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State And Federal Info

North Carolina

Notable Exonerations

Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, two brothers who were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1984, were freed in 2014 because of evidence uncovered by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. McCollum was 19 and Brown was 15 when they confessed to the rape and murder of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie. Both men are intellectually disabled - McCollum has an IQ in the 60s and Brown has scored as low as 49 on IQ tests. McCollum and Brown have maintained their innocence since their trial, saying they were unaware they were signing a confession.

Jonathon Hoffman, a black man charged with killing a white man, was tried and convicted by an all-white jury despite the fact that no physical evidence connected him to the murder of Danny Cook. The prosecutors in his case withheld evidence that was favorable to Hoffman. Neither the defense attorney nor the judge knew of a deal in which prosecutors paid Hoffman’s cousin to testify against him—an omission that resulted in the criminal investigation of Ken Honeycutt and Scott Brewer, the prosecutors in the original trial. Charges were dismissed in 2007, after Hoffman had spent 12 years on death row.

Glen Edward Chapman was granted a new trial in 2007, due to withheld evidence, “lost, misplaced or destroyed” documents, the use of weak, circumstantial evidence, false testimony by the lead investigator, and ineffective assistance of defense counsel. There was also new information from a forensic pathologist that raised doubts as to whether the murder for which Chapman was convicted was a homicide or caused by an overdose of drugs. Chapman was released in 2008, when charges against him were dropped.

Levon “Bo” Jones’ conviction was overturned due to his defense counsel’s “constitutionally deficient” performance. In April 2008, shortly before a retrial was set to begin, Jones’ new defense team filed an affidavit in which the star witness from his first trial said, “Much of what I testified to was simply not true.” Jones spent 15 years on death row, and was released in May 2008

Milestones in Abolition/Reinstatement

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, invalidating all death sentences nationwide, the North Carolina Supreme Court reviewed North Carolina’s death penalty statute in 1973 in State v. Waddell. The Waddell court held that the unconstitutionality of North Carolina’s death penalty statute could be resolved by severing the portion of the statute that allowed a jury to recommend either a life sentence or a death sentence. The decision therefore made future death sentences mandatory. In 1974, the North Carolina legislature followed the Waddell decision by enacting a mandatory death penalty statute.

Three years later, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down North Carolina’s mandatory death sentencing scheme in Woodson v. North Carolina. The North Carolina legislature responded by enacting a new death penalty statute that took effect on June 1, 1977.

In August 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act, which prohibited seeking or imposing the death penalty on the basis of race, included the use of statewide statistical evidence to show a pattern of racial discrimination, and applied retroactively for one year.

Kentucky was the first state to pass a Racial Justice Act, though NC’s RJA differed from Kentucky’s as it allowed for retroactive application and also permitted the use of statistical evidence to show that race was a “significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county, the prosecutorial district, or the State at large at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed.”

In 2013, the legislature repealed the Racial Justice Act. Prior to repeal, four inmates had been granted relief under the act, but those decisions were vacated by the North Carolina Supreme Court in December 2015.

North Carolina “Firsts”

Indigent Services Commission, created in July, 2001, developed standards governing the qualifications of defense counsel, required counsel to seek consultations with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation prior to trial, took over the responsibility of appointing and compensating counsel through the Office of the Capital Defender, provided increased training and supervision of attorneys, and took over responsibility for allocating the resources for experts, investigators, and other expenses incurred in defending a capital trial.

Innocence Inquiry Commission

The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is the first of its kind in the nation. The Commission was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006 and began operating in 2007. Since then, the Commission has reviewed hundreds of innocence claims and conducted multiple hearings. On February 17, 2010, Gregory Taylor was the first person to be exonerated by this unique process. Mr. Taylor was declared innocent by a panel of three judges after serving 17 years for a murder that he did not commit.

Four of North Carolina's exonerees (three from death row): (front row, from left to right) Levon “Bo” Jones, Jonathan Hoffman, Glen Edward Chapman and Darryl Hunt. Photo by Jack Payden-Travers.
Four of North Carolina’s exonerees (three from death row): (front row, from left to right) Levon ​“Bo” Jones, Jonathan Hoffman, Glen Edward Chapman and Darryl Hunt. Photo by Jack Payden-Travers.

