A federal appeals court overturned McDowell's 1979 death sentence, and he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser murder charge. It happens more than it should. Since the late 1970s, courts have overturned more than 25 of the roughly 500 death sentences in the Carolinas because of improper conduct or arguments by prosecutors. In at least five N.C. cases, the courts found that prosecutors withheld evidence that might have helped the defense. In most of the remaining cases, prosecutors pushed too hard in their arguments to jurors.
Prosecutors say misconduct is rare.
That does not always result in the stiffest penalty. But many lawyers who defend capital cases contend prosecutors break rules too often. No physical evidence connected Bishop to the murder. He claims he's innocent and awaits a new trial. John Wesley Oliver was sentenced to death for the 1978 murder of a Robeson County farmer after prosecutors withheld an eyewitness's statement that cast doubt on the state's contention that Oliver was the shooter.