"Stay of execution upheld for Georgia inmate," is the CNN post.
A stay of execution for a man scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening in Georgia has been upheld by the state's Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, a lower court delayed the execution of Marcus Ray Johnson, 46, after new evidence in the case surfaced.
Johnson's lawyers had filed an emergency motion requesting a new trial and time to conduct DNA testing after evidence was recently produced by police in Albany, Georgia.
Dougherty County Superior Court Judge Willie Lockette granted the stay, and set a hearing scheduled for February 1, 2012, on Johnson's motion for additional testing.
The Georgia Supreme Court agreed with the lower court in an unanimous ruling.
Johnson was convicted and sentenced to death for the March 1994 rape and murder of Angela Sizemore in Albany, Georgia.
Human rights group Amnesty International praised the stay, based on doubt raised about Johnson's guilt and the emergence of evidence that had not yet been analyzed.
"Amnesty International hopes that this is a sign that there is greater concern in Georgia about the fallibility of the death penalty, especially on the heels of the outrageous and unnecessary execution of Troy Davis."
"Georgia Supreme Court upholds inmate's stay of execution," is from Reuters.
Dougherty County District Attorney Gregory Edwards filed an emergency motion asking the state Supreme Court to vacate the judge's order granting the stay.
The court, in a unanimous vote, dismissed the state's appeal on procedural grounds, meaning Johnson's execution won't be carried out until at least early next year.
"Ga. Supreme Court upholds stay of execution," at UPI.
"I'm extremely gratified the court has recognized there's a capital case with a question of innocence with available biological evidence that can be tested with modern DNA methods," Brian Kammer, a lawyer for Johnson, said of the high court's decision.
Tuesday afternoon, Bill Rankin filed, "Judge orders stay of Wednesday's execution," for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on the lower court's stay.
A state court judge on Tuesday delayed Wednesday's scheduled execution of Marcus Ray Johnson to give his legal team the opportunity to see if DNA testing can be conducted on available biological evidence. Johnson sits on death row for the 1994 rape and murder of Angela Sizemore in Albany.
State prosecutors will appeal the order signed by Dougherty County Superior Court Judge Willie Lockette to the Georgia Supreme Court. Johnson had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson.
And:
Kammer has said he believes DNA tests will show that others killed Sizemore after Johnson left the scene.
There is now evidence that can be tested for DNA that may "decisively" support Johnson's innocence claims or show there is a reasonable likelihood a jury would acquit him on the basis of the new evidence, Kammer wrote in a recently filed court motion. "If the saliva, hairs, tape lifts, fingernail clippings or Ms. Sizemore’s clothing reveal the DNA profile of another person, these would strongly suggest that a different perpetrator or perpetrators committed the crime."
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