Kevin Lamson argued he was wrongfully discharged from Crater Lake Motors in Medford after he told his bosses he wanted no part of a sales campaign that he believed included deceptive ads and sales practices.

Lamson sued the dealership and won in trial court, but the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the decision. It said in a unanimous opinion Thursday that there was no evidence to support Lamson's claim he was fired for reporting the practices.

He had been at the dealership for 15 years when Crater Lake Motors contracted with another company, Real Performance Marketing, to hold a special weeklong sales event for used cars.

Lamson said he observed sales tactics he believed to be unethical and illegal, including "payment packing" by inflating monthly payments with life insurance and service contracts without the customer's knowledge.

When the dealership decided to hold a second sales event with the same company, Lamson complained to upper management in person and in two letters.

Judge Richard Holwell in Manhattan concluded in a decision released Tuesday that Congress did not intend for a federal court to hear a dispute over the mortgage lender's promise to buy back modified loans from investors. He returned the case to state court.

Holwell wrote that it was tempting to find federal jurisdiction every time a multibillion dollar case with national implications arrives at the court's doorstep. But he said the decision is ultimately left up to Congress.

Holders of mortgage-backed securities sued Countrywide in December. Shirley Norton, a spokeswoman for Bank of America Corp., Countrywide's parent company, said the company will appeal the decision.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law amounted to unconstitutional meddling in U.S. foreign policy.

It based its 2-1 ruling on a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down another California law designed to help Holocaust survivors collect on Nazi-era insurance policies.

The federal government does not recognize the mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide, but the California Legislature did in 2000 when it enacted the disputed law.

About half of the people of Armenian descent living in this country reside in California.

Lawyer Brian Kabateck, who represents Armenian-American heirs, plans to appeal.

"The ruling is wrong. It's a disaster," Kabateck said. "The one million Armenians that live in California today have been told by the court that even the use of the word 'genocide' by a government is illegal."

Judge Sharon Keller is telling her side of the story for the first time nearly two years after Michael Wayne Richard was executed.

She'll continue testifying Wednesday. She was first called Tuesday to answer questions about refusing to keep the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals open past 5 p.m. when Richard's lawyers asked for more time to file their rushed appeal on Sept. 25, 2007.

Keller says the move wasn't a ruling on the merits of the request.

She says she received a call shortly before court closed about an appeal running late and that she knew it concerned the execution but that no explanation was given.

The court told a federal judge to hold a hearing to decide whether evidence "that could not have been obtained at the time of trial" could establish Davis' innocence. His case has become a rallying cry for death penalty opponents.

Davis' attorneys contend he deserves a new trial because new evidence proves he was mistakenly identified as the killer. They say several trial witnesses have recanted their testimony, and others who did not testify during the trial have said another man confessed to the killing.

"This is exactly what we asked for," said Jason Ewart, Davis' attorney. "It's been years since these witnesses have come forward, and they've never had their day in court. And now they will."

Davis was convicted 18 years ago for the 1989 slaying of Savannah, Ga., police officer Mark MacPhail, who was shot twice while working off-duty as a security guard at a bus station. He was gunned down after rushing to the aid of a homeless man who had been attacked.

Davis' execution has been delayed three times, including a ruling by an appeals court last year that gave the 40-year-old another chance to press his appeal. The panel rejected the appeal in April, and federal and state courts have repeatedly denied his request for a new trial.

Davis has spent 18 years on death row for the 1989 slaying of Savannah, Ga., police officer Mark MacPhail. Davis' attorneys insist that he is innocent and deserves a new trial because several witnesses at his trial have recanted their testimony.

The high court ordered a federal judge in Georgia to determine whether there is evidence "that could not have been obtained at the time of trial (that) clearly establishes petitioner's innocence."

Defense lawyers had appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal court denied a new trial request in April.

"The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing," said Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the court. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer concurred with Stevens.

MacPhail was slain 20 years ago while working off-duty as a security guard at a bus station. He had rushed to help a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped at a nearby parking lot, and was shot twice when he approached Davis and two other men. Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter at his 1991 trial.