GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S D
SENATE BILL DRS45048-ML-37
Short Title: Repeal Death Penalty. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Mayfield, Meyer, and Murdock (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
*DRS45048 -ML-37*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REPEAL THE DEATH PENALTY AND TO PROVIDE THAT ALL CURRENT 2
PRISONERS SENTENCED TO DEATH SHALL BE RESENTENCED TO LIFE 3
IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. G.S. 7A-450(b1) is repealed. 6
SECTION 2. G.S. 7A-498.8(b)(5) reads as rewritten: 7
"(b) The appellate defender shall perform such duties as may be directed by the Office of 8
Indigent Defense Services, including: 9
… 10
(5) Recruiting qualified members of the private bar who are willing to provide 11
representation in State and federal death penalty postconviction proceedings." 12
SECTION 3. G.S. 14-7.2 reads as rewritten: 13
"§ 14-7.2. Punishment. 14
When any person is charged by indictment with the commission of a felony under the laws 15
of the State of North Carolina and is also charged with being an habitual felon as defined in 16
G.S. 14-7.1, he must, upon conviction, be sentenced and punished as an habitual felon, as in this 17
Chapter provided, except in those cases where the death penalty or a life sentence is imposed." 18
SECTION 4. G.S. 14-7.8 reads as rewritten: 19
"§ 14-7.8. Punishment. 20
When a person is charged by indictment with the commission of a violent felony and is also 21
charged with being a violent habitual felon as defined in G.S. 14-7.7, the person must, upon 22
conviction, be sentenced in accordance with this Article, except in those cases where the death 23
penalty is imposed.Article." 24
SECTION 5. G.S. 14-7.12 reads as rewritten: 25
"§ 14-7.12. Sentencing of violent habitual felons. 26
A person who is convicted of a violent felony and of being a violent habitual felon must, 27
upon conviction (except where the death penalty is imposed), conviction, be sentenced to life 28
imprisonment without parole. Life imprisonment without parole means that the person will spend 29
the remainder of the person's natural life in prison. The sentencing judge may not suspend the 30
sentence and may not place the person sentenced on probation. Sentences for violent habitual 31
felons imposed under this Article shall run consecutively with and shall commence at the 32
expiration of any other sentence being served by the person." 33
SECTION 6. G.S. 14-17(a) reads as rewritten: 34
"(a) A murder which shall be perpetrated by means of a nuclear, biological, or chemical 35
weapon of mass destruction as defined in G.S. 14-288.21, poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, 36
FILED SENATE
Feb 13, 2025
S.B. 94
PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 DRS45048-ML-37
starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which 1
shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex 2
offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a 3
deadly weapon shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree, a Class A felony, and any person 4
who commits such murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for 5
life without parole as the court shall determine pursuant to G.S. 15A-2000, except that any such 6
person who was under 18 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished in accordance 7
with Part 2A of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes." 8
SECTION 7. G.S. 15-176.1 is repealed. 9
SECTION 8. Article 17A and Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes are 10
repealed. 11
SECTION 9. G.S. 15A-268(a6) reads as rewritten: 12
"(a6) The evidence described by subsection (a1) of this section shall be preserved for the 13
following period: 14
(1) For conviction resulting in a sentence of death, until execution. 15
(2) For conviction resulting in a sentence of life without parole, until the death of 16
the convicted person. 17
(3) For conviction of any homicide, sex offense, assault, kidnapping, burglary, 18
robbery, arson or burning, for which a Class B1-E felony punishment is 19
imposed, the evidence shall be preserved during the period of incarceration 20
and mandatory supervised release, including sex offender registration 21
pursuant to Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, except in cases 22
where the person convicted entered and was convicted on a plea of guilty, in 23
which case the evidence shall be preserved for the earlier of three years from 24
the date of conviction or until released. 25
(4) Biological evidence collected as part of a criminal investigation of any 26
homicide or rape, in which no charges are filed, shall be preserved for the 27
period of time that the crime remains unsolved. 28
(5) A custodial agency in custody of biological evidence unrelated to a criminal 29
investigation or prosecution referenced by subdivision (1), (2), (3), or (4) of 30
this subsection may dispose of the evidence in accordance with the rules of 31
the agency. 32
(6) Notwithstanding the retention requirements in subdivisions (1) through (5) of 33
