[Ppnews] U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t address Davis’ appeal

[Political Prisoner News]

U.S. Supreme Court doesn't address Davis' appeal

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/10/06/troy_davis_appeal.html


Condemned man says he didn't kill off-duty police officer

By 
<http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/10/06/mailto:brankin@ajc.com>BILL 
RANKIN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, October 06, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court apparently needs more time to look at an 
appeal from death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, whose claims of 
innocence have attracted international attention.

The high court issued orders Monday addressing the appeals of 
numerous cases, but none as to whether the court will accept or 
reject Davis' appeal.

On Sept. 23, the court halted Davis' execution less than two hours 
before it was to be carried out. The court's justices then met in a 
private conference on Sept. 29 to decide whether to accept the 
appeal. The courts' justices are scheduled to meet again, in private 
conferences, on each of the next two Fridays.

Davis, who claims he is innocent, is asking the court to order a 
judge to grant him a hearing. Since Davis' trial, seven of nine key 
prosecution witnesses to testify against him recanted their testimony.

Davis sits on death row for the Aug. 19, 1989, murder of Mark Allen 
MacPhail, a 27-year-old officer shot dead after he responded to the 
wails of a homeless man being pistol whipped in a Burger King parking 
lot. The father of two did not have time to draw his gun before being 
shot three times.

Davis is appealing a ruling by a sharply split Georgia Supreme Court. 
His lawyers are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that the 
Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the 
execution of the innocent and requires at least a court hearing to 
assess recantation evidence.

"It's obviously a very important case and the justices are still 
considering it," Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor, 
said. "Maybe the justices are split about it and want more time to 
consider it."

It is not unusual, Tobias said, particularly given the backlog of 
cases appealed during the summer months, for the court to take 
several weeks to decide whether to hear an appeal such as Davis'.




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