On Trial for their Lives

Death penalty prosecutions threaten the innocent in N.C.

  • Home
  • About this Project
  • Search the Cases
  • Definitions

Search Cases

NC County
Type of Case
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution
Click here for full definitions of these terms
Race of Defendant
Years in Jail

Search the Cases

Find wrongful prosecutions by county.

All of the following cases are wrongful capital prosecutions carried out in North Carolina since 1989. They are instances in which the state prosecuted a person for a death penalty eligible murder, despite not having enough evidence to prove the defendant even committed the crime. Unlike the exonerees tracked by the National Registry of Exonerations, these defendants eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted by juries — but most spent years in jail and many lost homes, jobs, relationships, and their financial and emotional stability.

Floyd Brown

Date of Arrest: 07/16/1993
Anson County
Race: Black
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
False Confession, State Misconduct
Names of Victim(s): Katherine Lynch

Type of Case: Dismissal before Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 10/08/2007
Days in Jail: 5198


Beut Thongphounphim

Date of Arrest: 01/31/1995
Guilford County
Race: Other
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
False Confession, State Misconduct
Names of Victim(s): Keith McClintock

Type of Case: Dismissal before Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 02/26/1997
Days in Jail: 501
Received Bond


About this Project
 
The Wrongful Capital Prosecutions database is a project of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. It is the only database in the United States that tracks the cases of people who are charged with capital murder but never convicted. Based in Durham, North Carolina, CDPL represents death-sentenced men and women in North Carolina and works to end the death penalty. Learn more about CDPL’s work.

Learn More
 
• Learn more about the North Carolina death penalty at NCDeathPenalty.org.
• Read stories from North Carolina’s death row.