this subsection, at any time after collection and prior to or at the time of 34
disposition of the case at the trial court level, if the evidence collected as part 35
of the criminal investigation is of a size, bulk, or physical character as to 36
render retention impracticable or should be returned to its rightful owner, the 37
State may petition the court for retention of samples of the biological evidence 38
in lieu of the actual physical evidence. After giving any defendant charged in 39
connection with the case an opportunity to be heard, the court may order that 40
the collecting agency take reasonable measures to remove or preserve for 41
retention portions of evidence likely to contain biological evidence related to 42
the offense through cuttings, swabs, or other means consistent with Crime 43
Laboratory minimum guidelines in a quantity sufficient to permit DNA testing 44
before returning or disposing of the evidence." 45
SECTION 10. G.S. 15A-734 reads as rewritten: 46
"§ 15A-734. Arrest without a warrant. 47
The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer or a private person, 48
without a warrant, upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of 49
a state with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, but 50
when so arrested the accused must be taken before a judge or magistrate with all practicable 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
DRS45048-ML-37 Page 3
speed, and complaint must be made against him under oath setting forth the ground for the arrest 1
as in G.S. 15A-733; and thereafter his answer shall be heard as if he had been arrested on a 2
warrant." 3
SECTION 11. G.S. 15A-736 reads as rewritten: 4
"§ 15A-736. Bail in certain cases; conditions of bond. 5
Unless the offense with which the prisoner is charged is shown to be an offense punishable 6
by death or life imprisonment under the laws of the state in which it was committed, a judge or 7
magistrate in this State may admit the person arrested to bail by bond, with sufficient sureties, 8
and in such sum as he deems proper, conditioned for his appearance before him at a time specified 9
in such bond, and for his surrender, to be arrested upon the warrant of the Governor of this State." 10
SECTION 12. G.S. 15A-1201(b) reads as rewritten: 11
"(b) Waiver of Right to Jury Trial. – A defendant accused of any criminal offense for 12
which the State is not seeking a sentence of death in superior court may, knowingly and 13
voluntarily, in writing or on the record in the court and with the consent of the trial judge, waive 14
the right to trial by jury. When a defendant waives the right to trial by jury under this section, the 15
jury is dispensed with as provided by law, and the whole matter of law and fact, to include all 16
factors referred to in G.S. 20-179 and subsections (a1) and (a3) of G.S. 15A-1340.16, shall be 17
heard and judgment given by the court. If a motion for joinder of co-defendants is allowed, there 18
shall be a jury trial unless all defendants waive the right to trial by jury, or the court, in its 19
discretion, severs the case." 20
SECTION 13. Part 2 of Article 81B of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is 21
amended by adding a new section to read: 22
"§ 15A-1340.13A. Death penalty abolished. 23
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no crime shall be punishable by death." 24
SECTION 14. G.S. 15A-1340.17(c) reads as rewritten: 25
"(c) Punishments for Each Class of Offense and Prior Record Level; Punishment Chart 26
Described. – The authorized punishment for each class of offense and prior record level is as 27
specified in the chart below. Prior record levels are indicated by the Roman numerals placed 28
horizontally on the top of the chart. Classes of offense are indicated by the letters placed vertically 29
on the left side of the chart. Each cell on the chart contains the following components: 30
(1) A sentence disposition or dispositions: "C" indicates that a community 31
punishment is authorized; "I" indicates that an intermediate punishment is 32
authorized; "A" indicates that an active punishment is authorized; and "Life 33
Imprisonment Without Parole" indicates that the defendant shall be 34
imprisoned for the remainder of the prisoner's natural life. 35
(2) A presumptive range of minimum durations, if the sentence of imprisonment 36
is neither aggravated or mitigated; any minimum term of imprisonment in that 37
range is permitted unless the court finds pursuant to G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an 38
aggravated or mitigated sentence is appropriate. The presumptive range is the 39
middle of the three ranges in the cell. 40
(3) A mitigated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to 41
G.S. 15A-1340.16 that a mitigated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in 42
such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the mitigated range is 43
permitted. The mitigated range is the lower of the three ranges in the cell. 44
(4) An aggravated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to 45
