No New Trial for Convicted Georgia Officer's Killer

ATLANTA --

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an appeal for a new trial by death row inmate Troy Davis, who claims he is innocent of charges that he killed a Savannah police officer in 1989.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 decision barring him from filing a new appeal that contends he is innocent. But the court delayed his execution date for at least 30 days so Davis can pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davis' supporters have called for a new trial because seven of the nine key witnesses against him have recanted their testimony, and the doubts about his guilt have won him the support of former President Jimmy Carter and other prominent advocates.

Savannah Officer Mark MacPhail was working off-duty as a security guard at a bus station when he rushed to help a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped at a nearby parking lot. The 27-year-old was shot twice when he approached Davis and two other men.

Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter in the 1991 trial, and prosecutors said he wore a "smirk" as he fired the gun. But Davis' lawyers have since argued that new evidence should exonerate him. And they say three others who did not testify have said another man who testified against Davis at his trial confessed to the killing.

Prosecutors have long argued the case is closed. Savannah District Attorney Spencer Lawton also said he doubts the new testimony meets the legal standards for a new trial, and said the fact witnesses recanted invites "a suggestion of manipulation, making it very difficult to believe."

Davis' execution was first scheduled for July 2007, but it was postponed by Georgia's pardons board less than 24 hours before it was to be carried out. A divided Georgia Supreme Court twice rejected Davis' request for a new trial, and the pardons board turned down another bid for clemency after considering the case again.

As corrections officers prepared for Davis' scheduled Sept. 23 execution, the Supreme Court issued a stay to consider whether to grant him another hearing. A few weeks later, though, the court cleared the way for the execution when it decided against hearing the case.

With legal options dwindling just three days before a third scheduled execution date, Davis' attorneys convinced the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to stay the execution again.

Davis' supporters scrambled to craft a new strategy after Thursday's federal appeals decision. Larry Cox, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, called the ruling an "affront to basic human rights."

"Yet again the courts are placing procedural obstacles over the critical issue of innocence, and, by extension, the value of human life," he said. "The bar for admitting evidence has been raised to such a level that no one arguing his innocence would be able jump that hurdle."

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