Factors for Death Penalty in NC

Thought that we could start reasearching what makes a death penalty case in NC. Help would be appreciated.

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=144&scid=10

Now, can anyone help me find the definition of first-degree murder in NC?

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=11&did=515

Minimum Age to Receive the Death Penalty : 17

Does North Carolina Forbid Execution of the Mentally Retarded: Yes

Death Row Location:

Men: Raleigh, NC

Women: Raleigh, NC

Method of Execution

As of October 29, 1998, North Carolina only authorizes lethal injection.

Date Death Penalty Was Reenacted after Furman: 6/ 1/ 77

Year of First Execution: 1984

Does North Carolina Have Life Without Parole: Yes

Clemency Process:

The Governor has the exclusive authority to grant clemency.

Capital Offenses:

First Degree Murder (N.C.G.S. 14-17)

Is Felony Murder a Capital Crime: Yes (N.C. Gen. Stat. sec. 14-17)

Who Decides Sentence: Jury

http://www.ncsu.edu/public_safety/Information/NCLaw.html

Crimes Against Persons
Murder in the First and Second Degree (14-17)
A murder which shall be perpetrated by ... poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon, shall be ... murder in the first degree ... and shall be punished by death or life imprisonment ... except that any person ... under 17 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished with imprisonment ... for life.

All other kinds of murder, including that which shall be proximately caused by the unlawful distribution of opium or any synthetic or natural salt, compound, derivative, or the preparation of opium ... cause the death of the user, shall be ... murder in the second degree and ... shall be punished as a Class C felony.

Classification: First Degree - Class A Felony (death or life imprisonment); Second Degree - Class B2 Felony (50 years, life imprisonment, fine, or both).

C. North Carolina's Protocol on Execution by Lethal Gas
.......
Prior to any execution, at least three live tests of the execution chamber are conducted using the chemicals that are used in an actual execution. "Mock" rehearsals are also performed.

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The execution chamber is an airtight compartment. A wooden chair with a high back, arm rests, and foot rests is mounted against the chamber's back wall. A steel door is to the left of the chair (as viewed from the witness chamber), and the control room is to the right. After entering the gas chamber, the condemned offender is placed in the chair, and then restraints are applied to his chest, waist, arms, and ankles. The offender wears a mask during the execution.

The chair is equipped with a metal container beneath the seat. Cyanide pellets are placed in this container. A metal canister is on the floor under the container filled with a sulfuric acid solution. There are three keys in the control room. There are also three executioners, and each executioner turns one key. When the three keys are turned, an electric switch causes the bottom of the cyanide container to open allowing the cyanide to fall into the sulfuric acid solution, producing a lethal gas. Inhalation of this gas is supposed to initially render the offender unconscious.

A heart monitor attached to the offender can be read in the control room by a staff member. After the warden pronounces the offender dead, ammonia is pumped into the execution chamber to neutralize the gas. Exhaust fans then remove the inert fumes from the chamber into two scrubbers that contain water and serve as a neutralizing agent. The neutralizing process takes approximately 30 minutes from the time the offender's death is determined. Litmus paper is used to test the level of lethal gas emissions remaining in the chamber. When the gas is neutralized and the chamber is cleared, staff members wearing disposable protective clothing enter the chamber and remove the offender's body for release to the county medical examiner.
The estimated average length of time that elapses from the time the offender is restrained until death is determined is approximately 38 minutes, though death is estimated to usually occur within 6 to 18 minutes of the lethal gas emissions.

...........
North Carolina has a written execution protocol which is required by law. A pamphlet summarizing North Carolina's protocol is public information.

http://www.fcc.state.fl.us/fcc/reports/monitor/methmon.html

http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/deathpenalty/deathwat.htm

Here's the article about where they keep the inmates, a list of their daily activities, etc. There are pictures too.

What do you think, Raven?

http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/deathpenalty/method.htm

NC only does lethal injection.

Here is alist of current death row inmates in NC:

http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/deathpenalty/deathrow.htm

http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/deathpenalty/deathrow.htm

A list of who is on death row in NC right now.

juliagoulia said:

Here is alist of current death row inmates in NC:

http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/deathpenalty/deathrow.htm

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You're too fast! It's a good site! Lots of pictures.

Are you two twinkies? You posted the exact same info at the exact same time! LOL

After all this, this is what LE has to be going for. There is no way that they are going to settle for anything less than first-degree. Could this be the reason why the case has been so slow moving, as said before? All their ducks in a row and then WHAM--catch the bird.

http://www.langleycreations.com/scott/centralprison/index.html

Twinkie? If we're talking Hostess, I feel more like a Ding-Dong

juliag, those are incredible photos ... talk about stark and hopeless. Powerful images.

golfmom said:

juliag, those are incredible photos ... talk about stark and hopeless. Powerful images.

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That's what struck me, as well. Whomever is guilty--that is what is waiting. Very sobering.

golfmom said:

juliag, those are incredible photos ... talk about stark and hopeless. Powerful images.

Click to expand...

Wow, amazing information. Even though lethal injection apparently involves first putting the condemned to sleep, the whole process as described on the site is making me feel a bit ill. I can't imagine knowing that I'd be facing something like that. Especially for the last several days when you're kept in a cell adjacent to the death chamber, knowing what's coming. Creepy.

I just think that the reason why LE has been so tight with any information is to make sure that the perp ends up in these cells.

A man who kills his wife, who knows she's pregnant (let's not kid ourselves that he didn't know), is in financial straits, wants the world, etc. etc. belongs here in those pictures. He belongs in those cells. He deserves to have his life taken away from him just as he took away the life of his wife.

Going back to the First Degree Murder in this case, the major thing to be proven is Premeditation. I've been looking up the protocols of premeditation in several other cases and the definition of premeditation, that I will place here. This I believe is the part that the the DA will have to prove for First Degree Murder.

Premeditation:
Murder in the first degree is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice and with premeditation and deliberation. State v. Skipper, 337 N.C. 1, 26, 446 S.E.2d 252, 265 (1994), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 130 L. Ed. 2d 895 (1995).

"Premeditation means that the act was thought out beforehand for some length of time, however short, but no particular amount of time is necessary for the mental process of premeditation." State v. Conner, 335 N.C. 618, 635, 440 S.E.2d 826, 835-36 (1994).

"Deliberation means an intent to kill, carried out in a cool state of blood, in furtherance of a fixed design for revenge or to accomplish an unlawful purpose and not under the influence of a violent passion, suddenly aroused by lawful or just cause or legal provocation." Id. at 635, 440 S.E.2d at 836.

A defendant's conduct before and after the killing is a circumstance to be considered in determining whether he acted with premeditation and deliberation. State v. Vaughn, 324 N.C. 301, 305, 377 S.E.2d 738, 740 (1989); State v. Jackson, 317 N.C. 1, 23, 343 S.E.2d 814, 827 (1986), sentence vacated on other grounds, 479 U.S. 1077, 94 L. Ed. 2d 133 (1995).

1986 NC case:

1986 North Carolina case--State v. Jackson-- in which it addressed the issue of premeditation and deliberation--terms which describe the mental state necessary for 1st degree murder--and set out a list of "circumstances" to determine whether a killing is deliberate and premeditated:

Thanks for the info Trix.... and BUMP!

You Welcome L L & S.

I think the Premeditation factor, and the waiting for the forensics to come may be the reason for the delay in an arrest, I believe an arrest is close at hand, but this is just a gut feeling.