Cory Maye to get hearing on new trial request

Cory Maye, a Mississippi inmate on death row for shooting police office who barged into his home in a late-night raid, will get a hearing on his petition for a new trial June 20, according to an article in the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger. Maye shot officer Ron Jones, on Dec. 26, 2001 afer Jones and other officers entered the duplex in which Maye lived, searching for drugs. Maye said he never heard the police announce themselves; police, prosecutors and the jury at Mayes' 2004 trial believed otherwise.

Largely as a result of digging by Cato Institute policy analyst Radley Balko, Maye's case has become a cause celebre for bloggers who not only publicized his case, but raised money for a defense fund and enlisted the support of a high-power Washington, DC law firm, Covington and Burling.

Tags: /Cory Maye/,/death penalty/