WRAL.com archive: NC Innocence Inquiry Commission

The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission is a state agency established in August 2006 by the General Assembly to investigate and evaluate post-conviction claims of factual innocence. The commission only examines new evidence that was not considered at trial.

The commission is made up of eight members selected by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and the Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The members include a Superior Court judge, a prosecuting attorney, a defense attorney, a victim advocate, a member of the public, a sheriff and two discretionary members.

As of April 2012, the Innocence Commission panel has has heard four cases and referred three for judicial review. Three people have been exonerated, and the fourth case is pending.

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Recent Innocence Commission cases

Willie James Grimes

Willie James Grimes was convicted July 12, 1988, of two counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree kidnapping in the Oct. 24, 1987, rape of a Hickory woman. In 2011, investigators found that fingerprints on a banana at the crime scene matched another man, Albert Lindsay Taylor. On April 4, 2012, the Innocence Commission referred the case for judicial review. On Oct. 5, 2012, a three-judge panel found Grimes innocent of the crime.

Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson

Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2000 shooting death of Walter Rodney Bowman. Their case was referred for judicial review on April 29, 2011, and they were exonerated Sept. 22, 2011.

Gregory Flynt Taylor

Gregory Flynt Taylor was convicted April 19, 1993, of first-degree murder in the Sept. 26, 1991, beating death of Jacquetta Thomas. On Feb. 17, 2010, a three-judge panel unanimously decided there was clear and convincing evidence that proved Taylor is innocent, making him the first person in North Carolina's history to be freed because of the Innocence Commission's involvement.

Terry Lee McNeil

Terry Lee McNeil was convicted on June 8, 2001, of second-degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon. The Innocence Commission, on Jan. 16, 2009, found that there was not sufficient evidence to warrant a judicial review.

Henry Archie Reeves

Henry Reeves was convicted in 2001 of taking indecent liberties with a child. On Dec. 14, 2007, the Innocence Commission referred his case for judicial review, but the panel, on Sept. 3, 2008, ruled that Reeves had not proven his innocence.