COLUMBUS — A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday called for a federal magistrate to reopen the 18-year-old case of death row inmate John W. Byrd Jr.

        A Hamilton County jury, six courts and 70 judges have upheld Mr. Byrd's death sentence, satisfied he killed Colerain Township convenience store clerk Monte Tewksbury during a 1983 robbery.

        At least five judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit disagreed.

Byrd

        They ordered a federal magistrate to hold a hearing to consider the recently revealed confessions of John Eastle Brewer, an imprisoned accomplice who says he stabbed Mr. Tewksbury.

        While some of the court's nine voting judges called the decision to reopen the case “lawless,” it was a stunning setback for the state. Prison officials had planned to execute Mr. Byrd in the electric chair Sept. 12.

        With a new hearing and at least one more decision from the 6th Circuit on the way, that execution will be delayed months — “possibly years,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen.

        “It's an absolute travesty of justice,” Mr. Allen said. “What the 6th Circuit has done in this case is beyond belief.”

        Ohio Public Defender David Bodiker said he finally will get a chance to prove Mr. Byrd's death sentence doesn't hold up.

        “This absolutely was not a fair conviction,” Mr. Bodiker said. “We got what we asked for and we're delighted.”

        At the center of the case are two sworn statements in which Mr. Brewer claims he stabbed Mr. Tewksbury during a scuffle behind the King Kwik convenience store counter.

        Two state courts dismissed Mr. Brewer's confessions as unbelievable and the Ohio Supreme Court refused to even consider them in a 4-3 decision.

        A three-judge panel on the 6th Circuit appeared to agree. The panel's 2-1 decision blasted the public defender for not using Mr. Brewer's first confession in 1989.

        In an unusual move, a majority of the court's nine active judges granted a stay of execution until Oct. 8.

        That same majority ordered Walter Rice, the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Ohio, to assign a magistrate to hear Mr. Brewer's confessions. That magistrate will also consider claims that a jailhouse informant who helped prosecutors convict Mr. Byrd lied on the stand.

        The magistrate, who has not been named, will have 45 days to create a record that the appeals court can use to decide if Mr. Byrd should be awarded further court hearings.

        Judge Nathaniel Jones wrote that a magistrate is needed to fill “serious gaps” in the case. He also criticized state courts for “turning a blind eye” to Mr. Brewer's confession and to appeals that his trial was tainted.

        “The state courts of Ohio wasted an opportunity to bring all interested parties closer to fairness and finality in this matter,” Judge Jones wrote.

        Judges Richard F. Suhrheinrich, Alice Batchelder and Danny J. Boggs said the decision breaks laws intended to govern last-minute appeals. Judge Suhrheinrich questioned if the overall goal of the court was simply to create a process that would ultimately overturn Mr. Byrd's death sentence.

        “All of the orders, previous decisions by the (full) court and 18 years of due process for Mr. Byrd have been thrown out the window,” Judge Suhrheinrich wrote.

        Judge Jones wrote that the court's decision was entirely legal.

        “A federal court does well when it refuses to rubber-stamp such inadequate proceedings in the state court,” he wrote.

        Attorney General Betty Montgomery has not decided how she will respond, said spokesman Joe Case. One option could be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

        “There is an indefinite stay on this case for no sound legal reason,” Mr. Case said. “It delays justice for the people of this state who support the death penalty.”

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