Sunday, April 11, 2004
RALEIGH
After he delivered papers to Gov. Mike Easley's office in February to support a pardon for Darryl Hunt, even Forsyth District Attorney Tom Keith said he wasn't sure what is required for the governor to grant a pardon.
"If he's entitled to a pardon when the state says another man did it, then he's entitled to a pardon. But I don't know what the standard is," he said.
After Hunt spent 18 years in prison for the rape and murder in 1984 of newspaper copy editor Deborah Sykes, DNA testing cleared him in December. Another man confessed to the killing, saying he acted alone, and a judge vacated the charges against Hunt in February.
Hunt's attorneys asked Easley to grant Hunt a "pardon of innocence" - a move that could lead to $360,000 in compensation for Hunt - seven weeks ago.
Easley has granted just one such pardon since taking office in 2001.
The state constitution describes the governor's clemency powers in a single paragraph. State law devotes three very general paragraphs to the process. Easley - a former district attorney and state attorney general - says that unlike court procedures, clemency procedures are unclear.
Legal experts say that it is largely up to each governor to design his own clemency process.
"Unless the legislature establishes some procedure, then the governor basically decides these issues in whatever manner he chooses. His decision is unreviewable," said Jim Coleman, a law professor at Duke University.
Though some states have public boards to consider clemency requests, the procedure remains a private one in North Carolina. Easley declines to discuss clemency cases in public, holding private meetings with lawyers and victims' families.
But in an interview last week, Reuben Young, Easley's counsel, described the pardon process in general terms, without discussing Hunt's case.
The governor can consider three types of pardons, Young said:
A pardon of forgiveness, in which someone who was convicted of a crime asks the state to forgive his actions.
An unconditional pardon, which usually is requested by a convicted felon who wants his right to carry a gun restored.
A pardon of innocence in cases where a court overturns a verdict, as it has in Hunt's case.
"A pardon of innocence means that the person did not commit the offense or there's not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person committed the offense," Young said.
Since he became governor in 2001, Easley has received five requests for a pardon of innocence. He has granted one, to Lesly Jean, a former U.S. Marine who was convicted in 1982 of raping a Jacksonville woman but, like Hunt, was cleared by DNA testing in 2001.
In all, Easley has received 224 applications for various types of pardons since he became governor. Other than Jean's, he has granted none.
The clemency process begins with a review of the court record and trial transcript, Young said. But the governor can also take factors into account that a judge can't. "In this procedure of considering clemency, the governor's not bound by the rules of criminal evidence and the rules of criminal procedure," Young said.
Though a judge can't converse with lawyers, medical examiners or psychiatrists outside the courtroom, the governor can conduct private interviews with each.
That's part of the reason for the secrecy that seems to surround the deliberations. Easley wants to hear opinions expressed freely, Young said.
The governor also examines what the convicted inmate did in prison or upon release, such as substance-abuse counseling or taking courses. Young also contacts the family of the victim.
In Hunt's case, Young traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., to meet with Deborah Sykes' mother, and he spoke with other members of her family in Statesville.
For 20 years, Hunt's case has divided Winston-Salem. Easley is aware of the public sentiment, Young said. "Politics does not play a role in the decision. But when you have a case that is as publicized as this case, or maybe other cases, the public is going to have views one way or the other," Young said. "He'll be aware of them, because I'll inform him."
When Easley hears clemency arguments in the state Capitol in the days before a condemned inmate is scheduled for execution, attorneys and family members of victims routinely emerge saying that the governor asks informed questions.
"I disagree often with what Easley does in these cases, but I think he is conscientious about it," said Coleman, the Duke law professor. "Easley spends a great deal of time on these cases. He's prepared.... People, when they come out, say he seems engaged."
In Hunt's case, Easley is being asked to confirm a judge's action to dismiss the charges against Hunt. Hunt could then apply to the state Industrial Commission for $20,000 in compensation for each year he was imprisoned.
Coleman says that Hunt's case is comparable to that of Jean, whom Easley pardoned in 2001.
"There's absolutely no evidence that Hunt did this," Coleman said. "I don't know what the argument would be against pardoning him. He's innocent. And if he's innocent, the state stole 18 years of his life," he said. "I do think it's open and shut."