Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman
This week, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman learned what the citizens of her county have already realized: Wake County no longer needs the death penalty.
Travion Smith became the sixth Wake defendant in a row who received a sentence of life without parole, even though Wake County prosecutors pushed for a death sentence.
A Wake County jury has not sent a person to death row since 2007. It’s worth noting that, by law, capital juries are stripped of people who oppose the death penalty, so they represent a more conservative slice of the population. Even so, they consistently reject death as a punishment.
Freeman says she might now reconsider pursuing the death penalty in future cases, and the citizens of Wake County should hope she keeps that promise. Death penalty trials cost at least four times as much as non-capital trials.
With six failed capital cases in a row, Wake has probably wasted millions in taxpayer dollars.
After the verdict in Smith’s trial, Freeman said she felt that given the brutality of the murder, “the community needed to make a decision in this.”
Now, the community has clearly spoken: Life imprisonment is a punishment severe enough to ensure justice and public safety, even in the most serious crimes. Not only does life without parole save taxpayer money, it eliminates the risk of executing an innocent person.
Thank you, Lorrin Freeman, for heeding the message of the people.
The post A promise worth keeping: No more death penalty in Wake appeared first on NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.