H.B. 638
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Apr 17, 2023
SESSION 2023 HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
H D
HOUSE BILL DRH10172-ML-38A
Short Title: Repeal Death Penalty. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Alston.
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO REPEAL THE DEATH PENALTY AND TO PROVIDE THAT ALL CURRENT
3 PRISONERS SENTENCED TO DEATH SHALL BE RESENTENCED TO LIFE
4 IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE.
5 Whereas, 10 people in North Carolina that were sentenced to death row have been
6 found innocent of the crime for which they were sentenced; and
7 Whereas, evidence suggests a greater likelihood of wrongful conviction in death
8 penalty cases; and
9 Whereas, the death penalty continues to be disproportionately imposed on members
10 of minority groups, persons of low income, and persons with mental and intellectual disabilities;
11 and
12 Whereas, studies have shown that the death penalty does not deter crime; and
13 Whereas, North Carolina spends almost eleven million dollars ($11,000,000)
14 annually on costs related to the death penalty, even though the last person executed in North
15 Carolina was in 2006; and
16 Whereas, death penalty cases cost taxpayers approximately four times as much as
17 non-death penalty cases; and
18 Whereas, arbitrary distinctions are made about whom to seek the death penalty
19 against, and those decisions are often influenced by extra-legal factors; and
20 Whereas, Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall of the United States
21 Supreme Court both found that the death penalty was inherently unconstitutional as a violation
22 of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution; Now, therefore,
23 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
24 SECTION 1. G.S. 7A-450(b1) is repealed.
25 SECTION 2. G.S. 7A-498.8(b)(5) reads as rewritten:
26 "(b) The appellate defender shall perform such duties as may be directed by the Office of
27 Indigent Defense Services, including:
28 …
29 (5) Recruiting qualified members of the private bar who are willing to provide
30 representation in State and federal death penalty postconviction proceedings."
31 SECTION 3. G.S. 14-7.2 reads as rewritten:
32 "§ 14-7.2. Punishment.
33 When any person is charged by indictment with the commission of a felony under the laws
34 of the State of North Carolina and is also charged with being an habitual felon as defined in
35 G.S. 14-7.1, he must, upon conviction, be sentenced and punished as an habitual felon, as in this
36 Chapter provided, except in those cases where the death penalty or a life sentence is imposed."
*DRH10172-ML-38A*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2023
1 SECTION 4. G.S. 14-7.8 reads as rewritten:
2 "§ 14-7.8. Punishment.
3 When a person is charged by indictment with the commission of a violent felony and is also
4 charged with being a violent habitual felon as defined in G.S. 14-7.7, the person must, upon
5 conviction, be sentenced in accordance with this Article, except in those cases where the death
6 penalty is imposed.Article."
7 SECTION 5. G.S. 14-7.12 reads as rewritten:
8 "§ 14-7.12. Sentencing of violent habitual felons.
9 A person who is convicted of a violent felony and of being a violent habitual felon must,
10 upon conviction (except where the death penalty is imposed), conviction, be sentenced to life
11 imprisonment without parole. Life imprisonment without parole means that the person will spend
12 the remainder of the person's natural life in prison. The sentencing judge may not suspend the
13 sentence and may not place the person sentenced on probation. Sentences for violent habitual
14 felons imposed under this Article shall run consecutively with and shall commence at the
15 expiration of any other sentence being served by the person."
16 SECTION 6. G.S. 14-17(a) reads as rewritten:
17 "(a) A murder which shall be perpetrated by means of a nuclear, biological, or chemical
18 weapon of mass destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.21, poison, lying in wait, imprisonment,
19 starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which
20 shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex
21 offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a
22 deadly weapon shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree, a Class A felony, and any person
23 who commits such murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for
24 life without parole as the court shall determine pursuant to G.S. 15A-2000, except that any such
25 person who was under 18 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished in accordance
26 with Part 2A of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes."
27 SECTION 7. G.S. 15-176.1 is repealed.
28 SECTION 8. Article 17A and Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes are
29 repealed.
30 SECTION 9. G.S. 15A-268(a6) reads as rewritten:
31 "(a6) The evidence described by subsection (a1) of this section shall be preserved for the
32 following period:
33 (1) For conviction resulting in a sentence of death, until execution.
