they looked at the record." He stated: "We have consistently won the case as it has been presented in court. We have consistently lost the case as it has been presented in the public realm, on TV and elsewhere." Members of MacPhail's family were also convinced of Davis's guilt, and thought his execution would bring a measure of peace. His mother reported "That hole in my heart will be there until the day I die, but it [the execution] may give me some peace and quiet." Mark MacPhail Jr. stated "It's not animosity or anger or rage that has kept us going; that's not what my father would want. It's justice. The law is what he was all about. That's what we have to uphold." Execution On September 7, 2011, Georgia set Davis's execution date for two weeks later, September 21. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles set a hearing for Davis's second bid for clemency for September 19. This Board had not granted him clemency in September 2008, but the five-member Board now included three new members who had not previously heard the case. On September 20, the Board denied him clemency. On the morning of September 21, the Butts County Superior Court denied Davis's request to halt his execution. The Georgia Supreme Court also denied his appeal. Davis was due to be executed at 7 p.m. EDT. The same night, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, announced that President Obama would not intervene in the case (while the president could not have pardoned Davis, he did have the authority to order a federal investigation that might have led to a delay in the execution). Davis filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution. Almost an hour after Davis's scheduled execution time, the Supreme Court announced they would review his petition, thereby postponing the execution. The Supreme Court, however, denied Davis's petition, after deliberating for several hours. The execution by lethal injection began at 10:53 p.m. EDT. In his final words, Davis maintained his innocence, saying:Well, first of all I'd like to address the MacPhail family. I'd like to let you all know, despite the situation—I know all of you are still convinced that I'm the person that killed your father, your son and your brother, but I am innocent. The incident that happened that night was not my fault. I did not