Decisions of Death

Making Decisions of Death in a Racist Society
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President of NC NAACP State Conference
and Alan McSurely, Chair NC NAACP Legal Redress Committee

Decisions of death by juries, judges, and now Gov. Easley are of the highest moral dimensions.

The NAACP turns 98 years old on February 12, 2007. We have always been opposed to killing people as one of the tools of "justice." Our opposition is based on three simple principles. If human beings have the power to stop a killing, they are morally obligated to do it. Killing people who have killed other people to try to prevent other killing does not work. And thirdly, in a society where white people are fed a constant diet of images, ideas, and history that African Americans are less than human, and that white lives are worth more than the lives of people of color, no Black defendant will ever be perceived of as an equal member of the human race in a Decision of Death.

The United States Supreme Court said it best. "There is a unique opportunity for racial prejudice to operate but remain undetected" in trials of African Americans where the jury is forced to make a "highly subjective, unique, individualized judgment regarding the punishment that a particular person deserves." The Court found that "It remains an unfortunate fact in our society that violent crimes perpetrated against members of other racial or ethnic groups often raise a reasonable possibility that racial prejudice would influence the jury. Turner v. Murray, 476 U.S. 28 (1986)

We are pleased the News and Observer published a big front page story about the obvious mental illness of Mr. Guy LeGrande, who chose to fire his lawyers, tear up a motion to delay the trial for a psychiatric assessment, believed Oprah Winfrey and Dan Rather were giving him direct advice through his television set as to how to conduct himself, wore a Superman shirt at his trial, and told the jury, just before it went and took 45 minutes to make the Decision of Death, to "kiss his Black a___."

But this Grand Mockery of Justice had a more troubling aspect. We do not wish to quibble about the obvious intersection of the race and mental illness in this case. The last-minute effort to save Mr. LeGrande's life (due to be killed on the first day of the month of we celebrate Jesus' birth) is one of the few times that many citizens consider how Decisions of Death really get made in many North Carolina courtrooms, so allow us to share with your readers, while you have helped to get their attention, the racist aspects of this case.

When we met with Gov. Easley's legal advisor last week, we reminded him of some of the evidence about the behavior of the District Attorney who orchestrated the Decision of Death for Mr. LeGrande in Stanly County in l996. Fourteen white people, including two white alternates, sat in the jury box throughout the trial. The Judge was white. The D. A. and his assistants were white. Most of the spectators were white. Mr. LeGrande was the only Black person in front of the railing in the courtroom. He had delusions of grandeur, believing he was Superman, and that he could outsmart D.A. Mike Honeycutt and his staff.

Mr. Honeycutt has an unblemished record for removing qualified Black people from his capital cases. He did not allow one Black juror to be seated in five cases where the Decision of Death would be made about a non-white man in Stanly and Union Counties during a four year period. In 1993, an all-white jury in Union County decided to kill Marty Richardson, and African American. In 1995, an all-white jury decided to kill Darrell Strickland, who was a native American. In 1996, an all-white jury decided to kill Guy LeGrande, an African American. In l996, an all-white jury decided to kill Jonathan Hoffman, an African American. In l997, an all- white jury decided to kill Roger Blakeney, an African American.

In each of these five cases, there were qualified Black jurors in the jury pool, but out of 60 jurors who made the Decision of Death, none were people of color. In the LeGrande case, Honeycutt removed five qualified Black people to keep his lily-white jury and his unblemished record.

Mr. LeGrande, representing himself, complained to the Judge that Honeycutt was removing all the Black people from the jury. But LeGrande did not know the magic words to say, to preserve this issue for appeal. And of course he did not know, nor did the N.C. Supreme Court know when it denied his appeal, about Honeycutt's ruthless record of seating pristine alabaster juries.

Appellate judges must review each case as if it were an isolated phenomenon. In fact, the pattern of seating all-white juries in five straight capital cases with a minority defendant is strong evidence of unconstitutional intentional discrimination by Mr. Honeycutt. It is interesting that the new D.A. in these counties, Michael Parker, did the right thing by reporting Mr. Honeycutt's practice of failing to reveal the deals he had made with prospective witnesses to the defendant's lawyers. His allegations are being investigated. It is unknown whether there has been any investigation of Honeycutt's jury selection policy and pattern.

Honeycutt wore a hangman's noose at trial. Honeycutt told the jury of his peers (not Mr. LeGrande's) that he would help them fashion a rope to help them with their decision. And when Mr. Honeycutt's jury came back in 45 minutes with its Decision of Death, Honeycutt was overjoyed and passed out mementoes of the trial?Hangman's Noose lapel pins--to his staff.

The NAACP, for 98 years, has fought on the front lines against this rank racism in the criminal justice system throughout the South. We will call on the 2007 Legislature to End the Death Penalty, and use the money the State will save to clean up its Court system, improve its schools, create jobs, and make Decisions of Justice, not Death.

Locally, contact O'Linda Williams -- odale3220@earthlink.net

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

Amina J Turner, Executive Director
NC NAACP 114 W Parrish St, Second Floor
Durham, NC 27701
919/682-4700919/682-4711 (fax)