Actual innocence is not usually there. Phillip Workman, convicted of killing police Lt. Ronald Oliver in 1981, also was denied a review, though an execution date has not been set. News of the high court's action Monday set off a flurry of activity across the state. Coe's defense lawyers filed a motion with the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, arguing that his death sentence is invalid because his jury did not write its findings verbatim according to state statutes.
Prosecutors say that is a technicality that has been dismissed in earlier appeals.
The state Attorney General's Office also has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court asking for an execution date for Workman. Defense attorneys say that is premature, that he has 25 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider and that the state has not provided them with procedures on how to seek clemency from Gov. Don Sundquist. Sundquist has said he favors the death penalty in cases such as Coe's. Family members of both victims say they plan to attend the executions, hoping to find closure after 20 years of following Coe's and Workman's appeals. Church groups, musicians and anti-death penalty activists are organizing public rallies, petition drives and media campaigns to stop the executions.