34 (2) For conviction resulting in a sentence of life without parole, until the death of
35 the convicted person.
36 (3) For conviction of any homicide, sex offense, assault, kidnapping, burglary,
37 robbery, arson or burning, for which a Class B1-E felony punishment is
38 imposed, the evidence shall be preserved during the period of incarceration
39 and mandatory supervised release, including sex offender registration
40 pursuant to Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, except in cases
41 where the person convicted entered and was convicted on a plea of guilty, in
42 which case the evidence shall be preserved for the earlier of three years from
43 the date of conviction or until released.
44 (4) Biological evidence collected as part of a criminal investigation of any
45 homicide or rape, in which no charges are filed, shall be preserved for the
46 period of time that the crime remains unsolved.
47 (5) A custodial agency in custody of biological evidence unrelated to a criminal
48 investigation or prosecution referenced by subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4) of
49 this subsection may dispose of the evidence in accordance with the rules of
50 the agency.
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1 (6) Notwithstanding the retention requirements in subdivisions (1) through (5) of
2 this subsection, at any time after collection and prior to or at the time of
3 disposition of the case at the trial court level, if the evidence collected as part
4 of the criminal investigation is of a size, bulk, or physical character as to
5 render retention impracticable or should be returned to its rightful owner, the
6 State may petition the court for retention of samples of the biological evidence
7 in lieu of the actual physical evidence. After giving any defendant charged in
8 connection with the case an opportunity to be heard, the court may order that
9 the collecting agency take reasonable measures to remove or preserve for
10 retention portions of evidence likely to contain biological evidence related to
11 the offense through cuttings, swabs, or other means consistent with Crime
12 Laboratory minimum guidelines in a quantity sufficient to permit DNA testing
13 before returning or disposing of the evidence."
14 SECTION 10. G.S. 15A-734 reads as rewritten:
15 "§ 15A-734. Arrest without a warrant.
16 The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer or a private person,
17 without a warrant, upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of
18 a state with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, but
19 when so arrested the accused must be taken before a judge or magistrate with all practicable
20 speed, and complaint must be made against him under oath setting forth the ground for the arrest
21 as in G.S. 15A-733; and thereafter his answer shall be heard as if he had been arrested on a
22 warrant."
23 SECTION 11. G.S. 15A-736 reads as rewritten:
24 "§ 15A-736. Bail in certain cases; conditions of bond.
25 Unless the offense with which the prisoner is charged is shown to be an offense punishable
26 by death or life imprisonment under the laws of the state in which it was committed, a judge or
27 magistrate in this State may admit the person arrested to bail by bond, with sufficient sureties,
28 and in such sum as he deems proper, conditioned for his appearance before him at a time specified
29 in such bond, and for his surrender, to be arrested upon the warrant of the Governor of this State."
30 SECTION 12. G.S. 15A-1201(b) reads as rewritten:
31 "(b) Waiver of Right to Jury Trial. – A defendant accused of any criminal offense for
32 which the State is not seeking a sentence of death in superior court may, knowingly and
33 voluntarily, in writing or on the record in the court and with the consent of the trial judge, waive
34 the right to trial by jury. When a defendant waives the right to trial by jury under this section, the
35 jury is dispensed with as provided by law, and the whole matter of law and fact, to include all
36 factors referred to in G.S. 20-179 and subsections (a1) and (a3) of G.S. 15A-1340.16, shall be
37 heard and judgment given by the court. If a motion for joinder of co-defendants is allowed, there
38 shall be a jury trial unless all defendants waive the right to trial by jury, or the court, in its
39 discretion, severs the case."
40 SECTION 13. Part 2 of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is
41 amended by adding a new section to read:
42 "§ 15A-1340.13A. Death penalty abolished.
43 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no crime shall be punishable by death."
44 SECTION 14. G.S. 15A-1340.17(c) reads as rewritten:
45 "(c) Punishments for Each Class of Offense and Prior Record Level; Punishment Chart
46 Described. – The authorized punishment for each class of offense and prior record level is as
47 specified in the chart below. Prior record levels are indicated by the Roman numerals placed
48 horizontally on the top of the chart. Classes of offense are indicated by the letters placed vertically
49 on the left side of the chart. Each cell on the chart contains the following components:
50 (1) A sentence disposition or dispositions: "C" indicates that a community
51 punishment is authorized; "I" indicates that an intermediate punishment is
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1 authorized; "A" indicates that an active punishment is authorized; and "Life
2 Imprisonment Without Parole" indicates that the defendant shall be
3 imprisoned for the remainder of the prisoner's natural life.
