Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Christopher Lunore Roseboro - North Carolina Death Row

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Christopher Lunore Roseboro - North Carolina Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    Convicted and sentenced to death on March 16, 1994 for killing Martha "Gertie" Edwards on March 13, 1992. Roseboro admitted breaking into Edwards' house, but testified a codefendant was the one who killed her. In a court-ordered second sentencing hearing, a separate jury sentenced Roseboro to death on August 29, 1997.

    On May 5, 2000, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Roseboro's death sentence on direct appeal.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    Augsut 20, 2010

    Flagged cases get second look

    Some prosecutors have begun re-examining 24 area cases where SBI lab skewed evidence.


    By Ely Portillo
    The Charlotte Observer

    These are the number of area cases that were identified as problems in the auditors' report Wednesday:

    Gaston 8

    Catawba 5

    Iredell 3

    Cabarrus 3

    Cleveland 2

    Caldwell 1

    Lincoln 1

    Union 1


    In the wake of a scathing audit, Charlotte-area prosecutors are examining cases that involved blood analysis by the SBI, while defense attorneys say they'll try to raise doubt about any case involving the state crime lab.

    It remains to be seen how many people might appeal their convictions based on the audit, which identified 230 cases across the state tainted by misleading blood test reports from the SBI.

    Of the defendants in 24 area cases identified in the audit, nine remain in prison, convicted of murder, with one facing the death penalty.

    "The actions of these analysts undermine the credibility of the SBI in any case with an SBI witness - whether that person had anything to do with that lab or not," said Charlotte defense lawyer James Wyatt.

    Prosecutors have had mixed reactions to the audit, with some looking at only the cases flagged in the audit and others going much deeper.

    Union County's district attorney is reviewing nearly 200 homicide convictions. Gaston County is reviewing only the eight cases the audit identified as tainted.

    The Gaston district attorney already has reviewed the area's only death penalty case that showed up on the audit, released Wednesday. He said he believes evidence beyond the blood testing affirms the conviction.

    In Cabarrus County, District Attorney Roxann Vaneekhoven said, "It's kind of a wait and see thing." Three cases in her district were flagged by auditors.

    The audit was conducted by two former FBI agents hired by N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper. They found that SBI analysts had reported test results that showed the possible presence of blood on evidence, yet withheld test results that showed the opposite.

    No Mecklenburg cases were called into question, primarily because Charlotte-Mecklenburg police do most blood analysis in-house. But other towns in Mecklenburg, area counties, and the N.C. Highway Patrol rely heavily on the SBI.

    CMPD has its own crime lab. Analysts are civilians but the lab is under police supervision. Two local defense lawyers reached Thursday say they haven't seen or heard of troubles similar to those at the state lab.

    Lab director Matt Matthis said his lab has policies in place to ensure full results are reported, not just those favorable to prosecutors.

    "Our purpose here is to do scientific testing on the evidence that's turned in to us," he said. "We don't report results for investigators, prosecutors or defendants. We simply present them with the scientific results."

    CMPD does use the SBI lab to test blood for drugs, gunshot residue tests, and analyses of hair and fiber evidence, Matthis said.

    Most of the defendants in the area's 24 cases pleaded guilty. Christopher Roseboro, 46, was convicted by a jury and sentenced to die for the rape and murder of his elderly neighbor.

    At trial, Roseboro admitted the rape but said his co-defendant committed the murder. The audit found that analysts reported only the possible presence of blood on evidence in his case, and omitted tests that showed there was no blood.

    Gaston District Attorney Locke Bell said he doesn't think the conviction was in error, because other testimony and evidence clearly linked him to the crimes.
    If defendants appeal their convictions, judges will have to weigh the SBI's tainted blood evidence against other evidence presented.

    Getting convictions overturned probably will be more difficult for people who pleaded guilty, said Charlotte lawyer Wyatt. If defendants pleaded guilty because prosecutors showed them blood analysis later found to be erroneous, that could help their appeal.

    District attorneys in Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, Lincoln, Cleveland, Iredell and Rowan didn't immediately return calls for comment Thursday afternoon.

    Charlotte defense lawyer George Laughrun said questions about the SBI's blood analyses could flow into other testing they've done, such as alcohol tests in drunken driving cases.

    At trial, Laughrun said: "The first thing I'm going to ask jurors is, 'Hey, have you read those stories about the SBI and tainted blood evidence?'"

    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...cond-look.html

  3. #3
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Questions in Gaston death penalty case linger

    Death row inmate appealing sentence in 1992 killing

    By Kevin Ellis
    Gaston Gazette


    Two families sat on opposite sides of a Gaston County Courtroom on Monday, both there for a hearing involving the rape and murder of a 72-year-old Gastonia woman more than 27 years ago.

    On one side was more than a dozen members of the family of Martha Edwards, the woman killed in her West Second Avenue apartment in March 1992. During the trial, evidence indicated Edwards was also raped either as she was dying or maybe even after she had already passed while Roseboro burglarized the house.

    On the other side was eight people in support of Christopher Roseboro, a death row inmate since 1994.

    Roseboro’s attorney say his “intellectual disability” make him ineligible for the state to carry out a death sentence. They also argue he deserves a new sentence based on ineffective counsel at his 1994 trial and maybe even a new trial altogether.

    Danielle Elbert from the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office represents the state. She agreed some evidence lends itself to finding Roseboro intellectually deficient, going all the way back to when he was in school. But she said the state does not believe enough evidence exists to take him off death row.

    The case has lingered both sides agreed, leaving many of the questions surrounding the fairness of putting Roseboro to death unanswered for so long.

    Part of the reason has to do with race. Roseboro is black, his vicitm was while.

    In 2009, state lawmakers passed the Racial Justice Act, which Gov. Beverly Purdue signed. The state law allowed some of those on death row to argue that racial bias led to their sentences.

    When Republicans took control of the Legislature and governor’office the law was repealed in 2013, although it remains an issue before the North Carolina Supreme Court.

    But few judges wanted to take up arguments involving death penalty cases while the Racial Justice Act was still being argued out in courts.

    Superior Court Don Bridges of Cleveland County has the current defense motions for appropriate relief before him.

    He took reports from both sides from legal experts concerning the level of intellectual disability Roseboro has. Both sides agreed Bridges might be able to make a decision based on those reports alone, but left open the possibility of more hearings where each side would have an opportunity to present evidence.

    Depending on how Bridges rules on the intellectual disability issue, he also has to make a decision on whether Roseboro deserves a new sentencing or a new trial altogether based on the argument he had ineffective counsel at his first trial.

    Bridges promised both sides he would work to bring this proceeding to a conclusion, although the timetable for that decision remains unclear.

    Roseboro’s co-defendant in the burglary part of the case, Roger Bell, received a life sentence and remains incarcerated.

    https://www.gastongazette.com/news/2...ty-case-linger
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •