Judge assigned to hear Troy Davis evidence

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chief U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. of Savannah has been assigned to preside over the evidentiary hearing for Troy Anthony Davis, who sits on death row for the murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer in 1989.

Troy Anthony Davis claims that he was wrongly convicted of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989. Some witnesses have recanted testimony that helped convict him.

Related

• Davis case treads new ground
• Slain officer's family: 'Enough'
• Photos from the case
• U.S. Supreme Court orders new hearing
• Troy Davis case the focus of National Action Network event

More Atlanta area news »

• Suspects in teen's killing to be tried
• Anatomy of a crime: When all went wrong in West End
• Gwinnett cops capture Virgin Islands fugitive
• Suspect surrenders after standoff

On Aug. 17, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a judge in the Southern District of Georgia to hear testimony that could not have been obtained at the time of Davis’ 1991 trial and decide whether the new evidence “clearly establishes” his innocence in the death of Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Since the trial, seven of nine key state witnesses have recanted their testimony against Davis and others have implicated another man in the shooting.

Moore has yet to schedule a hearing date. A former U.S. attorney, Moore was appointed to the federal court by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and has served as chief judge for the past five years.