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Many of the problems identified by the press and by the legislative study commission are present in the case of Marcus Carter. Had Marcus not been an indigent defendant dependent on the State to provide counsel, he very likely would not be facing execution.
In 1991, Marcus was tried for first degree murder of Amelia Lewis in Wayne County, N.C. (The murder involved an attempted rape. Marcus had been identified as a suspect in a rape elsewhere the night of the murder and by association was implicated in the Lewis murder.) At this proceeding, Marcus was represented by counsel. After all of the evidence was in, the State was unable to convince the jury that Marcus was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury deadlocked after eight days of deliberations and the judge declared a mistrial.
Five months later, Marcus was retried. In the five months between the two proceedings, trial counsel did not see Marcus. During this time period, the State extended a plea offer to Marcus. The plea agreement would have spared Marcus the death penalty. However, trial counsel never discussed the plea offer with Marcus.
Counsel for Marcus now maintain that they were dismissed by Marcus after the mistrial and that they did not represent him during the five months prior to retrial. However, counsel never informed the court that they no longer represented Marcus. Nor did they tell the prosecutor that they were not in a position to relay the State's plea offers to Marcus.
On the first day of his retrial, Marcus asked the court to appoint new attorneys. He told the judge that he would take any two lawyers from the court-appointed list. Marcus explained that he wanted new counsel because he had not seen his attorneys in five months and that they had not discussed strategy or witnesses with him. He also told the judge that when he asked his attorneys what they had done and what they intended to do about the case, they told him to "shut up and sit down." Trial counsel never informed the court that they had stopped representing Marcus five months earlier. The trial judge refused to give Marcus new lawyers. Instead, he suggested that Marcus represent himself. Faced with the unattractive prospect of going forward with counsel who had not consulted with him about his defense, Marcus represented himself.
During jury selection, the prosecutor capitalized on Marcus's lack of counsel and corresponding vulnerability. The prosecutor told jurors that Marcus was representing himself in a "maneuver" designed to "gain the sympathy" of the jury so they would not return a death sentence against him.
Also during jury selection, the prosecution excused five African-American jurors. The jury that ultimately sat on this case was all white.
Marcus Carter was born in Korea, the child of a Korean woman and an African-American soldier stationed in the country. His mother gave him up for adoption, in part because of the stigma attached to biracial children. He never finished high school. When asked by the press if he believed Marcus could handle his own case effectively, one of Marcus's dismissed attorneys said that, obviously, a lay person does not understand the law as well as an attorney. News stories from the trial suggest that Marcus was unable to follow the proceedings as he appeared to doze off during the trial.
The state's evidence against Marcus was circumstantial. Police investigators found unknown hairs on the victim's body. These hairs were Caucasian. Marcus is Asian and African-American by race. Fingernail scrapings from the victim were compared with fiber samples from Marcus's sweatshirt; DNA comparisons provided no positive identification. The S.B.I. conducted DNA testing on bloodstains found on Marcus's sweatshirt and jeans. The testing could not determine whether the blood was from Marcus or from the victim.
Despite the state's weak case, lacking counsel, Marcus was convicted of first degree murder. Once he was convicted, Marcus asked for help in the sentencing hearing. Counsel jumped into the case unprepared; not surprisingly, Marcus was sentenced to death.
The courts have consistently declined to examine the circumstances under which Marcus ended up fighting for his life with no legal training. His state post-conviction appeal was denied without a hearing. The presiding judge spent less than one hour reviewing the 300-page record before signing verbatim the state's proposed order. The federal courts, although "deeply troubled" by the short shrift given Marcus's claims, declined to intervene.
Marcus Carter's fate is in Gov. Hunt's hands--and yours. Please act to stop this execution in your name.
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