Troy Anthony Davis was convicted of murdering Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail1 and of related crimes. He was sentenced to death for the murder, and this Court affirmed. Davis v. State , 263 Ga. 5 426 SE2d 844 1993, cert. denied, 510 U. S. 950 114 SC 396, 126 LE2d 344 1993. He filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court of Butts County, and this Court affirmed the denial of that petition. Davis v. Turpin , 273 Ga. 244 539 SE2d 129 2000, cert. denied, 534 U. S. 842 122 SC 100, 151 LE2d 59 2001. See also Davis v. Thomas , 266 Ga. 835 471 SE2d 202 1996 reversing the habeas court’s denial of a continuance. He filed a federal habeas petition, and his appeals from the denial of that petition failed. Davis v. Terry , 465 F3d 1249 11th Cir. 2006, cert. denied, __U. S.__ 127 SC 3010, 168 LE2d 728 2007. After the trial court issued a new order for his execution, Davis filed an extraordinary motion for new trial on July 9, 2007, eight days before the beginning of the week-long period set for his execution. See OCGA § 5-5-41 b. The trial court denied the extraordinary motion for new trial without conducting a hearing. Davis then filed an application for discretionary appeal and a motion for a stay of execution in this Court. While the application was pending, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles granted a temporary stay of execution and scheduled a hearing. On August 3, 2007, this Court dismissed Davis’s motion for a stay of execution as moot and granted his application for discretionary appeal. Davis v. State , 282 Ga. 368 651 SE2d 10 2007. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles then rescinded its stay of execution and suspended its consideration of Davis’s petition for clemency while this Court considers the instant appeal. In light of the following discussion, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Davis’s extraordinary motion for new trial without first conducting a hearing, and, accordingly, we affirm.2 1. The evidence at trial authorized the jury to find the following: In the early morning of August 19, 1989, Davis was at a pool hall in Savannah with his friends, Sylvester “Red” Coles and sixteen-year-old Darrell “D.D.” Collins. Nearby, a homeless man named Larry Young was exiting a convenience store. Coles asked Young for one of the beers Young had just purchased. When Young refused, Coles followed him up the street, cursing at him. Davis and Collins circled around a bank in an apparent flanking maneuver and joined Coles in surrounding Young. Someone shouted a threat about shooting Young, and Davis came from behind Young and struck him in the head with a pistol, injuring him badly. Collins fled as soon as Young was struck. Davis and Coles fled immediately afterward when it became obvious that the police were being called. Mark MacPhail, a police officer working off-duty at the nearby bus station and Burger King, began pursuing Davis and Coles and shouted for them to stop. Coles stopped, and MacPhail ran past him. Davis kept running and fired a handgun at MacPhail, who was shot and fell. Davis then stood over MacPhail smiling and fired again. Altogether, MacPhail was shot three times, once in the face, once in the right thigh, and once in the chest.
Earlier on the night of the murder, a man named Michael Cooper was shot while leaving a party. A bullet retrieved from Michael Cooper’s body during his medical treatment was similar to bullets from the murder scene. Shell casings retrieved from the two scenes were matched with greater certainty. Testimony at trial identified Davis as the person who shot Michael Cooper.
