RALEIGH, N.C. – In a landmark case, a North Carolina judge ruled today that race played an impermissible role in jury selection for Hasson Bacote, a Black man who challenged his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA). The court found evidence of discrimination in Bacote’s case, the cases prosecuted by North Carolina Assistant District Attorney Greg Butler, as well as in Johnston County and District 11, relying upon statistical, cultural, historical, and social science, in addition to court files and records. Consistent with prior case law, he ruled that the RJA does not require defendants to make a showing of discrimination in their own case but found that Bacote did prove discrimination in his case. Read more here ->>
