Raymond Dayle Rowsey

DOC Number: 0353653
DOB: 04/11/1971
RACE: WHITE
SEX: MALE
DATE OF CONVICTION: 10/01/93
COUNTY OF CONVICTION: ALAMANCE COUNTY

North Carolina Department of Correction (Chronology / Press Release)

Raymond Rowsey - Chronology of Events

1/9/2003 - Raymond Dayle Rowsey executed at 2:00 a.m.

1/8/2003 - Governor Mike Easley denies clemency

1/8/2003 - U.S. Supreme Court votes 5-4 to lift stay, allowing execution to proceed.

1/8/2003 - U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals panel splits 2-1, upholding Judge Boyle's stay.

1/7/2004 - U.S. District Court judge Terrence Boyle stays Rowsey's execution.

1/7/2004 - Witnesses named for Rowsey execution.

12/1/2003 - Correction Secretary Theodis Beck sets execution date for Jan. 9, 2004.

11/3/2003 - U.S. Supreme Court denies Rowsey's petition for a writ of certiorari

7/31/1996 - NC Supreme Court affirms Rowsey's conviction and sentence of death.

10/1/1993 - Rowsey sentenced to death in Alamance County Superior Court for the murder of Howard Sikorski.

Date: January 8, 2004, 11:25 p.m.

GOV. EASLEY DENIES CLEMENCY IN ROWSEY CASE

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley today denied the clemency request of Raymond Dayle Rowsey, a convicted murderer scheduled for execution at 2:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9, 2004.

Rowsey is on death row for the March 24, 1992, shooting death of 20-year-old Howard Rue Sikorski in Alamance County. Rowsey was also convicted of Robbery with a dangerous weapon and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

"Given the facts and circumstances of this case, I find no compelling reason to invalidate the sentence recommended by the jury and affirmed by the courts," said Easley.

U.S. SUPREME COURT - THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2004 - ORDER IN PENDING CASE

03A576 BECK, SEC., NC DOC, ET AL. V. ROWSEY, RAYMOND D., ET AL.

The application to vacate the stay of execution of sentence of death entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on January 7, 2004, presented to the Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court, is granted. Justice Stevens, Justice Souter, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Breyer would deny the application to vacate the stay of execution.

Date: January 7, 2004

Witnesses Selected for Raymond Dayle Rowsey execution

RALEIGH- Witnesses have been named for the execution of Raymond Dayle Rowsey, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Jan. 9 at 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Official Witnesses
Robert F. Johnson – District Attorney, Alamance County
Chief Michael Gauldin – Burlington Police Department
Kevin Crowder – deputy chief, Burlington Police Department
Capt. David Hedgecock – Alamance County Sheriff’s Department (former SBI agent)
Jerry Webster – State Bureau of Investigation (Retired)

Note: Family members of murder victim Howard Rue Sikorski have indicated they do not wish to witness the execution.

Media Witnesses
John Harbin – The Alamance News, Graham
Sharon Hodge – The Times-News, Burlington
Debra Morgan – WRAL-TV
Estes Thompson – Associated Press

Date: December 2, 2003 - Execution date set for Raymond Dayle Rowsey

RALEIGH - Correction Secretary Theodis Beck has set Jan. 9, 2004 as the execution date for inmate Raymond Dayle Rowsey. The execution is scheduled for 2:00 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh. On Oct. 1, 1993, Rowsey was sentenced to death in Alamance County Superior Court for the March 1992 murder of Howard Rue Sikorski. Rowsey also received a 40-year concurrent sentence for robbery with a dangerous weapon. Central Prison Warden Marvin Polk will explain the execution procedures during a media tour scheduled for Monday, Jan. 5 at 10:00 a.m. Interested media representatives should arrive at Central Prison’s visitor center promptly at 10:00 a.m. on the tour date. The session will last approximately one hour. The media tour will be the only opportunity to photograph the execution chamber and deathwatch area before the execution. Journalists who plan to attend the tour should contact the Department of Correction Public Affairs Office at (919) 716-3700 by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

On the evening of March 23, 1992, Raymond Rowsey and his half brother, Raymond Lee Steele, were hanging out at Steele’s house, playing cards and listening to the radio. Shortly after midnight, the two men decided to walk to a local Circle K convenience store. They arrived at the store around 1:00 a.m. Once at the store, the men obtained some change from the store clerk, Howard Rue Sikorski, and played several dollars worth of video games. Next, they went to the back of the store to look at the movie display. Rowsey then decided he wanted to buy a snack. Steele gave Rowsey two dollars and Rowsey picked up two bags of M&M’s and paid for them at the counter. Rowsey then pulled a gun out of his coat, pointed it at Sikorski, and clicked the gun without firing it. He turned and smiled at Steele, telling Steele that he had scared the store clerk with a water gun. The gun, however, was not a water gun. Rowsey turned back towards the victim and shot him in the face. After the victim fell to the floor, Rowsey leaned over the counter and shot him again. Rowsey then ran around the counter, fired at least two more shots, and kicked the victim three or four times in the back of the head. Steele ran out of the store and Rowsey ran out after him, still carrying the gun in one hand and something else underneath his arm.