Resources

  • North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
  • Center for Death Penalty Litigation
  • Department of Corrections
  • North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys
  • Indigent Defense Services
  • Victims’ services
  • The Death Penalty in North Carolina: A Summary of the Data and Scientific Studies by Dr. Matthew Robinson of Appalachian State University
  • People of Faith Against the Death Penalty

North Carolina Execution Totals Since 1976

News & Developments


Race

Nov 25, 2020

New DPIC Podcast Discusses ‘Racist Roots’ and ‘Enduring Injustice’ of U.S. Death Penalty

In the November 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Gretchen Engel (pic­tured, left), Executive Director of North Carolina’s Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL), joins Ngozi Ndulue (pic­tured, below), Senior Director of Research a…

New DPIC Podcast Discusses ‘Racist Roots’ and ‘Enduring Injustice’ of U.S. Death Penalty

Race

Oct 07, 2020

Groundbreaking 'Racist Roots' Project Exposes Racism Endemic in North Carolina’s Death Penalty

North Carolina’s death penal­ty is a weapon of social con­trol root­ed in a racist past. That is the mes­sage of a ground­break­ing new col­lab­o­ra­tive project, Racist Roots: Origins of North Carolin…

Groundbreaking 'Racist Roots' Project Exposes Racism Endemic in North Carolina’s Death Penalty

Race

Sep 28, 2020

North Carolina Supreme Court Restores Life Sentences to Three Prisoners Whose Death Sentences Violated Racial Justice Act

The North Carolina Supreme Court has ordered that three African American death-row pris­on­ers who had proven that their death sen­tences vio­lat­ed the state’s since repealed Racial Justice Act (RJA) must be resenten…

North Carolina Supreme Court Restores Life Sentences to Three Prisoners Whose Death Sentences Violated Racial Justice Act

Race

Aug 17, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of August 10, 2020

NEWS (8/​14/​20) — Alabama: The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has affirmed a low­er court rul­ing grant­i­ng a new tri­al to death-row pris­on­er Ste…

Race

Aug 03, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of July 27, 2020

NEWS (7/​31/​20) — Boston, MA: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has over­turned the death sen­tence imposed on Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Race

Jun 30, 2020

New Podcast: Henderson Hill and North Carolina’s Historic Racial Justice Act Rulings

In the June 2020 episode of Discussions with DPIC, Henderson Hill (pic­tured), Senior Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project, speaks with Death Penalty Information Center Executive Directo…

New Podcast: Henderson Hill and North Carolina’s Historic Racial Justice Act Rulings

Race

Jun 08, 2020

North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Racial Justice Act Repeal, Permits Race Challenges by 140 Death-Row Prisoners

The North Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the state legislature’s attempt­ed retroac­tive repeal of the state’s Racial Justice Act (RJA), restor­ing the rights of approx­i­mate­ly 140 death-row pris­on­ers to seek redress of death sen­tences that th…

North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Racial Justice Act Repeal, Permits Race Challenges by 140 Death-Row Prisoners

Innocence

Jun 06, 2020

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of June 1, 2020

NEWS (6/​5/​20) — North Carolina: The North Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the state leg­is­la­ture’s attempt­ed retroac­tive repeal of the state’s Racial Justice Act, restor­ing the rights of approx­i­mate­ly 130 death-row pris­on­ers to seek …

Innocence

Mar 13, 2020

News Brief — North Carolina Innocence Commission Orders Review of Murder Convictions of Teens Falsely Threatened With Death Penalty

NEWS (3/​13/​20): The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission vot­ed 5 – 3 on March 13, 2020 to empan­el a three-judge review com­mit­tee to deter­mine whether four men con­vict­ed as teens should be exon­er­at­ed of the mu…

News Brief — North Carolina Innocence Commission Orders Review of Murder Convictions of Teens Falsely Threatened With Death Penalty

Innocence

Mar 08, 2020

Death-Penalty News and Developments for the Week of March 8 — March 14, 2020

NEWS (3/​13) — North Carolina: The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission vot­ed 5 – 3 to empan­el a three-judge review com­mit­tee to deter­mine whether four men c…

View More

View Information by State

Additional Information


  • Death Penalty: Yes
  • Number of Executions Since 1976: 43
  • Number of Executions Before 1976 (may include federal and military executions): 784
  • Current Death Row Population: 141
  • Women on Death Row: 2
  • Number of Innocent People Freed From Death Row: 10
  • Number of Clemencies Granted: 5
  • Date of Reinstatement (following Furman v. Georgia): January 18, 1973; June 1, 1977
  • First Execution After Reinstatement: 1984
  • Location of Death Row/Executions (Men): Central Prison, Raleigh
  • Location of Death Row/Executions (Women): North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, Raleigh
  • Capital: Raleigh
  • Region: South
  • Population: 9,535,483
  • Murder Rate (per 100,000 population): 5.8
  • Is Life Without Parole an Option?: Yes
  • Can defendant get death for a felony in which s/he was not responsible for the murder?: Yes
  • Method of Execution: Injection
  • How is Sentence Determined?: Jury
  • Clemency Process: Governor has sole authority to grant clemency
  • Governor: Roy Cooper

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