House Committee Considers Racial Justice Act

The House Ways and Means Committee of the NC General Assembly has referred the Racial Justice Act to a sub-committee consisting of Rep. Phil Haire, Rep. Kelly Alexander, Rep. Angela Bryant, Rep. Mitch Gillespie, one district attorney, and one defense attorney.  The sub-committee will be refining the language of the proposed bill before it is considered by the full committee.  The bill would then proceed to the Judiciary Committee and the House floor.

The Racial Justice Act states that, “No person shall be subject to or given a sentence of death, or shall be executed pursuant to any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race.”  Prior reporting is here.

NC Capital Trials This Month

Three capital trials were scheduled to begin in North Carolina this month, but only one has proceeded as far as jury selection.  In Burke County, Phillip Kyle Blankenship pleaded guilty to the murder of Olivia Seals and received a sentence of life imprisonment.  In Rowan County, the trial of Mandy Latasha Clontz has been delayed for undisclosed reasons.

The Johnston County capital trial of Hassan Jamaal Bacote started earlier this month, but DW has been unable to find a single recent press account of the case.  Bacote is the only one of several co-defendants facing the death penalty.

Sentencing Relief for Jimmy McNeill

In Scotland County, a judge has vacated Jimmy McNeill’s death sentence.  McNeill has been on death row since 2003 for the shooting of his wife, Shirley.

During jury selection and multiple times throughout the trial, the judge explained the procedure of a capital case to the jury, and admonished them not to speak with persons outside the courtroom about their jury service.  All of the jurors agreed to follow the judge’s instructions.

Despite her promise, one juror sought out the advice of her pastor, who was also a probation officer, during the sentencing phase.  The juror was struggling with the decision between death and life without parole.   Only after her pastor/probation officer told her that people sentenced to death have many appeals – and are sometimes not executed at all – did the juror feel comfortable voting for death.  The Honorable Richard Doughton found that the juror’s decision in the sentencing phase was impermissibly influenced by information she gained outside the courtroom, in violation of the trial judge’s instructions.

Mr. McNeill will either receive a new sentencing hearing or be re-sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.  His conviction remains in effect.

Judge Doughton had previously granted a hearing on McNeill’s claim that his trial attorneys provided ineffective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase because they failed to investigate and present a wealth of mitigating evidence.  After granting relief on the juror claim, Judge Doughton dismissed the ineffectiveness claim as moot.

Should there be a resentencing hearing, the jury would have an opportunity to learn of the defendant’s life history: his early exposure to grinding poverty, brutal domestic violence, and excessive drinking.  A number of Mr. McNeill’s family members suffered from mental illness.  Despite these obstacles, McNeill was successful for a time: honorably serving for two decades in the 82nd Airborne Division and winning election to the Wagram Town Council.  After his retirement from the military, Mr. McNeill’s life started to crumble along with his marriage.  He began to abuse drugs and alcohol and, when his wife started an affair with one of his best friends from childhood, he resorted to unthinkable violence.

Race and the Death Penalty in Durham County

A new study shows that black defendants in Durham County who are accused of killing white victims are six times more likely to face the death penalty than black defendants whose victims are also black.  Attorneys for Keith Kidwell, a black man accused of killing a white man in 2005, surveyed every murder case in Durham County between 2003 and 2007 and found “a stark statistical pattern of racial bias.”  The race of the victim had a greater effect on the prosecutor’s decision to seek death in a given case than whether the defendant killed more than one person, or had killed before.  Race of victim was the single strongest predictor for whether a case would be declared capital in Durham County.

Nationwide and statewide studies in the past have shown a similar race-of-victim effect, but this is the first known study of the effect of race on charging decisions in a single North Carolina county.

Complete study data is here.  Local reporting is here.  See also prior reporting on the Racial Justice Act currently before the General Assembly.  A hearing in Kidwell’s case is scheduled for this afternoon.

No Death Penalty for Kreutzer

In a surprise move, the death penalty was taken off the table today for Sgt. William Kreutzer.  In 1995, Kreutzer opened fire on an Army unit during a training exercise at Fort Bragg.  Eighteen soldiers were injured and one officer was killed.

