Carlton Gary execution stopped by Georgia Supreme Court

In a 5-2 vote, the Supreme Court of Georgia today granted Carlton Gary's motion for a stay of execution and ordered the Muscogee County Superior Court to conduct a hearing on his request for DNA testing.

Gary, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1986 for the rapes and strangulation murders of 3 elderly women in Columbus, was due to be executed tonight at 7 p.m.by lethal injection. Gary's attorneys have claimed that DNA testing of hair, semen and fingernail scrapings found on his alleged victims was not available at the time of his conviction.

All justices concurred in today's decision except Chief Justice Carol Hunstein and Presiding Justice George Carley, who dissented.

Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, December 16, 2009

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