a condemned prisoner was taken off death row

a condemned prisoner was taken off death row, hours before his scheduled death by lethal injection, after the state Supreme Court left a stay of execution in place. 
The office of state Attorney General Roy Cooper said he would not appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Charles Walker, 39, had been scheduled for execution at 2 a.m. Friday for the 1992 drug-related killing of Tito Davidson.
o-defendants testified that Walker participated in shooting Davidson several times, then slashing his throat. A judge in Guilford County ordered Walker's execution stayed on Monday, saying he wanted to hear further argument from defense lawyers on their contention that Walker was convicted solely on the basis of unreliable testimony by co-defendants and others who could have been charged in the case.
Lawyers for Walker and the state now have until Jan. 15 to file briefs for Guilford Superior Court Judge John Craig on whether Walker should get a new hearing or trial.