STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. IZIAH BARDEN (2026)

In 1999, a jury convicted defendant of robbery with a dangerous weapon and first-degree murder under the felony murder rule. Upon the jury's recommendation, the Superior Court, Sampson County, sentenced defendant to death and arrested judgment on defendant's robbery with a dangerous weapon conviction. In defendant's initial appeal, this Court remanded for a hearing under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S. Ct. 1712 (1986), but otherwise held that there was no error. State v. Barden (Barden I), 356 N.C. 316, 389, 572 S.E.2d 108, 153 (2002).

In defendant's second appeal after the Batson hearing, this Court remanded for a second Batson hearing in light of several cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in the interim. State v. Barden (Barden II), 362 N.C. 277, 279–80, 658 S.E.2d 654, 655–56 (2008) (first citing Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U.S. 472, 128 S. Ct. 1203 (2008); then citing Rice v. Collins, 546 U.S. 333, 126 S. Ct. 969 (2006); and then citing Miller-El v. Dretke, 545 U.S. 231, 125 S. Ct. 2317 (2005)). On 4 June 2008, the trial court conducted a second Batson hearing, and on 9 July 2008, it denied defendant's Batson challenge. Defendant filed a notice of appeal on 17 July 2008.

Defendant docketed the record on appeal on 18 May 2010 and filed his opening brief on 20 July 2010. On 10 August 2010, defendant filed motions for appropriate relief under the Racial Justice Act (RJA), N.C.G.S. §§ 15A-2010 to -2012 (2009) (repealed 2013), in both this Court and Superior Court, Sampson County. That same day, defendant filed two other motions: (1) a “Motion to Dismiss Appellant's Motion Filed in this Court Under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act Without Prejudice to File a Motion Under the Racial Justice Act in Post-Conviction Proceedings if Appellant is Not Be [sic] Granted Relief on Direct Appeal,” and (2) an alternative “Motion to Remand to the Superior Court of Sampson County for an Evidentiary Hearing and Other Proceedings.”¹ On 7 September 2010, this Court (1) dismissed defendant's motion for appropriate relief without prejudice, (2) dismissed his other motions, and (3) stayed further appellate proceedings “until after the trial court's hearing and determination of defendant's Motion for Appropriate Relief Pursuant to the Racial Justice Act filed in Superior Court, Sampson County.”

On 31 December 2024, the Governor commuted defendant's death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On 1 May 2025, the trial court granted defendant's motion to withdraw his motion for appropriate relief under the RJA. On 12 May 2025, defendant moved to dissolve this Court's stay and transfer the case to the Court of Appeals.

On 16 May 2025, this Court lifted the stay and issued a special order requesting briefing on the following question: “When the Governor commutes a defendant's death sentence to life imprisonment but no court has vacated, altered, or amended the judgment that includes a sentence of death, does initial appellate jurisdiction now rest with the Court of Appeals under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27?”

The question has been fully briefed. For the reasons explained in State v. Robinson, No. 142A12 (N.C. May 22, 2026), defendant's appeal is remanded to the Court of Appeals.

REMANDED.

For the reasons stated in my separate opinion in State v. Robinson, No. 142A12 (N.C. May 22, 2026), I dissent from the majority's decision in this matter.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Defendant filed these motions because “[t]he RJA d[id] not address the issue of what court, if any, ha[d] jurisdiction for filing of a motion under the RJA when a defendant-appellant's case is on direct appeal to th[e Supreme] Court.”

PER CURIAM.