Latest news with #CenterforDeathPenaltyLitigation
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gretchen Engel of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation on the role of race in our justice system
Gretchen Engel (Courtesy photo) Two of the most hotly debated topics in law and policy — racial justice and the death penalty — have been on trial in a high-profile criminal case in Johnston County over the last year. In the case, a man named Hasson Bacote challenged the death sentence he received in a murder trial based on his contention that race, and racism played a role in the sentence he received — something that was prohibited at one point in our state under a law known as the Racial Justice Act. Last week, in what is being widely hailed as a landmark decision, a superior court judge issued a lengthy and detailed ruling in which held that race had in fact played big and wrongful role in Bacote's sentence. So, what exactly did the judge find and what does it mean for our state going forward? Recently NC Newsline sat down with one of the lawyers who represented Bacote — Center for Death Penalty Litigation executive director Gretchen Engel — to find out. Click here to listen to the full interview with Gretchen Engel.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Johnston County judge finds death sentences influenced by racial discrimination: Court Documents
SMITHFIELD, N.C. (WNCN) — On Friday, a Johnston County judge found that race played a significant role in the death penalty trial of Hasson Bacote, influencing the makeup of the jury along with the decision of the death sentence. Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons also found that racial discrimination extends beyond Bacote's case 'poisoning all death sentences in Johnston County' and districts that include Harnett and Lee counties. 'We are grateful that Judge Sermons carefully weighed the evidence and found that the administration of the death penalty in Johnston County remains deeply entangled with racism,' said Gretchen M. Engel, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, which along with the ACLU and the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund brought forward Mr. Bacote's Racial Justice Act claim. 'This decision is a damning indictment of the death penalty and should serve as a call for every North Carolina death sentence to be reexamined. North Carolina must never carry out another execution tainted by racial discrimination.' The ruling comes after former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's grant of clemency to 15 people on death row, including Bacote. Judge Sermons' decision however will not affect Bacote's sentence as he is already resentenced to life without parole. PREVIOUS | Gov. Cooper commutes 15 death sentences on last day as North Carolina governor The ruling is still significant to 121 people remaining on the state's death row because of the findings in Bacote's case. 'I am deeply grateful to my family, my lawyers, the experts, and to everyone who fought for justice—not just in my case, but for so many others,' Mr. Bacote said in a statement made through his attorneys. 'When my death sentence was commuted by Governor Cooper, I felt enormous relief that the burden of the death penalty — and all of the stress and anxiety that go with it — were lifted off my shoulders. I am grateful to the court for having the courage to recognize that racial bias affected my case and so many others.' Sermons said that all evidence showed that Black people were denied a voice in the justice system and prosecutors often felt free to invoke racist tropes and slurs. In Bacote's case, court documents state that 'the prosecution struck qualified Black potential jurors at 3.3 times the rate it struck all other qualified jurors.' Documents also stated that patterns of discrimination against Black venire members proved to be consistent. Prosecutor Greg Butler also referred to Black defendants with terms including 'piece of trash' and 'predators of the African plain,' according to documents. Cassandra Stubbs, the director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project said that this case could lead to a significant impact on similar cases across North Carolina. 'We expect that there will be efforts from other defendants to bring their meritorious claims to justice, and I hope that the leadership in North Carolina finally sits down and wrestles with these facts. That we see a different way of selecting juries, that we can look at punishment differently, and that we finally try to take seriously the underlying goal of the RJA which is to try to stop race from playing a role in our criminal justice system,' Stubbs said. Stubbs said that overall she is satisfied with the outcome and the judge's decision and could be a path forward for other death row inmates who faced discrimination to bring their claims forward. 'I'm thrilled on behalf of Mr. Bacote and that there is a court after 14 years that has lived up to the Racial Justice Act,' Stubbs said, 'The promise for the law was to allow for a reckoning and an examination in the ways in which racial bias taint our death penalty system, and today's decision does that.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Racial bias tainted jury selection and death sentence for a Black man in North Carolina, judge says
SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) — Racial bias tainted the decision to strike Black people from the jury pool and to impose the death penalty in the 2009 trial of a Black man in North Carolina, a judge ruled on Friday, part of what he called 'glaring' patterns of bias in a prosecutorial district outside the capital. Hasson Bacote was among a group of 15 death row inmates whose sentences were commuted to life without parole last year by Gov. Roy Cooper in one of his final acts in office. That means the ruling won't make a legal difference for Bacote. However it could help several other death row inmates in similar circumstances, said Gretchen M. Engel, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. In addition to the problems that prejudiced Bacote's trial, Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. found that racial bias tainted jury selection and sentencing in other Johnston County cases. Sermons found 'glaring' bias in the fact that Black defendants in capital cases were sentenced to death 100% of the time while similar white defendants received a death sentence only 45% of the time. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. None of those Black inmates in Johnston County have been executed, and North Carolina has not carried out an execution since 2006. The judge said race was a 'significant factor' in the decisions to seek the death penalty in the first place and in jury selection, when looking at other cases tried by Assistant District Attorney Gregory Butler as well as other death penalty cases in the same prosecutorial district, which at the time included Harnett and Lee counties. In Bacote's case, Butler struck 75% of prospective Black jurors and only 23% of prospective non-Black jurors. In Butler's other cases, risk of removal from the jury pool by peremptory challenges was more than 10 times higher for Black candidates than for non-Black candidates, Sermons wrote. Butler testified that he never struck a juror for a 'racial reason.' Sermons found that unconvincing. In Bacote's case, for example, Butler explained his removal of five Black jurors by citing their opposition to the death penalty. However, 'Butler did not strike white jurors who expressed similar reservations, in some cases with nearly identical language,' Sermons wrote. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in 1986 eliminating potential jurors merely because of their race violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which requires that people in similar circumstances be treated the same. However, jury selection bias claims are often difficult to prove. The North Carolina Department of Justice, whose lawyers represented the state in Bacote's case, have already 'notified the court that we intend to appeal,' said Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who leads the department. Bacote challenged his death sentence under North Carolina's 2009 Racial Justice Act, which allowed prisoners to receive life without parole if they could show that racial bias was the reason for their death sentence. The law was repealed in 2013, but the state Supreme Court has ruled that it still applies to any prisoner who had a Racial Justice Act case pending at the time of the repeal. During a two-week hearing last fall, Sermons listened to evidence that included statistical studies of how the death penalty is implemented in North Carolina and Johnston County in particular. In his Friday ruling, the judge said the weight of the evidence did not prove that racial disparities prejudiced death penalty cases statewide.
Associated Press
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Racial bias tainted jury selection and death sentence for a Black man in North Carolina, judge says
SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) — Racial bias tainted the decision to strike Black people from the jury pool and to impose the death penalty in the 2009 trial of a Black man in North Carolina, a judge ruled on Friday, part of what he called 'glaring' patterns of bias in a prosecutorial district outside the capital. Hasson Bacote was among a group of 15 death row inmates whose sentences were commuted to life without parole last year by Gov. Roy Cooper in one of his final acts in office. That means the ruling won't make a legal difference for Bacote. However it could help several other death row inmates in similar circumstances, said Gretchen M. Engel, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. In addition to the problems that prejudiced Bacote's trial, Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. found that racial bias tainted jury selection and sentencing in other Johnston County cases. Sermons found 'glaring' bias in the fact that Black defendants in capital cases were sentenced to death 100% of the time while similar white defendants received a death sentence only 45% of the time. since 2006. The judge said race was a 'significant factor' in the decisions to seek the death penalty in the first place and in jury selection, when looking at other cases tried by Assistant District Attorney Gregory Butler as well as other death penalty cases in the same prosecutorial district, which at the time included Harnett and Lee counties. In Bacote's case, Butler struck 75% of prospective Black jurors and only 23% of prospective non-Black jurors. In Butler's other cases, risk of removal from the jury pool by peremptory challenges was more than 10 times higher for Black candidates than for non-Black candidates, Sermons wrote. Butler testified that he never struck a juror for a 'racial reason.' Sermons found that unconvincing. In Bacote's case, for example, Butler explained his removal of five Black jurors by citing their opposition to the death penalty. However, 'Butler did not strike white jurors who expressed similar reservations, in some cases with nearly identical language,' Sermons wrote. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in 1986 eliminating potential jurors merely because of their race violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which requires that people in similar circumstances be treated the same. However, jury selection bias claims are often difficult to prove. The North Carolina Department of Justice, whose lawyers represented the state in Bacote's case, have already 'notified the court that we intend to appeal,' said Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who leads the department. Bacote challenged his death sentence under North Carolina's 2009 Racial Justice Act, which allowed prisoners to receive life without parole if they could show that racial bias was the reason for their death sentence. The law was repealed in 2013, but the state Supreme Court has ruled that it still applies to any prisoner who had a Racial Justice Act case pending at the time of the repeal. During a two-week hearing last fall, Sermons listened to evidence that included statistical studies of how the death penalty is implemented in North Carolina and Johnston County in particular. In his Friday ruling, the judge said the weight of the evidence did not prove that racial disparities prejudiced death penalty cases statewide.
