ATLANTA - The Georgia Supreme Court said today it would hear an appeal from death penalty inmate Wallace Fugate the third, who claims he was denied a fair hearing before the state parole board. <br>
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A Fulton County judge blocked Fugate's execution Tuesday just hours before he was to die. Fugate was convicted of the 1991 shooting death of his ex-wife, Pattie, in Putnam County. <br>
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His attorneys claim his clemency hearing was unfair because only four seats of the five-member board was filled. Two members of the board resigned last week amid an ethics investigation, but Governor Barnes has filled only one of the seats. <br>
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It takes three votes from the board to commute a death sentence. <br>
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The victory for Fugate was limited. The court denied his request to have the execution thrown out altogether. <br>
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The court did not immediately schedule a date for the hearing.