G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in 46
such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the aggravated range is 47
permitted. The aggravated range is the higher of the three ranges in the cell. 48
PRIOR RECORD LEVEL 49
50
I II III IV V VI 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 DRS45048-ML-37
0-1 Pt 2-5 Pts 6-9 Pts 10-13 Pts 14-17 Pts 18+ Pts 1
A Life Imprisonment With Parole or Without Parole, or Death, as Established by Statute 2
A A A A A A DISPOSITION 3
240-300 276-345 317-397 365-456 Life Imprisonment Aggravated 4
Without Parole 5
B1 192-240 221-276 254-317 292-365 336-420 386-483 PRESUMPTIVE 6
144-192 166-221 190-254 219-292 252-336 290-386 Mitigated 7
A A A A A A DISPOSITION 8
157-196 180-225 207-258 238-297 273-342 314-393 Aggravated 9
B2 125-157 144-180 165-207 190-238 219-273 251-314 PRESUMPTIVE 10
94-125 108-144 124-165 143-190 164-219 189-251 Mitigated 11
A A A A A A DISPOSITION 12
73-92 83-104 96-120 110-138 127-159 146-182 Aggravated 13
C 58-73 67-83 77-96 88-110 101-127 117-146 PRESUMPTIVE 14
44-58 50-67 58-77 66-88 76-101 87-117 Mitigated 15
A A A A A A DISPOSITION 16
64-80 73-92 84-105 97-121 111-139 128-160 Aggravated 17
D 51-64 59-73 67-84 78-97 89-111 103-128 PRESUMPTIVE 18
38-51 44-59 51-67 58-78 67-89 77-103 Mitigated 19
I/A I/A A A A A DISPOSITION 20
25-31 29-36 33-41 38-48 44-55 50-63 Aggravated 21
E 20-25 23-29 26-33 30-38 35-44 40-50 PRESUMPTIVE 22
15-20 17-23 20-26 23-30 26-35 30-40 Mitigated 23
I/A I/A I/A A A A DISPOSITION 24
16-20 19-23 21-27 25-31 28-36 33-41 Aggravated 25
F 13-16 15-19 17-21 20-25 23-28 26-33 PRESUMPTIVE 26
10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 17-23 20-26 Mitigated 27
I/A I/A I/A I/A A A DISPOSITION 28
13-16 14-18 17-21 19-24 22-27 25-31 Aggravated 29
G 10-13 12-14 13-17 15-19 17-22 20-25 PRESUMPTIVE 30
8-10 9-12 10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 Mitigated 31
C/I/A I/A I/A I/A I/A A DISPOSITION 32
6-8 8-10 10-12 11-14 15-19 20-25 Aggravated 33
H 5-6 6-8 8-10 9-11 12-15 16-20 PRESUMPTIVE 34
4-5 4-6 6-8 7-9 9-12 12-16 Mitigated 35
C C/I I I/A I/A I/A DISPOSITION 36
6-8 6-8 6-8 8-10 9-11 10-12 Aggravated 37
I 4-6 4-6 5-6 6-8 7-9 8-10 PRESUMPTIVE 38
3-4 3-4 4-5 4-6 5-7 6-8 Mitigated" 39
SECTION 15. G.S. 15A-1415 reads as rewritten: 40
"§ 15A-1415. Grounds for appropriate relief which may be asserted by defendant after 41
verdict; limitation as to time. 42
(a) At any time after verdict, a noncapital defendant by motion may seek appropriate 43
relief upon any of the grounds enumerated in this section. In a capital case, a postconviction 44
motion for appropriate relief shall be filed within 120 days from the latest of the following: 45
(1) The court's judgment has been filed, but the defendant failed to perfect a 46
timely appeal; 47
(2) The mandate issued by a court of the appellate division on direct appeal 48
pursuant to N.C.R. App. P. 32(b) and the time for filing a petition for writ of 49 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
DRS45048-ML-37 Page 5
certiorari to the United States Supreme Court has expired without a petition 1
being filed; 2
(3) The United States Supreme Court denied a timely petition for writ of certiorari 3
of the decision on direct appeal by the Supreme Court of North Carolina; 4
(4) Following the denial of discretionary review by the Supreme Court of North 5
Carolina, the United States Supreme Court denied a timely petition for writ of 6
certiorari seeking review of the decision on direct appeal by the North 7
Carolina Court of Appeals; 8
(5) The United States Supreme Court granted the defendant's or the State's timely 9
petition for writ of certiorari of the decision on direct appeal by the Supreme 10
Court of North Carolina or North Carolina Court of Appeals, but subsequently 11
left the defendant's conviction and sentence undisturbed; or 12
(6) The appointment of postconviction counsel for an indigent capital defendant. 13
… 14
(c) Notwithstanding the time limitations herein, a defendant at any time after verdict may 15
by a motion for appropriate relief, raise the ground that evidence is available which was unknown 16
or unavailable to the defendant at the time of trial, which could not with due diligence have been 17
discovered or made available at that time, including recanted testimony, and which has a direct 18
and material bearing upon the defendant's eligibility for the death penalty or the defendant's guilt 19
or innocence. A motion based upon such newly discovered evidence must be filed within a 20
reasonable time of its discovery. 21
…." 22
SECTION 16. G.S. 15A-1419(e) reads as rewritten: 23
"(e) For the purposes of subsection (b) of this section, a fundamental miscarriage of justice 24
only results if: 25
(1) The defendant establishes that more likely than not, but for the error, no 26
reasonable fact finder would have found the defendant guilty of the underlying 27
offense; oroffense. 28
(2) The defendant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that, but for the 29
error, no reasonable fact finder would have found the defendant eligible for 30
