Atwater's Attorneys Want Death Penalty Nixed

Attorneys for one of the suspects accused of the murder of the popular student body president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have filed a motion asking a judge to reverse a decision to seek the death penalty in the case. Demario Atwater faces federal charges in connection with the death of Eve Carson.

Atwater faces the death penalty in state and federal court.

Atwater's attorneys said the Justice Department violated its own policies in determining in which cases to seek the death penalty.

"This high-profile case requires not only for justice to prevail, but just as important, this case requires every appearance that justice has been administered fairly," federal public defenders Gregory Davis and Kimberly Stevens said in the motion.

'Heinous, Cruel and Depraved'

They also argued that both of Atwater's court-appointed attorneys should have been present at a Capital Case Review Committee hearing when prosecutors gained authorization to proceed with the death penalty.

Atwater and 18-year-old Laurence Alvin Lovette were charged with Carson's death. But Lovette was 17 at the time of the crime therefore not eligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile.

According to court papers, Atwater and Lovette kidnapped Carson early in the morning on March 5, 2008. They forced her to withdraw $1,400 from an ATM machine before shooting her with a handgun and shotgun and leaving her body in the street near the UNC campus.

The federal indictments against the two defendants said the crime was "especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner" and it "involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victim."

See Also:
Death-Penalty Dispute

Background:
The Murder of Eve Carson

Forum:
Discuss The Eve Carson Case

^{Photo: University of North Carolina}