As one of his last acts as governor, on New Year’s Eve, Gov. Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of 15 people on North Carolina’s death row to life without parole.
Before these commutations, the state had 136 offenders on death row and the Governor’s Clemency Office received clemency petitions from 89 of them, according to a Dec. 31 news release. Due to ongoing litigation, no executions have been carried out in North Carolina since 2006.
Out of the 89 petitions, Cooper granted 15 “after thorough review of detailed petitions” as well as “input from district attorneys and the families of the victims, and close review by the Governor’s Office,” the announcement said. The Governor’s Office considered a variety of factors in reviewing the petitions, including their conduct in prison, co-defendant sentences, and “potential influence of race, such as the race of the defendant and victim, composition of the jury pool and the final jury, and evidence and testimony offered at trial.”
More:Cooper pardons Haywood County man, plans more acts of clemency before end of year
“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,” Gov. Cooper said in the 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.”
Cooper’s death row commutations come a week after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly every incarcerated person on federal death row Dec. 23, including a Buncombe County man sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of a Candler woman in 1994.
More:Biden commutes death sentence of Buncombe County man to life in prison without parole
The following people, all convicted of first-degree murder, had death sentences commuted:
Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
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