On the morning of September 21, the Butts County Superior Court denied Davis's request to halt his execution. The Georgia Supreme Court also denied his appeal. Davis was due to be executed at 7 pm EDT. The same night, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary, announced that President Obama would not intervene in the case (while the president could not have pardoned Davis, he did have the authority to order a federal investigation that might have led to a delay in the execution). Davis filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution. Almost an hour after Davis's scheduled execution time, the Supreme Court announced they would review his petition, thereby postponing the execution. The Supreme Court, however, denied Davis's petition, after deliberating for several hours.