During the walk home, Steele asked Rowsey why he shot the victim. Rowsey said he was initially just playing, but he thought that he saw the victim reaching underneath the counter for a gun. Rowsey later told Steele that he kicked the victim to ensure that the victim died. He also told Steele, however, that the victim was still alive and gasping for air when Rowsey ran out of the store. Back at Steele’s house, Rowsey counted the cash that he had taken from the Circle K cash register. He told Steele that he had grabbed the money to make the shooting look like a robbery and to make the shooting worthwhile. In total, Rowsey took $54 in cash and several adult magazines from the store. Steele would not accept half of the money, but did accept a two-dollar bill that had been taken from the register. He also cleaned the murder weapon for Rowsey and provided Rowsey with bullets to reload the gun.

The victim’s body was discovered at approximately 2:00 a.m. on March 24. An autopsy revealed six gunshot wounds: one to the face, one to the back of the neck, one to the right side of the head, and three to the back. The autopsy also revealed several blunt-force injuries to the victim’s head and neck area. Store managers determined that $57.54 in cash and several adult entertainment magazines were missing from the store. Among the missing cash was a two-dollar bill. The store had a record of the serial number of that bill which allowed police to track it.

On the afternoon of March 24, Steele attempted to make a purchase with the marked two-dollar bill and was arrested shortly thereafter. Steele initially made several false statements denying any involvement in the murder, but he eventually admitted that he was present during the murder. Rowsey was arrested later that day and subsequently charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery. Steele pled guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in exchange for his testimony at trial.

At trial, Rowsey tried to finger Steele as the shooter. Rowsey questioned Steele regarding a letter that Steele had written to Rowsey that allegedly concluded with the phrase "even though you didn’t do it." Steele admitted to writing the letter, but denied writing the concluding line. Rowsey also introduced testimony from two jail inmates who testified that they overheard conversations between Rowsey and Steele during which Steele acknowledged that he, not Rowsey, had killed the victim. The State countered this testimony, however, with substantial evidence indicating that Rowsey was the shooter. The State introduced evidence of Rowsey’s shoe prints in the blood around the victim’s head, and evidence that Rowsey possessed the murder weapon both before and after the murder. Furthermore, Steele provided extensive testimony recounting the events of the murder and bolstering the State’s claim that Rowsey was the shooter.

Given the weight of the evidence, the jury concluded that Rowsey was indeed the shooter and convicted him of both first- degree murder and armed robbery. At sentencing, Rowsey introduced evidence indicating that he had come from a broken home and suffered a difficult childhood. The State introduced evidence that Rowsey had broken into a church and stolen $900 worth of items only weeks before the murder. The State also introduced evidence of Rowsey’s prior criminal record, which included fifteen counts of injury to personal property in 1990, one count of possession of a malt beverage by a minor in 1990, and two counts of misdemeanor larceny in 1991. The jury returned a recommendation of death. On October 1, 1993, the trial judge entered judgment and sentenced Rowsey to death.

Raleigh News & Observer

"Rowsey is put to death; Easley denies clemency after high court lifts stay," by Matthew Eisley and Catherine Clabby.

RALEIGH -- Friday, January 9, 2004 12:00AM EST -- Convicted murderer Raymond Dayle Rowsey was put to death early today, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a judge's stay of his execution. The ruling ended a week of litigation over the legality of North Carolina's method of lethal injection.

Gov. Mike Easley denied Rowsey's clemency request late Thursday, clearing the way for his execution minutes after 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh. Rowsey, 32, was sentenced to die for the 1992 shooting death of Burlington convenience store clerk Howard Sikorski. The Supreme Court's order, issued about 7:50 p.m. Thursday by a 5-4 vote, did not address the substance of a federal lawsuit that Rowsey and three other death row inmates filed Jan. 2.

The lawsuit argued that North Carolina's method of lethal injection risks killing people while they're awake, so it's cruel and unusual punishment, which is unconstitutional. In 1998, the state made lethal injection its only form of execution -- eliminating lethal gas as an option -- because it was considered more humane than the gas chamber, the electric chair and other methods. Rowsey's lawsuit was part of a national surge in scrutiny of how states execute convicted murderers. It involves medical science and legal ethics and, ultimately, the question of whether any form of capital punishment is adequately humane. No court has ruled on the merits of the criticism of North Carolina's lethal-injection method. Inmates are likely to continue raising the same objection to the execution drugs. Similar lawsuits are under way in Virginia, Texas, Tennessee and Ohio.

U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the state Wednesday not to execute Rowsey while federal courts decided whether they could consider the lawsuit. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., which has jurisdiction over North Carolina, left the stay in place Thursday afternoon. It also put Rowsey's case on hold, pending the outcome of another case like it from Alabama that awaits action in the Supreme Court.

But the state appealed immediately to the Supreme Court, which overruled Boyle and the 4th Circuit. Voting to lift the stay were Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Voting to leave the stay intact were Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. The legal issue was whether lawsuits like Rowsey's constitute a repetitive appeal of the death sentence, which federal law prohibits; or a different kind of legal challenge, alleging a government violation of a constitutional right, that can go forward. The state's lawyers argued to the Supreme Court that a stay for Rowsey "would have the predictable effect of causing every death row inmate in a lethal-injection state to file similar frivolous lawsuits in an attempt to bring about a de facto moratorium on the death penalty."

