Judge Finds Race Plays a ​“Significant Role” in Death Sentences in Three North Carolina Counties

On February 7, 2025, Johnston County Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons ruled “[r]ace was a sig­nif­i­cant fac­tor” in both jury selec­tion and the deci­sion to impose death in the case of Hasson Bacote and grant­ed relief for Mr. Bacote from his death sen­tence under the pro­vi­sions of North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act (RJA). Judge Sermons also found racial dis­crim­i­na­tion taint­ed all death sen­tences in Johnston County and neigh­bor­ing Harnett and Lee Counties, poten­tial­ly affect­ing the out­comes of oth­er pend­ing RJA claims.

Mr. Bacote, a Black man sen­tenced to death in 2009, brought a chal­lenge to his con­vic­tion under the RJA in 2010, argu­ing racial bias influ­enced the jury selec­tion in his case and in all oth­er death penal­ty cas­es through­out North Carolina. Attorneys for Mr. Bacote, which includ­ed the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, pre­sent­ed sta­tis­ti­cal and oth­er evi­dence dur­ing a two-week hear­ing ear­ly last year point­ing to a pat­tern of clear and per­sis­tent racial bias in jury selec­tion at the coun­ty and state lev­el. In his rul­ing, Judge Sermons said the evi­dence showed that ​“pros­e­cu­tors struck Black venire mem­bers at vast­ly dis­pro­por­tion­ate rates com­pared to venire mem­bers of oth­er races” in death penal­ty cas­es in Johnston County, where Mr. Bacote was tried, as well as in Lee and Harnett Counties, and that, ​“race was a sig­nif­i­cant fac­tor” in those deci­sions. Judge Sermons also found that “[r]ace was the basis of the deci­sion to impose a death sen­tence on Mr. Bacote.” 

Judge Sermons said he was per­suad­ed that the sta­tis­ti­cal dis­par­i­ties pre­sent­ed at the hear­ing around jury selec­tion ​“hold true” even when tak­ing into account the rea­sons to strike jurors most fre­quent­ly cit­ed by pros­e­cu­tors, includ­ing: a juror’s opin­ion about the death penal­ty; any pos­si­ble crim­i­nal back­ground a juror might have; as well as a juror’s employ­ment, mar­i­tal sta­tus, and the hard­ship they might face if forced to serve duty. Other evi­dence pre­sent­ed at the hear­ing includ­ed detailed tes­ti­mo­ny about pat­terns of racial bias in the admin­is­tra­tion of North Carolina’s death penal­ty from sta­tis­ti­cians, social sci­en­tists, his­to­ri­ans, and legal scholars.

North Carolina’s RJA was passed in 2009, allow­ing indi­vid­u­als sen­tenced to death to chal­lenge their sen­tences based on the role race played in their sen­tenc­ing and jury selec­tion. Individuals who could prove their sen­tenc­ing was prej­u­diced by racial bias would be resen­tenced to life in prison with­out the oppor­tu­ni­ty for parole. In 2013, the RJA was repealed under Governor Pat McCrory, but the state Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that pris­on­ers who had already filed claims were enti­tled to hear­ings. Mr. Bacote’s case is the first such case to be heard after the 2020 state Supreme Court ruling.

The rul­ing comes on the heels of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s his­toric grant of clemen­cy to 15 peo­ple on the state’s death row at the end of 2024, includ­ing Mr. Bacote. According to Mr. Bacote’s legal team, Judge Sermons’ deci­sion will not affect his sen­tence because he has already been resen­tenced to life with­out parole, but the rul­ing does have the poten­tial to impact the 121 peo­ple remain­ing on North Carolina’s death row because of the breadth of its findings.

Judge Sermons specif­i­cal­ly cit­ed the behav­ior of pros­e­cu­tor Greg Butler, the pros­e­cu­tor in Mr. Bacote’s case and many oth­er cas­es, not­ing that he, as a rule, ​“struck qual­i­fied Black venire mem­bers [at a rate] 3.48 times high­er than the rate for all other[s.]” Judge Sermons also not­ed Mr. Butler referred to Mr. Bacote as a ​“thug, cold-heart­ed and with­out remorse” dur­ing the tri­al, words that Mr. Butler him­self admit­ted under oath have racial con­no­ta­tions. Judge Sermons also cit­ed Mr. Butler for refer­ring to Black defen­dants in oth­er death cas­es he was pros­e­cut­ing in deroga­to­ry terms includ­ing ​“piece of trash” and ​“preda­tors of the African plain.”