Joseph Bates was executed by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Charles Jenkins
According to court documents Joseph Bates had items stolen and was searching for who was responsible. Bates would abduct Charles Jenkins who would be beaten and then driven to a campsite where he would be tied to a tree, interrogated and then fatally shot
Joseph Bates would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Joseph Bates would be executed on September 26 2003
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When Was Joseph Bates Executed
Joseph Bates was executed on September 26 2003
Joseph Bates Case
A Yadkin County man executed early Friday for a 1990 slaying he blamed on brain damage referred to a Bible verse just before he was put to death.
Joseph Earl Bates, 35, was executed by injection at Central Prison in Raleigh. He was pronounced dead at 2:14 a.m., said Department of Correction spokeswoman Pam Walker. “I haven’t really give it any thought,” Bates said when asked by prison warden Marvin Polk for last words before being wheeled into the steel-walled execution chamber. “Let’s see. Hebrews, Chapter 13, Verse 6, they can read it.” The verse says: “So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
None of Bates’ relatives witnessed the execution. Bates stared straight ahead as four law enforcement officers and two relatives of the victim watched as he died. “It’s just an ending of the case,” said Yadkin County Sheriff Michael Cain. “Certain crimes are going to be met with certain penalties.” Bates confessed to killing Charles Edward Jenkins of Yadkin County after agreeing to give him a ride home from a bar.
Bates was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1991 but his conviction and death sentence were overturned because he didn’t receive funds for a mental health expert. The expert in his second trial in 1994 didn’t know about his brain injury. He was convicted and resentenced to death for the 1990 slaying.
Defense lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court while Bates visited relatives hours before the execution was scheduled. They also sought clemency from North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley. Both requests were denied on Thursday. “I find no compelling reason to invalidate the sentence recommended by two juries and affirmed by the courts,” Easley said in a statement issued by his office.
The federal appeal said Bates was poorly represented by appeals lawyers after he was convicted. The petition said one lawyer spent very little time on the case, billing only 12 minutes in 1998, and the other was ineffective because he was depressed. Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court denied an appeal on Wednesday.
Bates’ family and friends said he was coerced into the killing by two other men, one of whom received a suspended sentence for aiding in the kidnapping. Prosecutors and Jenkins’ family said the killing was premeditated and brutal. Jenkins’ body was thrown into a river.
Two other inmates have been executed in North Carolina in the past five weeks. Another execution is scheduled next week for convicted killer Edward Hartman. Hartman, 38, was convicted of the 1993 murder of Herman Smith Jr. in Northampton County.
http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/2896562p-2667761c.html
