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A mentally retarded Charlotte man convicted of killing two people in 1979 has been scheduled for execution in North Carolina April 27 - despite growing debate over whether to allow such executions.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether the execution of mentally retarded killers constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and thus should be banned. The court will use the N.C. case of Ernest McCarver of Cabarrus County to decide the issue this fall.
That decision, however, could come too late for Charlotte's Larry Darnell Williams, who has exhausted his appeals after 21 years on death row.
Williams' IQ measured 69 at the time of the crime - just below the score of 70 generally considered mentally retarded.
Williams was convicted in the shotgun killing of a Gaston County gas station attendant, Eric Ross Joines, on June3, 1979, and in the killing later that night of Concord convenience store clerk Susan Verle Pierce, during a robbery that netted him and an accomplice $67.27.
Williams and 3 others were arrested in connection with the crimes, but 1 defendant was acquitted and the other 2 received lighter sentences after testifying against Williams.
Juries ordered Williams to die for both crimes, but the Cabarrus County death sentence was later reversed because of errors at trial. He hasn't been re-sentenced in that case.
The issue of Williams' low IQ hasn't been debated during his appeals because N.C. law allows for the execution of mentally retarded convicts. But his lawyers say they'll push for a stay in Williams' execution, now that N.C. lawmakers - and the U.S. Supreme Court - are considering the legality of executing the mentally retarded.
"To execute Larry Williams now, before the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the McCarver (retardation) case, would truly be cruel, unusual, inhumane and a travesty of justice," said Cas Shearin, an investigator in the case.
Of 38 states that allow the death penalty, 13 already ban execution of the mentally retarded. At least seven other states, including North Carolina, are considering a ban.
Prosecutors say Williams' jury knew about his low IQ but didn't believe it offset the atrocity of his crimes.
"I wasn't around at the time, but the way the murder has been described, it is certainly one that deserves the death penalty," said Gaston District Attorney Michael Lands.
Williams exhausted his appeals in 1999 but won a stay in his previously scheduled execution so his lawyers could obtain case files from prosecutors.
Information discovered in those files last year has raised new questions about the fairness of Williams' trial and sentence, his lawyers say.
In court documents, they contend:
Prosecutors withheld evidence that would have cast doubt on the credibility of the key witness who testified against Williams.
Prosecutors destroyed the results of polygraph tests that might have called into question the veracity of 2 witnesses in the case.
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's office didn't respond to those and other questions Tuesday.
(source: Charlotte Observer)
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People of Faith Against the Death Penalty
1/2 E. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Tel. (919) 933-7567
Fax (919) 933-5611
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