Execution method

During the day Thursday, Rowsey visited with his lawyers and relatives, The Associated Press reported. He was able to hold his 11-year-old daughter for the first time since he entered prison. On previous visits, prison bars and glass separated them. Pamela Walker, a Correction Department spokeswoman, said Rowsey ate a last meal of pizza, chicken wings, two packages of peanut M&M candy and a Pepsi.

North Carolina, like most states with the death penalty, uses a combination of three drugs to execute convicted murderers. One puts the inmate to sleep, the second stops the heart, and the third stops the inmate's breathing by paralyzing his muscles. Executioners administer double doses of the anesthetic and the heart-stopper, for a total of five injections, one after the other, in IV lines of saline in each arm. The inmate, who has been strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber, is checked for vital signs and declared dead five minutes after his heart stops.

But the inmates' lawyers say the anesthetic could wear off before the drugs that stop the heart and lungs cause death. The dying inmate could wake up in intense pain but paralyzed and unable to communicate his distress or even open his eyes, they say. Lawyers for the state said that is baseless speculation. "There is no credible argument that lethal injection is cruel or unusual punishment," Steven Arbogast, a special deputy attorney general, wrote in the state's filing with the Supreme Court. The "massive dosage" of the drugs involved, including enough of each of the heart-stopper and the lung-stopper to kill someone, ensures that the method works as intended, the filing said.

A deadly cocktail

The drugs used in executions were developed for medical use. The American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Medical Association oppose doctors participating in executions. The executioners at Central Prison are not doctors. Critics question whether they have adequate expertise to prepare or administer correct doses. The muscle relaxer pancuronium bromide, critics charge, might mask intense pain experienced by inmates who are conscious. Too little research into the effects of the drug combinations has been pursued, they say.

In an affidavit in a similar lawsuit in Ohio, Dr. Mark Heath, a Columbia University assistant professor of anesthesiology, spelled it out more dramatically. "If the inmate is not first successfully anesthetized, then it is my opinion ... that the pancuronium will paralyze all voluntary muscles and mask external, physical indications of excruciating pain" caused partly by the heart-stopper, he said. The trouble is, no one knows. Rowsey's lawyers argued that inmates' pain could go undetected, while also arguing that several inmates in recent years have appeared to struggle as they died. John Booth, a Duke University assistant professor of anesthesiology, said that given the high doses that North Carolina prison officials say they use, it is quite unlikely that death row inmates feel pain during executions. "It's extremely likely that they would die before feeling anything," Booth said.

Death-penalty debate

The issue of the state's method of lethal injection has arisen as state lawmakers are considering a two-year moratorium on executions while they study alleged flaws in the state's death penalty system. The state Senate approved the moratorium last year. The House of Representatives could vote on it this year. Easley, a former prosecutor and former attorney general and a supporter of the death penalty, has refused to say whether he would veto a moratorium bill. Rowsey had asked Easley to convert his sentence to life in prison without parole, on the grounds that he suffered abuse during childhood and that one of his trial jurors voted for the death penalty under pressure and meant to vote against it. Easley would not meet with the juror.

Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson had urged Easley to let Rowsey's execution go forward. Sikorski's murder -- with three shots to the head, and three while he was on the floor -- was particularly brutal, he said. "I don't think that we ought to forget about the victim," he said. Easley denied Rowsey clemency shortly before midnight, and Rowsey prepared to die.

Fayetteville Online

"Rowsey executed for 1992 slaying of store clerk," by Estes Thompson. (AP January 9, 2004)

RALEIGH (AP) - A North Carolina man was executed early Friday for the 1992 killing of a store clerk after failed appeals that focused on whether lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

Raymond Dayle Rowsey was pronounced dead at 2:23 a.m. following a lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh, according to Department of Correction spokeswoman Pam Walker. Rowsey was the first prisoner to be executed this year in North Carolina. Seven prisoners were executed in 2003. Rowsey was sentenced to death for the March 24, 1992, slaying of Alamance County convenience store clerk Howard R. Sikorski.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday night that Rowsey's execution could proceed. The state of North Carolina had asked the high court to overturn rulings of lower courts. Earlier the same day, a 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals panel rule 2-1 to uphold a stay issued Wednesday night by a lower court judge. Rowsey lost his final legal challenge late Thursday when Gov. Mike Easley denied clemency. "Given the facts and circumstances of this case, I find no compelling reason to invalidate the sentence recommended by the jury and affirmed by the courts," Easley said in a statement. Defense lawyers had asked Easley to block Rowsey's execution by using clemency power to change the death sentence to life in prison without parole. They contend one juror did not intend to vote for the death sentence and that Rowsey didn't get state help he needed to compensate for a childhood that centered on alcohol and drugs.

During the day Thursday, Rowsey visited with family and attorneys. Rowsey's mother, Barbara Thompson, said the family had been hopeful that courts would spare her 32-year-old son's life. During the visitation Rowsey was able to hold his 11-year-old daughter for the first time since he entered prison. On previous visits, he had been separated by prison bars and glass. "He has never touched her," Thompson said. "This is a major event. He lit up like a Christmas tree." Rowsey ordered a last meal of pizza, chicken wings, two packages of peanut M&M candy and a Pepsi, said Department of Correction spokeswoman Pamela Walker.

The case went to the high court after U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle of Elizabeth City granted a stay Wednesday. Boyle said attorneys who argued that lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment should have a hearing. Lawyers for Rowsey and three others on North Carolina death row sought to delay their clients' executions at least until the U.S. Supreme Court rules this year in a separate case involving a condemned Alabama prisoner.

