GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 774

Short Title:        Restoring Proper Justice Act.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representative Daughtry (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Judiciary I.

April 15, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to amend the law requiring the presence of a licensed physician at the execution of a death sentence.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 15‑190 reads as rewritten:

"(a)       Some guard or guards or other reliable person or persons to be named and designated by the warden from time to time shall cause the person, convict or felon  against whom the death sentence has been so pronounced to be executed as provided by this Article and all amendments thereto. The execution shall be under the general supervision and control of the warden of the penitentiary, who shall from time to time, in writing, name and designate the guard or guards or other reliable person or persons who shall cause the person, convict or felon against whom the death sentence has been pronounced to be executed as provided by this Article and all amendments thereto. At such execution there shall be present the warden or deputy warden or some person designated by the warden in the warden's place, and a licensed physician.physician, or a medical professional other than a physician as defined in this subsection, to monitor the injection of the required lethal substances and certify the fact of the execution. If a licensed physician is not present at the execution, then a licensed physician shall be present on the premises and available to examine the body after the execution and pronounce the person dead. Four respectable citizens, two members of the victim's family, the counsel and any relatives of such person, convict or felon and a minister or member of the clergy or religious leader of the person's choosing may be present if they so desire. The identities, including the names, residential addresses, residential telephone numbers, and social security numbers, of witnesses or persons designated to carry out the execution shall be confidential and exempted from Chapter 132 of the General Statutes and are not subject to discovery or introduction as evidence in any proceeding. The Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for Wake County may order disclosure of names made confidential by this section after making findings that support a conclusion that disclosure is necessary to a proper administration of justice.

For purposes of this Article, a "medical professional other than a physician" means a physician assistant, advanced degree nurse, registered nurse, or emergency medical technician‑paramedic who is licensed, certified, or credentialed by the licensing board, agency, or organization responsible for licensing, certifying, or credentialing that profession."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 15‑192 reads as rewritten:

"§ 15‑192.  Certificate filed with clerk.

The warden, together with the surgeon or physician of the penitentiary,licensed physician who was present on the premises to pronounce death as required by G.S. 15‑190, shall certify the fact of the execution of the condemned person, convict or felon to the clerk of the superior court in which such sentence was pronounced, and the clerk shall file such certificate with the papers of the case and enter the same upon the records thereof."

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.