N.C. governor weighs execution bias case

Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network, Sept. 30, 2003

by Christopher Curtis

With time running out for convicted murderer Edward Hartman, his lawyers say they are doing what they can -- including an appeal Tuesday to the North Carolina governor -- to spare him from execution this Friday.

His defenders maintain prosecuting attorneys unfairly used Hartman's homosexuality to get him the death penalty for the murder of his housemate, 77-year-old Herman Smith Jr., in 1993.

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On Monday Gov. Easley's staff met with gay leaders in the state. Former Chapel Hill Town Council member Joe Herzenberg, who claims to be the first openly gay elected official in the South, said he asked for executive clemency in this case, "because we
believed there was homophobia in his prosecution and conviction."

Mark Kleinschmidt, a current council member who was also at the meeting, reflected on the case, saying, "The injustice hit me personally."

"This reflected more than just an isolated case of injustice," Kleinschmidt told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network. "It's not surprising to us that the courts never cured this. From the lowest courts all the way to the Supreme Court, gays and lesbians had a hard time receiving justice. We need guarantees and fairness, otherwise a court is a farce."

Gay rights advocates say their objections to Hartman's trial primarily focus on the sentencing phase. While his defense tried to explain how the sexual abuse Hartman endured as a child should be considered as a mitigating factor when determining an appropriate punishment, prosecutors said such a claim was irrelevant for homosexuals.

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