2028 Demographic Prospective Candidate Follows Biden’s Lead, Commutes 15 Death Sentences on Governor’s Last Day
On the way to the gates of what was then North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of 15 people on death row in the Tarheel State.
Cooper, a Democrat whose name is mentioned as one of the main names of the party for the 2028 presidential electionshe acted similarly to outgoing President Biden – who came under fire last week for commuting the sentences of nearly all federal death row inmates.
“These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a governor can make, and the death penalty is the most severe sentence a state can impose,” Cooper said in a statement.
“After thorough review, thought and prayer, I have concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring that they spend the rest of their lives in prison.”
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No executions have been carried out in North Carolina since 2006 due to ongoing litigation.
One of the prisoners whose sentence was commuted to life was Hasson Bacote, a prisoner for murder. Bacote originally filed suit in 2010 challenging his death sentence under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act — which purportedly allows defendants to challenge sentences if they can determine racial bias.
Bacote, who is black, was convicted by a Johnston County jury in the shooting of the 18-year-old.
Rayford Burke, an Iredell County man convicted of murder who received a commuted sentence, also reportedly sought relief under the Racial Justice Act, according to WCNC.
Another exchange recipient, Christopher Roseboro, was incarcerated for about 30 years. In 1994, Roseboro was charged with first-degree rape and other charges stemming from allegations that he and another man robbed an elderly neighbor who was later found dead along with evidence that she was sexually assaulted.
A co-defendant, Roger Bell, is already serving a life sentence.
Union County man Darrell Strickland was convicted of manslaughter after a tragic altercation on January 1, 1995. He also saw his sentence commuted to life without parole.
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Vincent Wooten, the Pitt County man convicted of murdering Edward Wilson in 1993, also had his sentence commuted, the Greenville Daily Reflector reports.
Wooten, then 20, saw evidence presented at trial alleging he killed Wilson with an AR-15 assault rifle after the safe, loaded with cocaine and cash, was stolen from Wooten’s girlfriend’s mother.
Another converted convict, Guy T. LeGrande, was sent to prison after a hit-and-run incident. LeGrande was later diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to Mother Jones, and had previously claimed to be able to communicate with Oprah Winfrey via television.
Cooper’s removals follow a series of orders from Biden reclassification of death sentences for life without parole for 37 convicts.
“President Biden dedicated his career in reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and efficient justice system,” the White House said in a December statement.
“He believes America must end the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder – which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases.”
A man sentenced to death for a 2003 shooting in Tennessee said he was surprised Biden commuted many convicts’ sentences.
“I’ve decided not to waste this act of mercy, this grace of life. I’ve decided to be part of Biden’s legacy — improving society and prisons along the way,” Rejon Taylor told Newsweek.
“Biden doesn’t realize it now, but his act of mercy will reverberate through me, bearing fruit that will outlast his time on this earth.”
Some of Biden’s other replacements, including a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania judge jailed in the “kids for money” scandal in which juveniles were aggressively prosecuted and sent to for-profit prisons, have sparked bipartisan outrage.
Cooper’s total of 77 pardons and commutations during his two terms, however, dwarfs the nearly 700 of fellow Democratic Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., who served four terms in two consecutive eight-year terms, according to NC Newsline.
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After Biden’s actions, only three men remain on federal death row: Robert Gregory Bowers, Dzhokar Anzorovich Tsarnaev, and Dylann Storm Roof. Bowers was convicted of shooting at a synagogue in Pennsylvania in 2018, Roof massacred several black worshipers in South Carolina, and Tsarnaev – along with his now-deceased brother Tamerlan – masterminded the Boston Marathon bombing.
Then-North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, was sworn into the governor’s office Wednesday to succeed Cooper in Raleigh.
