North Carolina man fights death sentence; closing arguments begin in racial justice case

Closing arguments begin Wednesday in a case that could impact more than 100 death row inmates in North Carolina.

Hasson Bacote, a black North Carolina man, was sentenced to death in 2007 for a murder during a robbery in Johnston County. Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the state's Racial Justice Act, arguing that race played a role in jury selection.

Bacote's lawyers argued his case was mishandled and marred by racism in jury selection and training. Bacote's lawyers told WRAL News to expect compelling briefs Wednesday that support the evidence and testimony from social scientists and historians presented during the two-week hearing.

Bacote was sentenced to death in 2009 by a jury of 10 white and two black jurors after he was found guilty of shooting an 18-year-old named Anthony Surles during a robbery. One of Bacote's arguments is that he was not convicted of premeditated murder, unlike almost everyone else on death row.

If the death penalty were to be lifted for Bacote, he would still face a life sentence in prison.

A ruling in Bacote's favor on Wednesday could give more than 100 other death row inmates in North Carolina the opportunity to appeal their cases under the Racial Justice Act.

The Racial Justice Act, a law that the legislature passed in 2009 — and repealed in 2013 — allows death row inmates to appeal their sentence if they are accused of racism in prosecution. Although the law was repealed, people who had already filed appeals were allowed to continue them under a 2020 ruling by the state Supreme Court.

Grethecn Engel, executive director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a nonprofit law firm that represents death row inmates, expressed hope that a reckoning would occur and that it would motivate Gov. Roy Cooper to grant sentence reductions or even pardons before the end of his term.

“That would be really convincing for Governor Cooper, [a] “A really strong message about the untenability of the death penalty and an appeal to him to exercise his unlimited power and grant reduced sentences,” said Engel.

Closing arguments will be held at the Johnston County Courthouse and streamed live on WRAL.com at 10 a.m.

Bacote is represented by the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project, the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund and North Carolina attorney Jay Ferguson.