NCADP - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Willie Brown Jr., NC - April 21

Do Not Execute Willie Brown Jr.!

Willie Brown Jr.

April 21, 2006

North Carolina

Willie Brown Jr., a 61-year-old black man, faces execution on April 21 for the 1983 murder of Valerie Ann Roberson Dixon. Brown is alleged to have robbed the Martin County convenience store where Dixon was working. He is said to have forced her to get in her car, which he drove to a nearby rural area. It was there that Brown is alleged to have shot Dixon to death, and left the body. Brown was apprehended while driving Dixon’s car shortly thereafter.

In his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, Brown argued that his death sentence was unconstitutional because the jurors had been instructed that any finding among them of mitigating evidence must be unanimous. Bearing this in mind, the jury failed to find any evidence of mitigation and, consequently, recommended a death sentence. Brown submitted a motion for appropriate relief, asking that his sentence be thrown out. He argued that his 8^th and 14^th amendment rights had been violated by the jury instructions. His motion was denied. However, four years later the U.S. Supreme Court held in McKoy v. North Carolina (1990) that the North Carolina unanimous jury instruction used in Brown’s case was unconstitutional. In light of this ruling, Brown filed another motion. Ordinarily, a retroactive application of “new rules” is not permitted except under specific circumstances: either 1) the new rule makes the initial crime non-criminal, or 2) the new rule regards a procedure so important that without it the odds of getting an accurate conviction are seriously reduced. Sure enough, the district court and the 4^th circuit court of appeals held that Brown’s case failed to fit those circumstances, and could not be considered in light of McKoy.

This nonretroactivity doctrine exists to give some finality to criminal convictions. However, what is the cost of such finality? Willie Brown is simply asking that the same right granted to any person convicted of a felony offense be extended to him. He was sentenced to death using a procedure that isn’t even considered to be constitutional any more. Nonetheless, because his case falls through a legal crack, Willie Brown will be executed in April. We cannot permit this to happen.

Please write to Gov. Michael Easley on behalf of Willie Brown Jr.!

September 02, 2010

Subject:

I wish to appeal to you on behalf of Willie Brown Jr., who is due to be executed on April 21. My sympathies go out to the family and loved ones of Valerie Ann Roberson Dixon, and I agree that this was a very tragic event that cannot go unpunished. However, ending the life of the person who has been convicted is never a solution to the problem of crime facing our society. When given their jury instructions, the jurors in Brown's case were told that they needed to be unanimous in their finding of mitigating circumstances. All twelve jurors could not agree on any mitigation, and as a result, Brown was sentenced to death. A few years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that jury instructions such as the ones given in Brown's case were unconstitutional. However, because this is a "new rule," Brown's death sentence stands. While the desire to achieve some finality in cases is understandable, this nonretroactivity doctrine comes at the expense of peoples lives. This is unacceptable. Executing Willie Brown Jr. would violate the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and constitute the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. Please find it in your heart to spare the life of this human being. Thank you for your time and consideration in this important and urgent matter.
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