Death penalty appeals from condemned inmates usually hinge on technicalities, legal hiccups and procedural errors. But this week a federal judge will hear evidence from a death row inmate convicted of gunning down a Savannah police officer that will center on a more fundamental question: Is he innocent
Troy Anthony Davis’ attorneys and legal experts alike say such an argument is highly unusual. And many say the hearing, scheduled Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Savannah, marks the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered such a hearing in a death penalty case.