the death penalty. 31
A defendant raising a claim of newly discovered evidence of factual innocence or ineligibility 32
for the death penalty, otherwise barred by the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or 33
G.S. 15A-1415(c), may only show a fundamental miscarriage of justice by proving by clear and 34
convincing evidence that, in light of the new evidence, if credible, no reasonable juror would 35
have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt or eligible for the death penalty." 36
SECTION 17. Subchapter XV of Chapter 15A of the General Statutes is repealed. 37
SECTION 18. G.S. 90-1.1(5) reads as rewritten: 38
"(5) The practice of medicine or surgery. – Except as otherwise provided by this 39
subdivision, the practice of medicine or surgery, for purposes of this Article, 40
includes any of the following acts: 41
a. Advertising, holding out to the public, or representing in any manner 42
that the individual is authorized to practice medicine in this State. 43
b. Offering or undertaking to prescribe, order, give, or administer any 44
drug or medicine for the use of any other individual. 45
c. Offering or undertaking to prevent or diagnose, correct, prescribe for, 46
administer to, or treat in any manner or by any means, methods, or 47
devices any disease, illness, pain, wound, fracture, infirmity, defect, or 48
abnormal physical or mental condition of any individual, including the 49
management of pregnancy or parturition. 50 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 6 DRS45048-ML-37
d. Offering or undertaking to perform any surgical operation on any 1
individual. 2
e. Using the designation "Doctor," "Doctor of Medicine," "Doctor of 3
Osteopathy," "Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine," "Physician," 4
"Surgeon," "Physician and Surgeon," "Dr.," "M.D.," "D.O.," or any 5
combination thereof in the conduct of any occupation or profession 6
pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease 7
or condition, unless the designation additionally contains the 8
description of or reference to another branch of the healing arts for 9
which the individual holds a valid license in this State or the use of the 10
designation "Doctor" or "Physician" is otherwise specifically 11
permitted by law. 12
f. The performance of any act, within or without this State, described in 13
this subdivision by use of any electronic or other means, including the 14
Internet or telephone. 15
The administration of required lethal substances or any assistance whatsoever 16
rendered with an execution under Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General 17
Statutes does not constitute the practice of medicine or surgery." 18
SECTION 19. G.S. 90-85.38(b) reads as rewritten: 19
"(b) The Board, in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes, may suspend, 20
revoke, or refuse to grant or renew any permit for the same conduct as stated in subsection (a). 21
The administration of required lethal substances or any assistance whatsoever rendered with an 22
execution under Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes does not constitute the practice 23
of pharmacy under this Article, and any assistance rendered with an execution under Article 19 24
of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes shall not be the cause for disciplinary action under this 25
Article.subsection (a) of this section." 26
SECTION 20. G.S. 90-171.20(4) reads as rewritten: 27
"(4) "Nursing" is a dynamic discipline which includes the assessing, caring, 28
counseling, teaching, referring and implementing of prescribed treatment in 29
the maintenance of health, prevention and management of illness, injury, 30
disability or the achievement of a dignified death. It is ministering to; 31
assisting; and sustained, vigilant, and continuous care of those acutely or 32
chronically ill; supervising patients during convalescence and rehabilitation; 33
the supportive and restorative care given to maintain the optimum health level 34
of individuals, groups, and communities; the supervision, teaching, and 35
evaluation of those who perform or are preparing to perform these functions; 36
and the administration of nursing programs and nursing services. For purposes 37
of this Article, the administration of required lethal substances or any 38
assistance whatsoever rendered with an execution under Article 19 of Chapter 39
15 of the General Statutes does not constitute nursing." 40
SECTION 21. The Attorney General shall, on behalf of each person convicted of a 41
capital offense and sentenced to death on or before the effective date of this act, petition the court 42
in which the person was convicted to resentence the person pursuant to this act. Upon hearing 43
the petition, the court shall order that the death sentence imposed by the judgment be vacated and 44
the defendant resentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. 45
SECTION 22. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to any person 46
sentenced to death before, on, or after that date. 47