RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In one of his final acts in office, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper commuted the death sentences of 15 men convicted of first-degree murder to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday, reducing the state's death row population by more than 10%.
Cooper, who was barred from seeking a third consecutive four-year term, will give way to fellow Democrat Josh Stein on Wednesday when Stein takes the oath of office.
Cooper, who was previously the attorney general for 16 years, said his commutation decisions occurred following a thorough review of petitions offered by defendants and input from prosecutors and victims' families.
Before Tuesday, North Carolina had 136 offenders on death row. Cooper's office said it had received clemency petitions from 89 of them.
Cooper's office said it considered a variety of factors, such as a defendant's conduct in prison, the adequacy of legal representation and sentences received by co-defendants.
“These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a Governor can make and the death penalty is the most severe sentence that the state can impose,” Cooper said in a news release. “After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.”
North Carolina is one of 27 states that have the death penalty as a criminal punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, although governors in five of those states currently have placed executions on hold. While North Carolina is not one of those five, an execution hasn't been carried out in the state
The number of defendants sentenced to death in North Carolina has also dwindled in recent years, as prosecutors have more leeway in state law to decide whether to try a capital case. Even after Tuesday's action, North Carolina has the fifth-largest death row by population in the country, according to the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Although some groups opposed to the death penalty have sought from Cooper a complete commutation for all on death row, they still praised him for what they called a historic act of clemency. State Department of Adult Correction records list 13 of the 15 receiving clemency as Black. The convictions dates for the 15 range from 1993 to 2011.
Cooper “joins the ranks of a group of courageous leaders who used their executive authority to address the failed death penalty,” Chantal Stevens, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said in a separate release. “We have long known that the death penalty in North Carolina is racially biased, unjust, and immoral, and the Governor’s actions today pave the way for our state to move towards a new era of justice.”
Cooper received national attention this year as he surfaced as a potential running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Stein succeeded Cooper as attorney general in 2017. The Attorney General's Office participates in death penalty appeals.
Among the 15 receiving commutations on Tuesday include Hasson Bacote, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009 in Johnston County.
Bacote had been challenging his death sentence under the 2009 Racial Justice Act, which allowed prisoners to receive life without parole if they can show that racial bias was the reason for their death sentence. While the law was repealed in 2013, the state Supreme Court ruled later that most prisoners currently on death row could still use the law retroactively.
Bacote's recent hearing before a judge based on that law was considered a test case. Groups backing Bacote's litigation said Tuesday they still anticipate a ruling in his case because of the widespread public interest in the matter.
Another whose sentence was commuted is Guy LeGrande, who was once set to be executed in late 2006 before a judge halted it and later cited LeGrande's “severe mental illness.” He was convicted in Stanly County of the 1993 killing of a woman whose estranged husband offered to pay him a portion of life insurance proceeds.
Another death row inmate receiving clemency, Christopher Roseboro, was convicted of murder and rape in the death of a 72-year-old Gastonia woman in 1992.
Last week, President announced that he was of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
Separately Tuesday, Cooper announced that he had commuted the sentences of two prisoners convicted of murder so that they are immediately parole eligible. One defendant has served 34 years, while the other has served 27 years.
