Police Investigation
The day after the shooting, the police learned the identity of the three men and immediately settled on one suspect – Troy Davis – based entirely on the untested word of a far more plausible suspect – Sylvester “Redd” Coles. Despite Redd’s initial efforts to disassociate himself from the crime (he fled the scene, changed his clothes, and hid out while police searched the neighborhood), Redd worried that other witnesses told the police that he shot MacPhail. So he made a preemptive strike; armed with his lawyer, Redd went to the police station the next day and implicated Troy Davis.
Astonishingly, the police took him at his word and Redd left the station later that night a free man.
The police did not investigate to determine if Redd’s claim that he was unarmed that night was true. Redd was ultimately forced to admit that he was armed with a .38 revolver, though he gave inconsistent accounts of what became of the gun. When Redd conveniently claimed that he was not even standing close enough to Young to strike him[1] – a point which contradicted every other percipient witness’ description[2] – the police did not question him further. At trial, Redd’s version was modified to correspond with other witnesses who participated in a reenactment.[3] When Redd claimed that he was not at the scene of the earlier shooting the police did not investigate that point any further.
Moreover, the police did not speak to Redd’s sister, Valerie Gordon, until September 1; at which time they learned that Redd arrived, bent over in pain from running, after the police cruisers searched her neighborhood and stated that “he thought somebody was trying to kill him.”
Rather than test - or at least confirm - Redd’s story, the police immediately obtained a photo of Troy Davis in the midst of Redd’s “interview.” They assembled a photo array – the same one later later shown to other witnesses – and showed it to Redd. Naturally, Redd selected Davis' picture.
Within an hour of Coles’ visit to the police station, Detective Ramsey obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Davis. T. at 1321. Before the detective learned that Coles had a .38 revolver, questioned Coles about his clothing or showed a photo array to any of the eyewitnesses to the MacPhail murder, Detective Ramsey’s superiors held a press conference, released Mr. Davis name and picture to the press and began a highly-publicized, city-wide campaign against Mr. Davis.
Davis' 2009 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, p 3-4.
From that moment on, the “investigation” no longer centered on who committed the crime. Instead, in the days that followed, the police single-mindedly built a case against their suspect, Troy Davis.
Note: You can listen to Chatham County District Attorney Spencer Lawton's "explanation" of why the police did not need to investigate Redd Coles in this interview. (About midway in the interview at approximately 18:00/30:00)
[1] Redd repeatedly told police that he stood in the middle of the parking lot while Davis ran up to Young who was standing near the drive-thru window. Redd “stood in the middle of the parking lot and didn’t move” until after the shooting began.
[2] Every other witness who provided a statement within hours of the crime described the “arguer” (later identified as Redd) as within arm’s reach of Young until the time that he was struck.
[3] At trial Redd admitted that he was standing face-to-face with Young, still demanding the beer and arguing when Young was struck. 
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