[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----NORTH CAROLINA

[Rick Halperin]

April 19



NORTH CAROLINA:

10 NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS TO STAND TRIAL FOR JANUARY ARRESTS AT CENTRAL
PRISON


In the midst of multiple court appeals challenging the Friday execution of
Willie Brown in North Carolina, 10 death penalty opponents are preparing
to appear in Wake County District Court on Thursday to stand trial for the
group's arrest at a recent North Carolina execution.

Defendants say that they will be using a "defense of a 3rd person"
argument to prove that they had the responsibility - both religiously and
politically - to stop harm to another living being, even if that meant
trespassing onto prison property.

"By trespassing onto state property on the night of January 20th, we were
hoping to stop the murder of Perrie Simpson. We acted to get in the way of
an unjust murder. If this court chooses to uphold injustice, then it loses
its credibility," said Leah Wilson-Hartgrove, a defendant from Rutba House
in Durham.

Defendant Eric Getty, a student at Duke Divinity School, said, "The state
has charged us with a crime for trying to stop a homicide, and so we hope
to get the message out that it is the state that has committed the real
crime. Nevertheless, we are willing to face the legal consequences for our
witness, and we are willing to continue facing them as long as we persist
in believing that executions make our society more orderly and secure."

On January 19, 2006, hours before the execution of Perrie Simpson, a group
of 15 mostly Christian activists were arrested near the driveway of
Central Prison while attempting to disrupt the lethal injection. The
demonstrators approached the prison driveway with the intent of reaching
the prison doors to stop state witnesses and others from entering to carry
out the execution of Simpson. However, they got no further than the
crosswalk near the driveway.

All 10 of the defendants will be representing themselves in court, and
they plan to call several expert witnesses to the stand to argue their
defense. Among those taking the stand is Stanley Hauerwas, a Gilbert T.
Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School.

"Christians worship a savior who was killed by the state. Accordingly, we
find it very difficult to support the system that killed our savior," says
Hauerwas.

A historical, growing resistance to executions is building in North
Carolina as people are feeling obligated to peacefully resist illegal and
immoral state-killing. Since December 2005, 47 arrests have been made at
Central Prison on the nights of executions. The civil resistance has been
carried out in the nonviolent spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and
others who have risked arrest to confront the injustices of society.

Those on trial are: David Arthur, Beth Brockman, Matthew Gates, Eric
Getty, Bill Gural, Scott Langley (Raleigh), Sheila McCarthy, Dan Schwankl
(Silk Hope/Chatham County), Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Leah
Wilson-Hartgrove. (All are from Durham unless otherwise indicated.)

In addition to the trial, all 10 members of the group, plus five others,
will also be arraigned earlier in the day Thursday on a separate count of
trespass from a March 16 arrest at Central Prison.

(source: North Carolina Independent Media Center)