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U.S. Supreme Court Orders Hearing for Troy Davis

By "Persian Cowboy"

The Innocence Project is reporting that in a highly unusual step, the U.S. Supreme Court today ordered a new hearing in the case of Troy Davis, who has been on Georgia?s death row for nearly two decades for a murder he says he didn?t commit. Ruling on a habeas corpus petition from Davis, the court ordered a federal judge to ?receive testimony and findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis?] innocence.?Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented. But Justice John Paul Stevens cited prior court precedent that said it would be ?an atrocious violation of our Constitution and the principles upon which it is based? to execute an innocent man.?Imagine a petitioner in Davis?s situation who possesses new evidence conclusively and definitively proving, beyond any scintilla of doubt, that he is an innocent man,? Stevens wrote...continue to full post

Full post as published by Texas Death Penalty Blog on August 17, 2009 (boomark / email).