NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Committed to ending the death penalty and creating a new vision of justice

Wake County

In life-and-death cases, the jury box must be open to all — not just those most prone to convict

Aug 24, 2022
We already know from our experience with the Racial Justice Act how prosecutors work to keep juries in capital cases overwhelmingly white, using the tool of peremptory strikes. Now, new evidence shows that another insidious tool further skews juries toward white and male — and makes it all but impossible for Black women to have […]

In life-and-death cases, the jury box must be open to all — not just those most prone to convict

· Kristin Collins

We already know from our experience with the Racial Justice Act how prosecutors work to keep juries in capital cases overwhelmingly white, using the tool of peremptory strikes. Now, new evidence shows that another insidious tool further skews juries toward white and male — and makes it all but impossible for Black women to have […]

Wake DA Lorrin Freeman must remember: She holds people’s lives in her hands

Mar 8, 2022
A new story by Jeffrey Billman in The Assembly has done a huge public service: It’s given us a much fuller picture of one of North Carolina’s most powerful district attorneys — and one of our state’s most prominent advocates of the death penalty, Lorrin Freeman in Wake County. What we saw was deeply disturbing. […]

Wake DA Lorrin Freeman must remember: She holds people’s lives in her hands

· Kristin Collins

A new story by Jeffrey Billman in The Assembly has done a huge public service: It’s given us a much fuller picture of one of North Carolina’s most powerful district attorneys — and one of our state’s most prominent advocates of the death penalty, Lorrin Freeman in Wake County. What we saw was deeply disturbing. […]

Wake County wanted the death penalty for a man with severe mental illness; only a pandemic stopped it

May 11, 2021
A bipartisan group of North Carolina legislators introduced a bill this week to prohibit the death penalty for people with severe mental illness. Here's a recent case that illustrates why this law is so needed: Wake County prosecutors knew that Kendrick Gregory had severe mental illness when they decided to try him capitally. In the eight months before the crime, he’d been hospitalized at least 20 times for mental illness. He checked himself into emergency rooms over and over, reporting symptoms of psychosis. On some occasions, he said he heard voices telling him to hurt himself. In the five years that they sought to try him for the death penalty, his mental illness became only more apparent. It is both immoral and unconstitutional to execute people who cannot understand or regulate their actions. Yet, in North Carolina, it remains accepted practice to try people with severe mental illness for their lives.

Wake County wanted the death penalty for a man with severe mental illness; only a pandemic stopped it

· Kristin Collins

A bipartisan group of North Carolina legislators introduced a bill this week to prohibit the death penalty for people with severe mental illness. Here’s a recent case that illustrates why this law is so needed: Wake County prosecutors knew that Kendrick Gregory had severe mental illness when they decided to try him capitally. In the eight months before the crime, he’d been hospitalized at least 20 times for mental illness. He checked himself into emergency rooms over and over, reporting symptoms of psychosis. On some occasions, he said he heard voices telling him to hurt himself. In the five years that they sought to try him for the death penalty, his mental illness became only more apparent. It is both immoral and unconstitutional to execute people who cannot understand or regulate their actions. Yet, in North Carolina, it remains accepted practice to try people with severe mental illness for their lives.

Wake County Justice Center building

This keeps happening: Wake jury rejects death penalty for 9th time in a row

Jan 24, 2018
It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day in Wake County. Every year begins with a capital trial, and every year, the jury chooses life. Wake is the only county in the state where a defendant has been tried capitally every year for the past three years. We're hoping that, next year, we can skip this annual ritual.

This keeps happening: Wake jury rejects death penalty for 9th time in a row

· Kristin Collins

Wake County Justice Center building

It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day in Wake County. Every year begins with a capital trial, and every year, the jury chooses life. Wake is the only county in the state where a defendant has been tried capitally every year for the past three years. We’re hoping that, next year, we can skip this annual ritual.