In the Alabama case, lethal injection was called unconstitutionally cruel because an inmate's arm would have to be cut open to reach a vein to accommodate the needle. Veins near the surface of the inmate's arm were damaged and unsuitable for injection. The wait for a high court decision also put on hold a Virginia execution originally scheduled for last month, in which the condemned inmate also has damaged blood vessels.

In Rowsey's case, attorneys argued that North Carolina's use of thiopental sodium, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride would cause him and other condemned prisoners to "suffer excruciatingly painful and protracted deaths." "The way they are administrated may actually disable the defendant from being able to express the pain" they are feeling, said Jim Exum Jr. of Greensboro, one of Rowsey's lawyers and a former state Supreme Court chief justice.

The appeal included affidavits from two defense lawyers who had watched their clients die and said they appeared to suffer during the procedures. "I certainly wouldn't characterize it as apparent peacefulness," said Ken Rose, director of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham, whose office also filed for Rowsey and other death row inmates. "In other words, they're being tortured."

The state told the Supreme Court that the argument against lethal injection was incorrect. The state also contended the lower court judge lacked jurisdiction to issue the stay because Rowsey already had a round of federal appeals and didn't have a new legal issue. "Arguments regarding possible problems with therapeutic dosages ignore the massive dosage actually administered in the lethal injection process," the state said.

North Carolina first uses 1,500 mg of thiopental sodium to put the inmate in a deep sleep. That drug is followed with potassium chloride to stop the heart and Pavulon to paralyze muscles and another potassium chloride injection. Those chemicals are followed with another huge dose of thiopental sodium, the state said. In an affidavit, Central Prison Warden Marvin Polk said he had observed 18 executions and didn't see any signs that inmates suffered.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Raymond Rowsey, NC - Jan. 9, 2:00 AM EST

The state of North Carolina is scheduled to execute Raymond Rowsey, a white man, Jan. 9 for the 1992 murder of Howard Sikorski at a Circle K in Alamance County. The execution is scheduled for 2:00 AM. There were two people involved in Mr. Sikorski’s murder, Mr. Rowsey and his half-brother Raymond Steele, who received a charge of second degree murder in exchange for his testimony.

The cash register was emptied after Mr. Sikorski was killed, and a planted $2 bill was stolen. The serial number on the bill was noted and Mr. Steele was eventually apprehended after he spent it. He told police that he was not involved in the murder; his brother, Mr. Rowsey, had shot Mr. Sikorski and then taken the money to make it look like a robbery. Mr. Steele said that he had refused Mr. Rowsey’s offer to split the money, but had accepted the $2 bill.

The defense presented two witnesses, Robert Eastwood, an inmate who testified that he had overheard a conversation between Mr. Rowsey and Mr. Steele where Mr. Steele had acknowledged killing the vicim; and Gerald Wayne Flynn II, who testified that he had overheard a prison conversation between Mr. Steele and Mr. Rowsey where Mr. Steele had promised to take the blame because Mr. Rowsey was innocent.

A shoeprint found near the victim’s head was matched to Mr. Rowsey, and he was in possession of the murder weapon both before and after the crime.

However, this case is essentially one man’s word against another’s. Mr. Steele certainly had a motive to implicate Mr. Rowsey. North Carolina Department of Corrections data indicates that Mr. Steele is no longer incarcerated. Because of Steele’s plea-bargain and based almost solely on his testimony, Mr. Rowsey was arbitrarily convicted of capital murder.

Mr. Rowsey is North Carolina’s first execution scheduled for 2004. North Carolina executed seven men in the last five months of 2003, including several who were severely mentally ill. Please contact Gov. Mike Easley and urge him to declare a moratorium and commute the death sentence of Raymond Rowsey.

DeathHouse.Com

"Supreme Court Allows Rowsey Execution in North Carolina." (January 9, 2004)

RALEIGH, N.C. - A man who killed a convenience store clerk during a robbery was executed by lethal injection at the state prison early Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected claims that the drugs used to kill him would cause pain and suffering. Raymond Rowsey, 32, whose execution had earlier been stopped by lower courts, was brought into the death house at Central Prison after 2 a.m., administered the lethal injection of chemicals and declared dead at 2:23 a.m. Friday.

The March 23, 1992 murder that sent Rowsey to the death house was a senseless act. After killing the store clerk, Rowsey stole about $54 and two pornographic magazines, court documents stated. Governor Mike Easley refused to grant Rowsey clemency.

Does It Hurt?

The overriding issue in the Rowsey case came to be whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Lawyers for Rowsey managed to get a U.S. District Court judge Wednesday to stay the execution and a federal court of appeals to uphold the ruling. However, the state Attorney General appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted 5-4 to allow the Rowsey execution to proceed. If the ruling was allowed to stand, all executions would have stopped in North Carolina until the issue was resolve. Rowsey was the first condemned killer executed in North Carolina in 2004. Last year, seven condemned murderers were executed.

