed the trio that New Birth pastor intends to seek to recoup money from the settlement, the full amount of which has not been made public. more >>

Anti-death penalty activists from across the U.S. and around the world will be in Georgia this weekend for Troy Davis' funeral in hopes of using the inmate's execution to highlight the fight against the death penalty.

Amnesty International has called for Saturday to be a "Day of Remembrance" for Davis, the Georgia man who was executed by lethal injection on Sept. 21 for the murder of off duty police officer Mark Macphail in 1989.

Amnesty International has asked anti-death penalty sympathizers to wear T-shirts reading "I Am Troy Davis" or black armbands reading "Not in my name," and to change their Facebook profile picture to the "I Am Troy Davis" image, circulated by the group on its website. more >>

Eddie Long, the embattled leader of Lithonia, Georgia's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, has reached a settlement in a property lawsuit over a default on a $2 million loan he took out in August 2007 to buy a local gymnasium.

The stipulations of the settlement require Long and his partners to pay back more than $1.8 million, plus interest, fees and property taxes, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Long took the bank loan together with two business partners in order to purchase the Hoops and Fitness gymnasium on Tara Boulevard in Jonesboro, Ga., reported WSBTV. The three partners formed the West Indies Holding Co. and each signed a document borrowing money to purchase the gymnasium building. more >>

Troy Davis was executed at 11:08 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The convicted cop-killer maintained to the very end that he was innocent and even asked God to have mercy on the Georgia prison officials who were "about to take [his] life."

Despite an almost four-hour delay by the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a final appeal by members of Davis' legal team, the court denied the condemned man's 11th-hour appeal, which removed all barriers to the 42-year-old's execution by lethal injection minutes later.

Davis told relatives of Mark MacPhail, whom he was convicted of killing, that the officer’s 1989 slaying was not his fault. "I did not have a gun," he insisted, according to media reports. more >>

Troy Davis will be executed by way of lethal injection Wednesday night in Butts County, Georgia, despite a last-ditch appeal by his defense team to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davis’ defense team had filed an eleventh-hour plea asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution. That plea held up the execution for hours as the 7 p.m. EST execution time came and went, and it was not until about 10.20 p.m. EST that news emerged that the Supreme Court had denied the defense team's final plea. The Court also had previously rejected defense appeal arguments in 2010.

Supporters fought Davis’ execution deadline down to the last minutes, following the unanimous denial of a petition for a chance at a new appeal by the Georgia Supreme Court. more >>

Religious leaders and people of faith across the nation have expressed disappointment that Troy Davis lost a final plea for clemency from the Georgia Board of Pardons & Parole on Tuesday, but have vowed to keep praying for the convicted cop killer's life to be spared.

Davis, who was convicted of the murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in 1991, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday, despite the recanting of witness testimonies.

Also, reports have surfaced that Davis is now offering to take a polygraph test to prove his innocence. more >>