William Theodore Moore Jr.

William Theodore Moore Jr. (born 1940) is a United States federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Early life, education and career

Born in Bainbridge, Georgia, Moore received an A.A. from Georgia Military College in 1960 and an LL.B. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1964. He was in private practice in Savannah, Georgia from 1964 to 1977. He was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia from 1977 to 1981. He was in private practice in Savannah, Georgia from 1981 to 1994. He was a Pro-tem recorders court judge, Garden City, Georgia from 1984 to 1994.

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 1994, Moore was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia vacated by Anthony A. Alaimo. Moore was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1994, and received his commission on October 11, 1994. He served as chief judge from 2004 to 2010.

Notable cases

In August 2010, Moore ruled on the prominent Troy Davis case. Davis was a Georgia inmate on death row, accused and convicted of murdering a police officer in 1989. Davis's guilt has been questioned, due to the release of new information, including the complete or partial recantation of the testimonies of seven (out of nine total) prosecution witnesses. In his ruling, Moore stated that Davis and his legal team had failed to demonstrate his innocence, as the added information was "largely smoke and mirrors" and added only "minimal doubt"; Moore dismissed four recantations as not credible, and two of them as only partly credible, finding that only one was wholly credible. He did not consider the alleged confessions of Redd Cole, another suspect in the case, because of the failure of Davis's lawyers to subpoena Cole and give him opportunity for rebuttal, and suggested that Davis should appeal directly to the Supreme Court. Davis was executed by lethal injection on September 21, 2011.

Sources

• William Theodore Moore Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.