Kreutzer pleaded guilty to one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, and seventeen counts of aggravated assault.  He will be sentenced by a military judge, and is likely to spend the rest of his life in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

During the hearing, Kreutzer spoke publicly for the first time about what happened.  The day before the shootings, Kreutzer started thinking about firing on his brigade.  He tried to seek help from a chaplain and a mental health professional, but no one was available.  Kreutzer called a friend and told him about his plan, but the soldier did not believe him.  Kreutzer lay in wait for his fellow soldiers, and when the fog lifted to clear his view of the field, he took it as a sign from God that he should proceed.  Major Stephen Badger was killed trying to capture Kreutzer after the initial assault.

General Assembly Considers Racial Justice Act

The Racial Justice Act is back.  The bill passed one chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly last year, but did not make it to a floor vote.

The Racial Justice Act simply provides that, “No person shall be subject to or given a sentence of death, or shall be executed pursuant to any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race.”  One would think that the law already provided such protections, but one would be wrong.

District attorneys have the discretion to decide whether to seek the death penalty in a given case.  This bill would ensure that those decisions are not made based on the race of the defendant or the victim.  A 2001 study found that a defendant is 3.5 times more likely to receive the death penalty in North Carolina if his victim is white.

Under the bill, prosecutors would be given the opportunity to offer a race-neutral reason for their decision to seek capital punishment.  In the statewide study, race of victim was determined to be a better predictor of a death sentence than whether the defendant killed more than one person or whether he had killed before.

If the Racial Justice Act passes, courts would have to consider this kind of evidence in deciding whether the death penalty is being applied fairly in a given case.  If the judge determined that the death penalty was not warranted, the defendant would still be subject to life without parole upon conviction.

The RJA was filed in the NC Senate yesterday by Floyd McKissick (D-Durham), and in the NC House by Larry Womble (D-Forsyth), Earline Parmon (D-Forsyth), Paul Luebke (D-Durham), and Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford).  Fifty representatives and senators joined in co-sponsoring the bills.

The Senate version of the bill, S461, is available online here.

The House version, H472, is here.

Kreutzer Competent to Stand Trial

A military judge has ruled that Sgt. William Kreutzer is competent to stand trial for the murder of a fellow soldier in 1995.  No trial date has been set.  If convicted, Kreutzer could face the death penalty.

Kreutzer was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1996, but his conviction was later overturned.

Elon University Poll Finds DP Support Waning

A new Elon University poll has found that fewer than 50% of North Carolinians think the death penalty is the most appropriate punishment for first-degree murder.  That’s down from 2005, when 61% of residents preferred death.

Seventy-one percent of those polled support life without parole as a punishment for first-degree murder.  Support for LWOP has gone up five points since the 2007 poll.  By a narrow margin, more NC residents approve of the current moratorium on executions than disapprove.

The Elon poll also covered other issues like health care and transportation.  See all poll results here.

Executions – March 2009

3 – Willie Poindexter (TX)

4 – Kenneth Morris (TX)

10 – Robert Newland (GA)

10 – James Edward Martinez (TX)

11 – Luis Salazar (TX)

13 – Cal Coburn Brown (WA)

19 – Phillip Halfford (AL – stayed)

20 – Dwayne Woods (WA – stayed)

Kreutzer Possibly Incompetent to Stand Trial

At Fort Bragg, defense attorneys are arguing that Sgt. William Kreutzer is too mentally ill to stand trial for a 1995 murder.  Kreutzer is alleged to have opened fire on his unit during a training exercise, killing one and wounding eighteen others.

An Army psychiatrist testified that Kreutzer suffers from severe depression, which causes him to have a flat affect.  Kreutzer always has a blank look on his face, which will likely be interpreted by the jury as a lack of remorse.  Another psychiatrist testified that Kreutzer is not “out of touch with reality,” and is therefore capable of standing trial.  The court is expected to rule on the issue soon.