87:, where they were captured and arrested after a high-speed chase by county police. They both gave statements at the Wilcox County jail. Baldwin later said that he was beaten and tortured there, finally confessing to the murder of Rolon to end the punishment. Neither man was advised of his rights, including right to counsel, nor was either allowed to contact family.
38:, where he was arrested; they beat and tortured him under interrogation. A 1985 letter by his co-defendant Edward Dean Horsley surfaced in 1996, after Horsley had been executed for first-degree murder in the case. He wrote that he had acted alone in the rape and murder of Naomi Rolon, and that Baldwin had not known of her death.
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Nathaniel Mazdie, the only black deputy sheriff in Monroe County at the time, later testified that he had seen
Baldwin being beaten to coerce his confession and that a cattle prod was present at the jail. He also said that he had falsely signed an affidavit saying that Baldwin had been advised of his
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in 1958. As a teenager, he got into trouble with the law. In March 1977 he was serving time in a juvenile facility in western North
Carolina for stealing a car. On March 12, at age 18, he escaped with Edward Dean Horsley Jr (known as Ed Dean, August 25, 1957 – February 16, 1996), then age 19, who had
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The judge refused funds for
Baldwin's defense. The court-appointed lawyer spent very little time with Baldwin and called no defense witnesses, although Baldwin had some who could attest to his beating by police. Baldwin's fingerprints were found only in the car. He was not indicted for the rape but
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Baldwin later said that after he was arrested as a suspect, the local police beat him and subjected him to shocks from an electric cattle-prod, forcing him to confess to Rolon's murder. He later retracted the confession (which had incorrect material facts both about how Rolon died and the nature of
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There was no physical evidence tying
Baldwin to the murder: he had no blood on his clothes (in contrast to Horsley), and there were no Baldwin fingerprints on the murder weapon. (Note: Forensic analysis determined that the murder was committed by a left-handed person, but Baldwin was right-handed.
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of an 18-year-old black man, in a county that was 46% black in population. Further, they believe he was executed despite evidence that he did not commit Rolon's murder. The appeals process was marked by conflicts of interest, as the presiding judge at
Baldwin's trial also ruled on the appeals,
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Long before his execution, Horsley had testified in writing in 1985 that he alone had committed the murder of Rolon and that
Baldwin had not known of her death. The prosecutor's office did not give this letter to Baldwin's counsel until after Horsley's execution in 1996.
163:, who had presided over Baldwin's trial and conviction, heard this appeal. But it is normally accepted in law that the same judge cannot preside over a hearing to appeal his own case. He ruled that Alabama had jurisdiction because Rolon's murder was committed there.
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across town to visit her father in a hospital. She apparently picked up
Baldwin and Horsley, who were hitchhiking. They robbed and stabbed her, raped her, and confined her to the car. They drove 40 hours with her in the trunk, traveling across state lines to
94:; each man was thus eligible for the state's mandatory death penalty if convicted. The presiding judge at trial would hold a sentencing hearing to determine if there were mitigating circumstances to reduce the penalty. Each was tried separately.
141:, although the population of the area of the jury pool was 46% black. (Exclusion of African Americans from a jury in such cases, where they form a significant part of the local population, was ruled as unconstitutional in
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for clemency on his behalf. Siegelman refused, saying that although he was "deeply troubled by some of the matters raised," he wrote "this matter does not rise to a level that warrants clemency."
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191:, by which time 33 senior judges and prosecutors had signed a letter supporting Baldwin. The Supreme Court declined to reverse the conviction on murder and the death sentence. The
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The direct appeal related to whether
Alabama had jurisdiction to try the case, because the abduction and robbery of Rolon occurred in North Carolina. The charges increased to
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They were taken to court in Monroe County, where Rolon had been found. They were each indicted for aggravated robbery and murder. This combination of charges amounted to
80:. Horsley went off in the car with Rolon, returning alone. She was killed on March 14, 1977. The police found Rolon's body and car beside a rural road in Monroe County.
