Lawyers for Hasson Bacote, a Black man sentenced to death in 2009, are urging the court to commute his sentence to life in prison, arguing that racial discrimination influenced the jury's decision. Bacote's case challenges the North Carolina legal system under the Racial Justice Act of 2009, which allowed death row inmates to seek resentencing if racial bias was proven. Although the law was repealed in 2013, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that those who had already filed challenges, like Bacote, could continue with their cases.
Henderson Hill, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, emphasized the racial bias in jury selection, stating, "White jurors get shown the box. Black jurors with the same background get shown the door." Bacote was sentenced by a jury of 10 white and two Black jurors for his involvement in a felony murder in Johnston County. Bacote's lawyers argue that this reflects a broader pattern of racial discrimination in the county, which has a history of racial issues, including once prominently displaying Ku Klux Klan billboards.
Ashley Burrell, senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, presented statistics showing that in Johnston County, "of the 17 capital cases reviewed, all six Black defendants were sentenced to death, while more than half of the white defendants were spared." Burrell also noted that during Bacote's trial, a prosecutor described him using racially charged language, calling him a "thug, cold-hearted and without remorse," which, she argued, "taps into this false narrative of the super predator myth."
State prosecutors, however, questioned the validity of the evidence presented by Bacote's legal team. Jonathan Babb from the North Carolina Attorney General's office argued that Bacote had not proven his sentence was "solely obtained on the basis of race."
The outcome of Bacote's case could have far-reaching implications, potentially affecting over 100 other death row inmates in North Carolina. Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr. will now decide whether Bacote's request for resentencing is justified. Legal experts believe this ruling could set a significant precedent in addressing racial bias in the state's legal system.
Link: NBCNews