'Bama Case Spurs Appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court last year stopped the execution in Alabama of David Nelson . Nelson's lawyers argue that lethal injection would be cruel and unusual punishment because Nelson's veins had collapsed and incisions would have to be made to insert the lethal needle into him. Lawyers for Rowsey, and others trying to stave-off executions around the U.S., claim that the lethal mix of drugs used in the execution process is cruel. Generally, states use three drugs during executions: one puts the condemned person to sleep; another stops his heart; the third paralyzes muscles so the man can't breathe. The lawyers in North Carolina contend that the drug that puts the condemned prisoner to sleep could wear off before the others take affect.

From Video Games To Murder

In the murder of the store clerk, the key testimony that sent Rowsey to the execution chamber was given by his half brother, who was in the store with Rowsey when the slaying occurred. The victim, Howard Rue Sikorski, was shot six times and had been kicked in the head, an autopsy revealed. Rowsey and his half-brother, Raymond Lee Steele, went to the convenience store at about 1 a.m. After playing video games, Steele gave Rowsey money to buy a snack.

Just 'Playing'

While at the register, Rowsey pulled a gun and pointed it at the victim, pretending to fire it, court documents stated. Rowsey then turned and smiled at Steele, saying that he had scared the clerk with a water gun, according to Steele's testimony. It was a real gun. But, Rowsey then turned toward the victim and shot him in the face. Sikorski fell to the floor. More shots were fired and Rowsey then kicked the victim in the head several times, Steele testified. Later, Steele asked Rowsey why he shot the victim. Rowsey said that initially, he was just "playing" but then thought he saw the clerk reach for a gun, court documents stated. Rowsey later said he kicked the victim to make sure he was dead. Steele later cleaned the murder weapon for Rowsey and provided more bullets to reload the gun.

Tries To Blame Step-Brother

Steele was first arrested for the murder. He was linked to the case by a marked two dollar bill that had been taken during the robbery. Steele initially lied about being involved, court documents stated, but quickly admitted he was present and fingered Rowsey as the killer. Steele later plead guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in exchange for his testimony at trial.

During the trial, Rowsey tried to finger Steele as the killer. A letter from Steele to Rowsey, introduced as evidence, ended with the words, "even though you didn't do it." Steele admitted writing the letter, but denied writing the concluding sentence. Also, two inmates testified that they overheard a conversation between Rowsey and Steele, during which Steele said that he, not Rowsey, killed the victim. But there was physical evidence against Rowsey. His bloody shoeprints were found near the victim's head. There was evidence that he possessed the murder weapon before and after Sikorski was killed.

WTVD-TV

"N.C. Man Executed for 1992 Slaying of Store Clerk." (AP)

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Raymond Dayle Rowsey was executed early Friday for the 1992 pistol slaying of a convenience store clerk that prosecutors said was carried out for the thrill of killing. It was the first execution of 2004 in North Carolina, following a year in which seven inmates were put to death.

Rowsey, 32, was pronounced dead at 2:23 a.m. after a series of appeals that brought a stay which was overturned hours before the execution. At issue in those appeals was whether the state's lethal injection execution method was constitutionally banned cruel and unusual punishment. The inmate also lost a bid for clemency when Gov. Mike Easley refused to commute the death sentence to life in prison without parole. Lawyers told the governor that a juror hadn't meant to vote for the death penalty, but prosecutors said the issue already had been rejected by the courts. Rowsey was sentenced to death for the March 24, 1992, slaying of Alamance County convenience store clerk Howard R. Sikorski, 20.

Rowsey made no last statement, but his family told reporters afterward that he was innocent, a fact disputed by the district attorney who said evidence pointed only at Rowsey. Rowsey's wife Christie, whom he married while in prison, and his mother, Barbara Thompson, sobbed as they watched the execution. His father, Larry Steele, had tears running down his cheeks as the women put their heads on his broad shoulders. Thompson said several times "I love you" and once touched the window that separated witnesses from the execution chamber. "When they injected my son they injected me," Thompson told reporters after the execution. "It's not right. It is not right." She also said she was a decent mother who didn't abuse her son, despite statements by lawyers during the appeals that Rowsey was exposed to drugs, alcohol and casual sex at an early age.

Rowsey defense lawyer James Payne said his client "asked us to tell you that he died in peace with no hatred in his heart, and nothing but love for his brother, Lee Steele." Steele accompanied Rowsey to the store the night of the killing and testified against his brother at Rowsey's trial in a plea bargain. District Attorney Robert Johnson said evidence included Rowsey's footprints in the victim's blood and his shoe marks where Sikorski had been stomped as he died. Johnson had said Rowsey killed to see what it was like.

When Rowsey had his last meal about 5 p.m. of pizza, chicken wings, peanut M&M candy and a Pepsi, he didn't know what the appeals process would bring. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday night that Rowsey's execution could proceed. Easley issued his clemency ruling about 11:30 p.m.

The case climbed quickly from a lower court judge who granted a stay Wednesday evening so defense lawyers could have a hearing on their contention to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the stay Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the stay with a 5-4 vote about 8 p.m. Thursday. Lawyers for Rowsey and three others on North Carolina death row wanted to delay executions at least until the U.S. Supreme Court rules this year in a separate case involving a condemned Alabama prisoner.

In the Alabama case, lethal injection was called unconstitutionally cruel because an inmate's arm would have to be cut open to reach a vein to accommodate the needle. Veins near the surface of the inmate's arm were damaged and unsuitable for injection. In Rowsey's case, attorneys argued that drugs used in North Carolina's executions could result in an inmate waking up but being unable to move and suffering pain. The appeal included affidavits from two defense lawyers who had watched their clients die and said they appeared to suffer.

