In one of his final acts in office, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday commuted the death sentences of 15 men convicted of first-degree murder to life in prison without parole, reducing the state's death row population. decreased by more than 10 people. %.
Cooper is prohibited from seeking a third consecutive four-year term and will make way for fellow Democrat Josh Stein when Stein takes the oath of office on Wednesday.
Cooper, who previously served as attorney general for 16 years, said the decision to commute the sentence was made after a thorough review of the defendants' petitions and input from prosecutors and the victim's family.
As of Tuesday, North Carolina had 136 death row inmates. Cooper's office said it had received clemency petitions from 89 of them.
Cooper's office said it will consider a variety of factors, including the defendant's conduct in prison, the adequacy of legal representation and the sentences received by his co-defendants.
“These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a governor can make, and the death penalty is the most severe penalty a state can impose,” Cooper said in a news release. “After thorough consideration, reflection, and prayer, I have concluded that the death penalty imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while also ensuring that they spend the rest of their lives in prison. has been reached.”
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, North Carolina is one of 27 states that have the death penalty as a criminal penalty, but governors in five of those states are currently suspending executions. Although North Carolina is not one of these five states, the death penalty has not been carried out in the state. Since 2006.
The number of defendants sentenced to death in North Carolina has also declined in recent years, as prosecutors have more discretion under state law to decide whether to try capital cases. Even after Tuesday's action, North Carolina still has the fifth-highest death row population in the nation relative to its population, according to the North Carolina Alternatives to the Death Penalty Coalition.
Some anti-death penalty groups are calling on Cooper to completely commute the sentences of all inmates on death row, but they are still praising him for what they call a historic act of clemency. State Adult Corrections Department records list 13 of the 15 pardoned individuals as black. The dates of the 15 convictions ranged from 1993 to 2011.
Chantal Stevens, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a separate release that Cooper “joins a group of courageous leaders who have used their executive powers to address execution failures.” said. “We have long known that North Carolina's death penalty is racially biased, unjust and immoral, and the governor's actions today pave the way for the state to move toward a new era of justice. .”
Cooper gained national attention earlier this year when he emerged as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' running mate.
Stein replaced Cooper as attorney general in 2017. The Attorney General's Office is involved in the death penalty appeal.
Among the 15 people whose sentences were commuted Tuesday was Hasson Bacote, who was convicted of first-degree murder in Johnston County in 2009.
Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the 2009 Racial Justice Act, which allows inmates to receive life in prison without parole if they can prove racial bias was the reason for their death sentence. Ta. The law was repealed in 2013, but the state Supreme Court later ruled that the law could be applied retroactively to most people currently on death row.
Bacote's recent hearing before a judge under the law was seen as a test case. Groups supporting Mr. Bacoté's case said Tuesday they still expect a verdict in his case because of the widespread public interest in the issue.
Another inmate whose sentence was commuted was Guy Legrande, who was once scheduled to be executed in late 2006, but a judge temporarily halted his execution. He was convicted in 1993 in Stanly County of murdering a woman whose estranged husband had offered to pay a portion of her life insurance policy. LeGrande's lawyer said he suffered from a mental illness.
Another pardoned death row inmate, Christopher Roseboro, was convicted of murder and rape in the 1992 death of a 72-year-old Gastonia woman.
President Joe Biden announced last week that the sentences of 37 of the 40 federal death row inmates would be commuted to life sentences.
Separately on Tuesday, Cooper announced that the sentences of two inmates convicted of murder had been commuted to make them immediately eligible for parole. One defendant served 34 years in prison, the other 27 years.
