State Supreme Court to hear Fugate case

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> <br> A Fulton County judge blocked Fugate&#39;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> <br> 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> <br> It takes three votes from the board to commute a death sentence. <br> <br> The victory for Fugate was limited. The court denied his request to have the execution thrown out altogether. <br> <br> The court did not immediately schedule a date for the hearing.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/6/193318