During Rowsey's death, his jaw quivered and he appeared to gulp several times. His chest and stomach tensed and relaxed before becoming still. Prison officials said the movements were normal reactions. State attorneys told the Supreme Court that the argument against lethal injection ignored the amount of deadly drugs used.

Officials said the dose of the thiopental sodium that puts an inmate to sleep was three to four times that used for surgical patients. An inmate also receives a drug to stop the heart, another that paralyzes muscles and another massive dose of the thiopental sodium that keeps the inmate unconscious. In 1998, the state adopted lethal injection as its sole form of execution and eliminated the gas chamber as an option.

Sarasota Herald Tribune

"Prosecutor shows governor bloody footprint from murder scene," by Estes Thompson.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gov. Mike Easley viewed a floor tile stained with a bloody footprint on Tuesday, as the Alamance County district attorney lobbied the governor to proceed with the scheduled execution of Raymond Dayle Rowsey. The prosecutor's display came during a clemency meeting with Easley, who has been asked by Rowsey's lawyers to change Rowsey's death sentence to life in prison without parole.

Defense lawyers contend one juror did not intend to vote for the death sentence and that Rowsey didn't get state help he needed to compensate for a childhood that centered around alcohol and drugs. Rowsey, 32, is scheduled to be executed by injection at 2 a.m. Friday for the March 24, 1992, shooting death of Howard R. Sikorski.

District Attorney Robert Johnson came to the hearing carrying in his briefcase a bloodstained tile from the Circle K store where the killing occurred. The tile showed the footprint of Rowsey's shoes where he stood over Sikorski's body and fired three of the six shots, then kicked Sikorski's body several times. "He signed his name in blood with his feet," Johnson said after meeting with the governor, adding that Rowsey still had the murder weapon, a stolen .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol, with him the day after the killing and had been seen with the gun before the shooting.

Burlington Police Chief Mike Gauldin, who also met with the governor, said the evidence in the case pointed to Rowsey. "You can't ignore all the violence suffered behind the (store) counter," Gauldin said. "It was a horrible crime." The prosecutor also gave Easley a letter from the victim's father, who said the case deserved the death penalty. Johnson said a defense argument that one juror didn't agree with the death sentence had been disregarded by state and federal courts during Rowsey's appeals.

Defense lawyer James Payne said the juror argument was critical and that the juror has never been given a hearing at which she could explain her actions. Though the woman answered "yes" when the trial judge asked her if she agreed with the verdict, Payne said she thought the judge was asking if she understood a question. Johnson said state law prohibits a juror from trying to change a verdict after it has been rendered.

Easley also met with Rowsey's mother, sister and wife, whom he married while in prison. Afterward, the women said they couldn't comment until the governor issued his clemency decision. Easley typically issues clemency decisions on the eve of an execution after all court cases have been resolved.

The only pending court matter affecting Rowsey is a federal court petition filed by other lawyers asking that Rowsey's execution be stopped on the grounds that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. The state attorney general's office said in documents filed Tuesday that the petition should be dismissed.

Rowsey waited on death row, but is to be moved this week to the death watch cell block across the hall from the death chamber at Central Prison in Raleigh. Rowsey's brother, Wayne Spell, said he was looking forward to a contact visit with Rowsey, but hoped he wouldn't be executed. Spell said Rowsey was innocent and was set up to take responsibility for the killing. "He's at peace," Spell said of his brother.

State v. Rowsey, 472 S.E.2d 903 (N.C. 1996) (Direct Appeal).

Defendant was convicted in the Superior Court, Alamance County, Brannon, J., of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to death. Defendant appealed as of right. The Supreme Court, Parker, J., held that: (1) prospective juror was properly excused for cause; (2) codefendant's testimony was not inconsistent with his guilty plea to second-degree murder and did not amount to perjured testimony; (3) trial court did not err during sentencing proceeding by submitting, over defendant's objection, statutory mitigating circumstance that defendant had no significant history of prior criminal activity; (4) jury was required to unanimously answer either "yes" or "no" to issue asking whether jury unanimously found that aggravating circumstances were sufficiently substantial to call for death penalty; (5) juror's response during jury poll as to whether she assented to death verdict was not ambiguous; (6) even assuming that instructing jury that evidence was "what came forth from that witness stand" precluded jury from considering defendant's demeanor in courtroom, instruction was not plain error; and (7) death penalty was not disproportionate. No error. Frye, J., filed opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

Defendant was tried capitally on an indictment charging him with the first- degree murder of Howard Rue Sikorski ("victim"). The jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty as charged on the bases of both premeditation and deliberation and felony murder. The jury also found defendant guilty of robbery with a firearm. Following a capital sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death for the murder; and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. The trial court sentenced defendant to a consecutive term of forty years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon. For the reasons discussed herein, we conclude that the jury selection, guilt-innocence phase, and capital sentencing proceeding of defendant's trial were free from prejudicial error and that the death sentence is not disproportionate. The State's evidence tended to show that on the evening of 23 March 1992, defendant and his half brother, Raymond Lee Steele, wrestled, played cards, and listened to the radio at Steele's house. The two men got bored, and they decided to walk to the Circle K convenience store on the corner of Chapel Hill Road and Mebane Street in Burlington, North Carolina, where the victim worked as a clerk.

