The North Carolina Supreme Court has stopped the release of a handful of inmates sentenced to life in prison so it can consider the case further. The high court's stay was issued Friday after a lower court ruling that some inmates sentenced to life more than 30 years ago should be released because of a legal quirk.
The 2-1 Court of Appeals ruling applied to two men sentenced in the late 1970's for second-degree murder and second-degree burglary. At least 13 other inmates have similar cases. At the time, the law defined a life term as 80 years, but rules allowed inmates to reduce their sentences through good behavior, taking classes or working. The inmates contend they have earned their release.
Pamela Walker with the N.C. Department of Public Safety told WGHP-TV that the state Supreme Court granted the Attorney General’s request for a stay in the case of Charles Lynch and Clyde Lovette, who were both sentenced to life in prison in the late 1970's.
The state Supreme Court will now review the Attorney General’s appeal to the Court of Appeals’ decision. The court can uphold the ruling, allowing Lovette and Lynch to go free, or reverse the decision, which would keep them in prison until they die or until an actual 80-year period expires in 2058.