147:(1986) by the United States Supreme Court). Baldwin's parents were not informed of his whereabouts until after the trial ended, and he was convicted of capital murder.
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of that state. The only evidence against
Baldwin in the murder was his own confession, which he later retracted. He said that it was coerced by the local police in
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the prosecution referred to it at trial. The robbery of the car and violence against the victim were aggravating factors used to justify the capital charge of
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The defense did not obtain the latter evidence until 1999; the prosecution had not made it available at the time of his trial, and the jury never heard it.)
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rights, including the right to counsel. But in 1999, from a nursing home, he told Gov. Don
Siegelman in an interview that he had not seen the beating.
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222:(not available at the time of the trial), it was found that all evidence in the case was lost or destroyed after Baldwin's execution.
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Multiple appeals of Baldwin's case were filed on the conviction and trial proceedings, based primarily on the following issues:
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against common practice. Before Baldwin's execution in 1999, leading political and religious figures petitioned Governor
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the murder weapon). Three witnesses testified to seeing bruises on Baldwin's back and body after the interrogation.
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Death penalty opponents regard this case as one in which racial bias contributed to the wrongful conviction by an
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483:"Brian Keith Baldwin; AMR 51/099/1999 USA Further information EXTRA 71/99 (AMR 51/96/99, 15 June 1999)"
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Horsley confessed to the murder of Rolon; he was executed for first-degree murder in 1996.
26:, United States of America, who was executed in 1999 in Alabama. Many believe that he was
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been convicted of armed robbery, a felony during which a police officer was shot.
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During an investigation in 1999, in an attempt to recover case evidence for
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In March 1977, Naomi Rolon, a 16-year-old white girl, was driving in
22:(July 16, 1958 – June 18, 1999) was an African-American man from
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Failure to advise suspect of rights, including right to counsel
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and sentenced for the 1977 murder of a young white woman in
368:"Death row inmate convicted in N.C. murder denied clemency"
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The next day, March 15, the pair stole a truck in nearby
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Baldwin's appeals case was taken to the United States
467:: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
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159:after she was taken across state lines. Judge
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553:People executed by Alabama by electric chair
405:"Man executed for '77 killing of N.C. teen"
538:20th-century executions of American people
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120:The trial and verdict were completed in
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237:Capital punishment in the United States
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543:American people executed for murder
533:20th-century executions by Alabama
242:List of people executed in Alabama
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548:Executed African-American people
173:Coerced confession under torture
58:Brian Keith Baldwin was born in
403:Estes, Ashley (June 19, 1999).
366:Estes, Ashley (June 17, 1999).
332:Whitman, Claudia (1999-11-01).
179:Racially biased jury selection
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301:"Death of justice in Alabama"
267:"Inmates Executed in Alabama"
232:Capital punishment in Alabama
489:. 1999-06-22. Archived from
137:Baldwin was convicted by an
134:days, August 8 and 9, 1977.
176:Ineffective defense counsel
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299:Rose, David (1999-06-19).
201:Congressional Black Caucus
60:Charlotte, North Carolina
24:Charlotte, North Carolina
373:Asheville Citizen-Times
410:The Charlotte Observer
205:United States Congress
85:Wilcox County, Alabama
78:Monroe County, Alabama
73:Hudson, North Carolina
36:Wilcox County, Alabama
487:Amnesty International
334:"The New South 1999"
28:wrongfully convicted
277:on October 24, 2012
195:, former president
111:first-degree murder
20:Brian Keith Baldwin
213:Martin Luther King
144:Batson v. Kentucky
493:on 18 August 2016
161:Robert E. Lee Key
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512:Categories
497:2016-08-14
454:2016-08-16
343:2016-08-16
338:Z Magazine
318:2016-08-14
248:References
157:kidnapping
54:Background
313:0261-3077
463:cite web
448:Archives
226:See also
203:of the
151:Appeals
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