SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A defense lawyer for death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis says a Chatham County judge has denied a bid to halt next week's scheduled execution of the convicted cop killer and hear evidence in a long-shot motion for a new trial.
      The lawyer, Jason Ewart, says the defense team will appeal the ruling this evening by Superior Court Judge Penny Haas Freesemann to the state Supreme Court.
      The 38-year-old Davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection at seven p-m Tuesday. A jury convicted him for the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, who was shot in 1989 while moonlighting as a security guard.
      Davis insists he's innocent. His lawyers filed a motion Monday seeking a new trial based on affidavits by witnesses from Davis' 1991 trial who now say they lied or exaggerated when they testified Davis shot the officer.
      Davis is also scheduled to have a clemency hearing Monday before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.