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NORTH CAROLINA RACIAL JUSTICE ACT (RJA)

NORTH CAROLINA RACIAL JUSTICE ACT (RJA).

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NORTH CAROLINA RACIAL JUSTICE ACT (RJA)

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  1. NORTH CAROLINA RACIAL JUSTICE ACT (RJA)

  2. The enterprise proposed by the RJA is a difficult one. When our criminal justice system was formed, African Americans were enslaved. Our system of justice is still healing from the lingering effects of slavery and Jim Crow. In emerging from this painful history, it is more comfortable to rest on the status quo and to be satisfied with the progress already made. But the RJA calls upon the justice system to do more. The legislature has charged the Court with the challenge of continuing our progress away from the past. --Judge Weeks, December 13, 2012

  3. “Lingering Effects”

  4. Statement from a Juror: Bigotry influenced his decision to sentence Kenneth Rouse to death.

  5. All-White Juries

  6. RJA Time Line August 2009: RJA Signed into Law August 2010: Most of Death Row Files January 2012: First RJA Hearing – Robinson April 2012: Robinson Wins June 2012: Legislature Attempts Repeal July 2012: RJA Significantly Amended October 2012: Second RJA Hearing – 3 ∆s December 2012: Defendants Win

  7. Racial Justice Act 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. - § 15A-2010

  8. § 15A-2011(a) – The Standard A finding that race was the basis of the decision to seek or impose a death sentence may be established if the court finds that race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county, the prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed.

  9. Three Kinds of Discrimination • Death sentences were sought or imposed significantly more frequently upon persons of one race than upon persons of another race. • Death sentences were sought or imposed significantly more frequently as punishment for capital offenses against persons of one race than as punishment of capital offenses against persons of another race. • Race was a significant factor in decisions to exercise peremptory challenges during jury selection.

  10. §15A-2012(a)(3) – The Relief If the court finds that race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county, the prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed, the court shall order that a death sentence not be sought, or that the death sentence imposed by the judgment shall be vacated and the defendant re-sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

  11. RJA Amendments “Statistical evidence alone is insufficient to establish that race was a significant factor. §15A-2012(e). Defendant must show “race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty in the defendant’s case at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed. §15A-2012(a).

  12. State of North Carolina vs.Golphin, Walters & Augustine Hearing begins October 1, 2012 Goes for nine days

  13. Tilmon Golphin Convicted in 1998 of the murders of Cumberland County Deputy David Hathcock and NC Highway Patrol Sgt. Edward Lowery

  14. Christina WaltersConvicted in 2000 of the gang-initiation murders of Tracy Lambert and Susan Moore

  15. Quintel Augustine Convicted in 2002 of the murder of Fayetteville Police Officer Roy Gene Turner, Jr.

  16. The Judge Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks

  17. The Community

  18. Issues • Was race a significant factor in the prosecutors’ exercise of peremptory challenges in: • North Carolina • Cumberland County • Defendants’ Cases

  19. Witnesses • Shelagh Kenney, Attorney for Augustine & Walters • Calvin Colyer, Prosecutor of Golphin & Augustine • Margaret Russ, Prosecutor of all three ∆s • Barbara O’Brien – Jury Selection Study • George Woodworth – Statistics • Bryan Stevenson – History of discrimination • Transcript from Robinson Hearing

  20. “Jury Strikes” Notes

  21. “Jury Strikes” Notes Cont’d

  22. “Jury Strikes” Notes Cont’d

  23. Last Slide on “Jury Strikes” Notes

  24. Other Prosecutor Notes

  25. State’s Response Prosecutors’ “race-neutral reasons” for excluding African-Americans from juries: • Race-Conscious • Racially-Biased • Preposterous

  26. Prosecution “Cheat Sheet”

  27. The Cheat Sheet in Action

  28. If you had any doubt . . .

  29. The Racial Justice Act Study – Jury Selection Catherine Grosso Barbara O’Brien Michigan State University College of Law

  30. Probability of disparity occurring in race-neutral selection process Paired-sample t-test: p = 0.000000000000000000000000000000019058525628312154 (Less than 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) Strike Rate Ratio = 2.26 (56.0%÷24.8%)

  31. Statewide Strike Disparity (Table 1) = 2.0 No Jury Strike Disparity=1.0

  32. [T]he Court finds compelling empirical evidence that race, not reservations about the death penalty, not connections to the criminal justice system, but race, drives prosecution decisions about which citizens may participate in one of the most important and visible aspects of democratic government. -- Judge Weeks, December 13, 2012

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