US court rejects death row appeal

Troy Davis has always denied being the murderer

The US Supreme Court has rejected a final appeal against the death sentence by Troy Davis, who was convicted in 1991 of killing a policeman in Georgia.

Several key witnesses have recanted their evidence since the trial.

Davis had been granted clemency twice before, once less than two hours before he was due to be executed.

Meanwhile, Ohio has executed a man by lethal injection despite his claims that his obesity meant the method would be inhumane.

Davis has admitted being present at the scene of the killing of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia, in 1989, but has always denied that he was the murderer.

At his trial, nine witnesses gave evidence that he was the man who shot Mr MacPhail, but most of the prosecution's witnesses have since recanted or contradicted their testimony.

Davis's lawyers also say post-trial information has emerged implicating another man as the gunman.

Pope Benedict XVI and former US President Jimmy Carter are among those who have appealed on his behalf.

But on Tuesday, the US Supreme Court rejected a request by Davis for a review of the case, clearing the way for his execution.

'Painful death'

Later, authorities in Ohio executed Richard Cooey, a double murderer weighing 121kg (276lb), after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal for a stay of execution.

Cooey had claimed that his obesity would make it hard for prison staff to find a suitable vein to administer the injection.

He had also said that medication he was taking would interfere with the lethal dose, causing him to suffer an "agonising or excruciatingly painful" death.

A spokesman at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville said Cooey had died at 1028 (1428 GMT).