Defendant and Steele left Steele's house at 12:30 a.m. on 24 March and arrived at the Circle K approximately thirty to forty minutes later. At the store defendant and Steele obtained change and played several dollars worth of video games. Defendant and Steele then went to the back of the store to examine the store's rental movie display.

Defendant asked Steele to give him some money so that he could buy a snack, and Steele gave defendant two dollars. Defendant selected one bag of M & M's and went to the checkout counter. Upon learning the price, defendant returned to the candy aisle and obtained a second bag of M & M's. Defendant then went back to the checkout counter and paid for the candy. At this point defendant pulled a gun out of his coat pocket and pointed it at the victim. The gun clicked, but it did not fire. When the gun clicked defendant turned towards Steele and smiled. Defendant told Steele that he had scared the victim with a water gun.

Defendant then turned back towards the victim, jerked the gun up, and shot the victim in the face. As the victim fell to the floor and turned his back to defendant, defendant leaned over the counter and shot the victim again. Defendant then ran around the counter and fired at least two more shots. As the victim lay face down on the floor, defendant stood over him and kicked him three or four times in the back of the head.

After seeing defendant kick the victim in the back of the head, Steele ran out one of the store's two doors, around the building, and into the parking lot. Moments later, defendant ran out the other door with something underneath his arm and the gun in his hand. Together, defendant and Steele ran and walked back to Steele's house. As they walked home, Steele asked defendant why he shot the victim. Defendant told Steele that he was just playing around, that he saw the victim reaching underneath the counter as if reaching for a gun, and that he thought the victim was going to shoot him so he shot the victim instead.

At Steele's house defendant counted $54.00 in cash and told Steele that he had taken the money from the Circle K cash register. Upon Steele's inquiry, defendant told Steele that he took the money in order to make it look like a robbery and in order to make it worth the while. Steele also saw four or five adult entertainment magazines, including Penthouse, Playboy, and Oui, in defendant's possession. Defendant offered Steele half the money, but Steele declined. Defendant then offered and Steele accepted a two-dollar bill which had been taken from the Circle K cash register.

Steele asked defendant if the victim was alive, and defendant told Steele that he did not know whether the victim remained alive or not. Defendant told Steele that he kicked the victim in an effort to ensure the victim's death and that the victim was alive and gasping for breath when he left the scene.

Defendant examined the murder weapon, a .25-caliber automatic handgun which defendant had taken from a locked trunk in the home of his girlfriend's mother, and indicated that it was dirty. Defendant told Steele that he did not want to return the gun in this condition, and Steele cleaned the gun for defendant. Defendant explained that the gun was loaded when he took the gun, so Steele provided defendant with .25-caliber bullets so that defendant could return the gun loaded.

The victim's body was discovered, lying behind the checkout counter, at approximately 2:00 a.m. on 24 March. There was a large quantity of blood on the floor running from the victim's head to his right foot. Dr. Karen Elizabeth Chancellor performed the autopsy on the victim's body; and her examination revealed six gunshot wounds: one to the face, one to the back of the neck, one to the right side of the head, and three to the back. Additionally, the victim suffered a number of blunt-force injuries to the head and neck area. One of the gunshot wounds pierced the victim's left lung and resulted in massive bleeding; this wound alone would have caused the victim's death.

Mildred Holder, who helped manage the Chapel Hill Road and Mebane Street Circle K, arrived at the store early that morning and identified the victim's body. Ms. Holder subsequently closed out the cash register and determined that $57.54 was missing. The Circle K's manager, Brenda Bowes, noticed that several magazines were missing from the adult entertainment magazine rack. Ms. Holder informed the police that the Circle K store had a two-dollar bill "bait money" policy pursuant to which the store kept a two- dollar bill in the cash register and a record of the bill's serial number. Ms. Holder told the police that the two-dollar bill was missing and provided the police with the bill's serial number.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on 24 March, Steele and his girlfriend made a purchase at a Burlington store with the missing two-dollar bill. Steele was arrested shortly thereafter. Steele initially made several false statements in which he denied any involvement in the Circle K murder, but he subsequently admitted that he had been present at the Circle K when defendant shot and killed the victim. Defendant was arrested later that evening.

Steele was permitted to plead guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in exchange for his truthful testimony at trial. At trial Steele acknowledged that he was testifying pursuant to a plea bargain and that he was in fact guilty of the crimes to which he pled based upon a theory of acting in concert. Steele also indicated that he did not plan or participate in the robbery or the murder and that he was shocked when the shooting began.

During defendant's cross-examination of Steele, defendant questioned Steele with respect to a four-page letter which Steele wrote to defendant while they were in prison and which concluded with the phrase, "even though you didn't do it." Steele acknowledged writing the letter, but denied writing "even though you didn't do it."

Two of defendant's witnesses claimed that they overheard Steele admit that he killed the victim. Robert Eastwood, an inmate at the Alamance County jail, testified that he overheard a conversation between Steele and defendant and that during that conversation Steele acknowledged that he killed the victim. Another inmate, Gerald Wayne Flynn, II, testified that he overheard a jailhouse conversation between Steele and defendant in which Steele stated that he would take the blame for the victim's murder because he did not want defendant to take the blame for something defendant did not do.