4 (2) A presumptive range of minimum durations, if the sentence of imprisonment
5 is neither aggravated or mitigated; any minimum term of imprisonment in that
6 range is permitted unless the court finds pursuant to G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an
7 aggravated or mitigated sentence is appropriate. The presumptive range is the
8 middle of the three ranges in the cell.
9 (3) A mitigated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to
10 G.S. 15A-1340.16 that a mitigated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in
11 such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the mitigated range is
12 permitted. The mitigated range is the lower of the three ranges in the cell.
13 (4) An aggravated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to
14 G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in
15 such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the aggravated range is
16 permitted. The aggravated range is the higher of the three ranges in the cell.
17 PRIOR RECORD LEVEL
18
19 I II III IV V VI
20 0-1 Pt 2-5 Pts 6-9 Pts 10-13 Pts 14-17 Pts 18+ Pts
21 A Life Imprisonment With Parole or Without Parole, or Death, as Established by Statute
22 A A A A A A DISPOSITION
23 240-300 276-345 317-397 365-456 Life Imprisonment Aggravated
24 Without Parole
25 B1 192-240 221-276 254-317 292-365 336-420 386-483 PRESUMPTIVE
26 144-192 166-221 190-254 219-292 252-336 290-386 Mitigated
27 A A A A A A DISPOSITION
28 157-196 180-225 207-258 238-297 273-342 314-393 Aggravated
29 B2 125-157 144-180 165-207 190-238 219-273 251-314 PRESUMPTIVE
30 94-125 108-144 124-165 143-190 164-219 189-251 Mitigated
31 A A A A A A DISPOSITION
32 73-92 83-104 96-120 110-138 127-159 146-182 Aggravated
33 C 58-73 67-83 77-96 88-110 101-127 117-146 PRESUMPTIVE
34 44-58 50-67 58-77 66-88 76-101 87-117 Mitigated
35 A A A A A A DISPOSITION
36 64-80 73-92 84-105 97-121 111-139 128-160 Aggravated
37 D 51-64 59-73 67-84 78-97 89-111 103-128 PRESUMPTIVE
38 38-51 44-59 51-67 58-78 67-89 77-103 Mitigated
39 I/A I/A A A A A DISPOSITION
40 25-31 29-36 33-41 38-48 44-55 50-63 Aggravated
41 E 20-25 23-29 26-33 30-38 35-44 40-50 PRESUMPTIVE
42 15-20 17-23 20-26 23-30 26-35 30-40 Mitigated
43 I/A I/A I/A A A A DISPOSITION
44 16-20 19-23 21-27 25-31 28-36 33-41 Aggravated
45 F 13-16 15-19 17-21 20-25 23-28 26-33 PRESUMPTIVE
46 10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 17-23 20-26 Mitigated
47 I/A I/A I/A I/A A A DISPOSITION
48 13-16 14-18 17-21 19-24 22-27 25-31 Aggravated
49 G 10-13 12-14 13-17 15-19 17-22 20-25 PRESUMPTIVE
50 8-10 9-12 10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 Mitigated
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1 C/I/A I/A I/A I/A I/A A DISPOSITION
2 6-8 8-10 10-12 11-14 15-19 20-25 Aggravated
3 H 5-6 6-8 8-10 9-11 12-15 16-20 PRESUMPTIVE
4 4-5 4-6 6-8 7-9 9-12 12-16 Mitigated
5 C C/I I I/A I/A I/A DISPOSITION
6 6-8 6-8 6-8 8-10 9-11 10-12 Aggravated
7 I 4-6 4-6 5-6 6-8 7-9 8-10 PRESUMPTIVE
8 3-4 3-4 4-5 4-6 5-7 6-8 Mitigated"
9 SECTION 15. G.S. 15A-1415 reads as rewritten:
10 "§ 15A-1415. Grounds for appropriate relief which may be asserted by defendant after
11 verdict; limitation as to time.
12 (a) At any time after verdict, a noncapital defendant by motion may seek appropriate
13 relief upon any of the grounds enumerated in this secti