CrimeCrimecapital punishmentDeath Penalty

Death By Deadline, Part One | The Marshall Project

The Unforgiving Law That Costs Many Death Row Inmates Their Last Appeal
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Senior Front Page Editor, HuffPost

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In 1992, Kenneth Rouse, an African-American man with an IQ between 70 and 80 - "borderline intellectual functioning," in the clinical parlance - prepared to stand trial in North Carolina on charges that he had robbed, murdered and attempted to rape a white, 63-year-old store clerk.

Rouse's lawyers questioned the prospective jurors to try to expose any racial or other bias they might have against the defendant. But several years after the all-white jury convicted Rouse and recommended a death sentence, his defense team made a stunning discovery.

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