Bill Text: NC H2021 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Amend Racial Justice Act
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Republican 37-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-26 - Ref to the Com on Judiciary I, if favorable, Appropriations [H2021 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2010-H2021-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
H 1
HOUSE BILL 2021
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Short Title: Amend Racial Justice Act. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives Burr, Tillis (Primary Sponsors); Avila, Blust, Boles, Brown, Brubaker, Burris‑Floyd, Cleveland, Daughtry, Dollar, Frye, Grady, Guice, Gulley, Hilton, Holloway, Howard, Hurley, Iler, Ingle, Justice, Justus, Killian, McComas, McCormick, McElraft, McGee, McLawhorn, Mills, Moore, Randleman, Rhyne, Sager, Samuelson, Setzer, Spear, Starnes, Steen, and Sutton. |
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Referred to: |
Judiciary I, if favorable, Appropriations. |
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May 26, 2010
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to eliminate as a pretrial issue the claim that race was a significant factor in the decision to try a murder as a capital case but to provide that the claim may still be raised in a postconviction procedure and to appropriate funds to the judicial department to assist with the cost of information and training sessions for district attorneys and court personnel regarding the racial justice act.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 15A‑2012 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A‑2012. Hearing procedure.
(a) The defendant shall state with particularity how the evidence supports a claim that race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county, the prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed.
(1) The claim shall be raised by the defendant at
the pretrial conference required by Rule 24 of the General Rules of Practice
for the Superior and District Courts or in postconviction proceedings
pursuant to Article 89 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.
(2) The court shall schedule a hearing on the
claim and shall prescribe a time for the submission of evidence by both
parties.
(3) If
If the court finds that race was a significant factor
in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the county, the
prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the time the
death sentence was sought or imposed, the court shall order that a death
sentence not be sought, or that the death sentence imposed by the judgment
shall be vacated and the defendant resentenced to life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision or time limitation contained in Article 89 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes, a defendant may seek relief from the defendant's death sentence upon the ground that racial considerations played a significant part in the decision to seek or impose a death sentence by filing a motion seeking relief.
(c) Except as specifically stated in subsections
(a) andsubsection (b) of this section, the procedures and hearing on
the motion seeking relief from a death sentence upon the ground that race was a
significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the sentence of death in the
county, the prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the
time the death sentence was sought or imposed shall follow and comply with G.S. 15A‑1420,
15A‑1421, and 15A‑1422."
SECTION 2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Judicial Department the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the 2010‑2011 fiscal year to be used to help support information and training sessions for district attorneys and court personnel regarding the racial justice act.
SECTION 3. Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2010. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law. Any pretrial claim raised on or before the effective date of Section 1 of this act is abated. Any claim abated under this act may still be raised in a postconviction proceeding pursuant to Article 89 of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes.
