Kenny Richey has spent 18 years on death row in Ohio
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A Scot on death row in the US has been told an Appeal Court decision to quash his conviction cannot be set aside.
The ruling means Kenny Richey, 40, who has been facing execution for 18 years, must now be retried within 90 days or set free from death row.
Ohio prosecutors had wanted the appeal to be reheard but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati refused.
Richey was convicted of killing a girl, aged two, in a 1986 arson attack in Ohio but always argued his innocence.
The prosecutor's only option now is to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
Karen Torley, who is engaged to Richey, said she was pleased the court had denied Ohio's request for another hearing and believed he should be set free as "this injustice has gone on long enough".
Amnesty International UK and anti-death penalty charity Reprieve welcomed the move and said it formally starts the countdown to Richey being released or retried.
Richey was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing the girl in 1986.
British MPs and leading human rights campaigners have fought on his behalf for years, pleading a "compelling" case of innocence.
'Flawed trial'
The controversial case has also won support from the European Parliament, a host of celebrities and the late Pope John Paul II.
Amnesty International UK welcomed the ruling and said Richey should be released.
Group director Kate Allen said: "We are pleased and relieved that Ohio will not be able to have Kenny Richey's appeal reheard.
"Kenny has endured 18 years on death row fighting to clear his name after a flawed trial - it's surely time for Ohio to accept the view of its senior court and set about releasing this man immediately."
Clive Stafford-Smith, founder of Reprieve, said he was confident the prosecution would now conclude that Richey was innocent.
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We are pleased and relieved that Ohio will not be able to have Kenny Richey's appeal reheard
