RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) - The North Carolina General Assembly has passed Iryna's Law, a response to the light rail killing of a Ukrainian refugee, a month after her death.
The bill, which will now go to Democratic Governor Josh Stein's desk, passed the House on Tuesday, a day after Senate Democrats walked out on the one-month anniversary of the death of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
The measure strengthens pretrial release standards for violent offenders, expands sentencing protections and increases prosecutorial staffing.
Republican leaders had condemned Charlotte's handling of 34-year-old Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr.'s case. Brown has been charged with first-degree murder of Zarutska by the state and with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system by federal prosecutors. He's been assigned public defenders for both cases.
Brown was released without bail after signing a written promise to appear in court after being arrested in January over misusing the 911 system.
The bill would also require the North Carolina Collaboratory to study the intersection of mental health and the justice system, along with alternative methods of execution.
"We can no longer pay lip service to the idea of public safety, and we can no longer wish away the consequences of ignoring severely mentally ill people," Democratic Representative Laura Budd said Tuesday, urging the House to fund psychiatric care and crisis response officers.
If passed into law, the bill would eliminate unsecured bonds for certain offenses and restrict the magistrate or judge's discretion, making it more difficult for people charged with violent acts to get out on bail. It also establishes a new category of "violent offenses" for which the judge or magistrate must impose certain conditions for pretrial release.
Judicial officials will only be able to impose a secured bond or house arrest on violent offenders, and any defendant who has been convicted of three or more offenses - regardless of whether they were violent offenses - will have their release options limited to a secure bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring.
If a judge discovers a defendant had previously been involuntarily committed, they are required to have them examined to determine if there are grounds to petition for involuntary commitment. Judges must also review and weigh a defendant's criminal history for determining their conditions for pretrial release and make written findings explaining that decision. Failure to make those findings is now ground for removal of a judge or magistrate.
The bill will also add committing a capital felony while the victim was using public transportation as an aggravating factor for seeking the death penalty. This would not be retroactive and would not apply to the suspect in Zarutska's killing.
The state Senate passed Iryna's Law on Monday night, with many Democrats walking out after President Pro Tempore Phil Berger introduced an amendment to the bill to eliminate the state's de facto moratorium on the death penalty. The change would mean that any person sentenced to death "shall be executed" and directs the state to choose another method of execution should lethal injection be found to be unconstitutional.
Ongoing legal challenges - including over the state's Racial Justice Act - have paused the enforcement of capital punishment, and the state hasn't executed anyone since 2006. There are currently 122 inmates on death row.
Iryna's Law also modifies death penalty proceedings, requiring courts to hear postconviction appeals within 24 months of the motion being filed or find that there are "extraordinary circumstances" justifying the delay. Outstanding motions must be calendared by December 2026, and hearings must occur by December 2027.
"We understand that the court process has to play out on the claims that are out there that need to be resolved through the court system," said Berger. "I think, unfortunately, there are all too many folks who are opposed to the death penalty, but they're just fine with having it on the books. They just want to make sure that we've got so many roadblocks that it's never going to be implemented. ... It's the law of North Carolina. If we're not going to move forward with it, then we need to repeal that law."
Senate Democrats, who had previously supported the bill, condemned their Republican counterparts for commandeering the measure to make changes to the death penalty.
The criminal justice system is primarily facing court backlogs, shortages of prosecutors and gaps in victim services, Democratic Senator Caleb Theodros said. The bill would allocate one-time funds to hire 10 full-time assistant district attorneys in Charlotte.
"I looked at that video over and over again and reached a conclusion in my soul that there must be justice," said Republican Senator Ralph Hise, in reference to the footage of the attack. "And to take a life, there is a justice that involves capital punishment."
"That individual should have never been on that train that day," he added. "And the fact that he was, was a failure of our system and a failure of our judicial system."
Source: Courthouse News Service
