Issue

Capital murder trial—pretrial motion to strike death penalty—prosecutorial discretion

Summary

In a capital murder prosecution arising from the fatal shooting of two victims, the trial court did not err by denying defendant's pretrial motion to strike the death penalty because the decision to seek a particular sentence or to engage in plea bargaining is within the exclusive and discretionary power of the district attorney and does not impermissibly burden a defendant's constitutional rights.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →