The new date, for the week from October 27 to November 3, is Davis' third execution date in 15 months and comes a day after the US Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal.

Davis was sentenced for the 1989 killing of police officer in Savannah, Georgia. Davis has never denied being at the crime scene but maintains he was not the shooter.

Without explanation the US Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal on Tuesday, even though seven of the prosecution's nine key witnesses have recanted their testimony since the 1991 trial.

His last chance to escape capital punishment rests on a pardon from the state of Georgia, which had refused to suspend the execution in September.