A two-part trial is held. In the first phase, jurors hear evidence and vote on whether the defendant is guilty. If jurors unanimously find the person guilty of first-degree murder in North Carolina or murder in South Carolina, the trial moves to the sentencing phase. Jurors hear testimony about whether the defendant should receive life in prison or death. To impose the death penalty, jurors must decide that the aggravating circumstances of the crime warrant execution.
Defense attorneys can offer mitigating circumstances in hopes of saving their client's life.
Aggravating circumstances exist, for example, if the defendant shot a police officer or killed someone while trying to commit a robbery. A defendant's lack of a significant criminal record can be a mitigating circumstance. If jurors deadlock, the judge must impose a life sentence. One dissenting juror can block a death sentence. If successful, a death sentence can be overturned and a new trial ordered.