Stay of execution for Troy Davis!

Good news:

On Friday, the federal appeals court in Atlanta issued a stay of execution for Troy Davis, who was scheduled to be executed on Monday the 27th.

As my regular readers are likely aware, the Supreme Court recently refused to hear Davis's appeal, despite overwhelming evidence that he might be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted.

Seven of the prosecution's nine witnesses have recanted their testimonies and alleged that they had been pressured or coerced by police. Furthermore, there was no physical evidence against Davis, and the murder weapon was never found.

In other words, there is reasonable doubt as to Davis's guilt. Executing him without allowing the new evidence to be heard in court would be an inexcusable travesty of justice.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on yesterday's ruling:

"Upon our thorough review of the record, we conclude that Davis has met the burden for a stay of execution," the court said in an order issued by Judges Joel Dubina, Rosemary Barkett and Stanley Marcus.

The judges called the stay "conditional" and said they want to hear more from Davis' lawyers and state attorneys.

But there's a catch. Two of them, actually.

The article continues:

Davis must clear two difficult legal hurdles to win a new round of appeals.

First, he must show that his lawyers could not have previously found the new evidence supporting his innocence no matter how diligently they looked for it. And he must show that the new testimony, viewed in light of all the evidence, is enough to prove "by clear and convincing evidence that ... no reasonable fact finder would have found [him] guilty."

The 11th Circuit added a twist. It asked the parties to address whether Davis can still be executed if he can establish innocence under the second standard but cannot satisfy his burden under the first, due-diligence question.

The court gave Davis' lawyers 15 days to file their legal brief and state attorneys another 10 days to respond.

So that is where the case currently stands.

Will we finally see true justice in Georgia? Or will they find a way to kill him with a technicality?

Stay tuned, with fingers crossed.