Robinson Bradshaw Secures Removal of Client from Death Row
More than 30 years after his sentencing, Robinson Bradshaw client Frank Chambers has been permanently removed from North Carolina’s death row. Since 2002, Robinson Bradshaw litigator Julian H. Wright Jr. has dedicated more than 1,600 hours representing Chambers as post-conviction pro bono counsel, with the past 15 years in partnership with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. On Aug. 11, the team achieved entry of a sentencing agreement on behalf of Chambers for two consecutive life sentences, irrevocably ending the possibility of a death sentence he had faced since 1994.
The new sentence comes after Wright secured an order vacating Chambers’ death sentences in 2021 upon the Fourth Circuit’s finding of juror misconduct in Chambers’ 1994 trial. Wright’s representation has also included investigating claims of Chambers’ factual innocence and mental incapacitation and developing claims under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act. Robinson Bradshaw and CDPL will continue representing Chambers pro bono in ongoing federal litigation over his Batson claim of racially biased jury selection in 1994, which may result in Chambers receiving an entirely new trial.
The Robinson Bradshaw team also included Hana Crandall Sajovec, Emily D. Burwell and David Gomez.