At sentencing the State initially declined to present evidence. Defendant presented evidence that he came from a broken home, that he was neglected by his mother, that he was exposed to the promiscuous sexual activity of his mother and sister, that he was illegitimate and had little contact with his biological father, and that his mother had a drug- and alcohol-abuse problem. The State's rebuttal evidence at sentencing showed that defendant was responsible for breaking into a church and stealing a number of items valued at approximately $900.00 just weeks prior to the Circle K murder. The State's evidence further showed that defendant had been convicted of fifteen counts of injury to personal property in 1990, one count of possession of a malt beverage by a minor in 1990, and two counts of misdemeanor larceny in 1991.

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In light of the above, we find that this case rises to the level of cases in which this Court has approved the death penalty. Based on the experienced judgment of the members of this Court, we conclude that defendant's death sentence is not excessive or disproportionate.

We hold that defendant received a fair trial and capital sentencing proceeding free from prejudicial error. In comparing defendant's case to similar cases in which the death penalty was imposed and in consideration of both the crime and the defendant, we cannot hold as a matter of law that the death penalty was disproportionate or excessive. NO ERROR.

Rowsey v. Lee, 327 F.3d 335 (4th Cir. 2003) (Habeas).

State prisoner whose conviction of capital murder was affirmed on appeal, 472 S.E.2d 903, petitioned for writ of habeas corpus. The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, James A. Beaty, Jr., J., denied the petition, and petitioner appealed. The Court of Appeals, Wilkinson, Chief Judge, held that: (1) certificate of appealability (COA) would be granted on issue whether trial judge's alleged bias denied petitioner a fair trial; (2) trial judge's alleged bias did not deny petitioner a fair trial; and (3) COA was not warranted on issues whether prosecutor used unarticulated criteria to seek the death penalty in violation of petitioner's equal protection rights, whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the poll of juror who did not initially answer trial court's question whether death sentence was her verdict and who became emotional before answering "yes," and whether jury did not return a unanimous death verdict, as required under state law, because the one juror did not intend to assent to such a verdict. Affirmed in part and dismissed in part.

Appellant Raymond Dayle Rowsey was convicted by a North Carolina jury of first-*338 degree murder on the bases of premeditation and deliberation and felony murder, as well as robbery with a firearm. He was sentenced to death for the murder. After exhausting state remedies, Rowsey petitioned the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court denied his petition, and Rowsey now appeals. We affirm in part and dismiss in part.

On the evening of March 23, 1992, Rowsey and his half brother, Raymond Lee Steele, were hanging out at Steele's house, playing cards and listening to the radio. Shortly after midnight, the two men decided to walk to a local Circle K convenience store. They arrived at the store around 1:00 a.m.

Once at the store, the men obtained some change from the store clerk, Howard Rue Sikorski, and played several dollars worth of video games. Next, they went to the back of the store to look at the movie display. Rowsey then decided he wanted to buy a snack. Steele gave Rowsey two dollars and Rowsey picked up two bags of M&M's and paid for them at the counter. Rowsey then pulled a gun out of his coat, pointed it at Sikorski, and clicked the gun without firing it. He turned and smiled at Steele, telling Steele that he had scared the store clerk with a water gun.

The gun, however, was not a water gun. Rowsey turned back towards the victim and shot him in the face. After the victim fell to the floor, Rowsey leaned over the counter and shot him again. Rowsey then ran around the counter, fired at least two more shots, and kicked the victim three or four times in the back of the head.

Steele ran out of the store and Rowsey ran out after him, still carrying the gun in one hand and something else underneath his arm. During the walk home, Steele asked Rowsey why he shot the victim. Rowsey said he was initially just playing, but he thought that he saw the victim reaching underneath the counter for a gun. Rowsey later told Steele that he kicked the victim to ensure that the victim died. He also told Steele, however, that the victim was still alive and gasping for air when Rowsey ran out of the store.

Back at Steele's house, Rowsey counted the cash that he had taken from the Circle K cash register. He told Steele that he had grabbed the money to make the shooting look like a robbery and to make the shooting worthwhile. In total, Rowsey took $54.00 in cash and several adult magazines from the store. Steele would not accept half of the money, but did accept a two-dollar bill that had been taken from the register. He also cleaned the murder weapon for Rowsey and provided Rowsey with bullets to reload the gun.

The victim's body was discovered at approximately 2:00 a.m. on March 24. An autopsy revealed six gunshot wounds: one to the face, one to the back of the neck, one to the right side of the head, and three to the back. The autopsy also revealed several blunt-force injuries to the victim's head and neck area.

Store managers determined that $57.54 in cash and several adult entertainment magazines were missing from the store. Among the missing cash was a two-dollar bill. The store had a record of the serial number of that bill which allowed police to track it. On the afternoon of March 24, Steele attempted to make a purchase with the marked two-dollar bill and was arrested shortly thereafter.

Steele initially made several false statements denying any involvement in the murder, but he eventually admitted that he was present during the murder. Rowsey was arrested later that day and subsequently charged with first- degree murder and armed robbery. Steele pled guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in exchange for his testimony at trial.

At trial, Rowsey tried to finger Steele as the shooter. Rowsey questioned Steele regarding a letter that Steele had written to Rowsey that allegedly concluded with the phrase "even though you didn't do it." Steele admitted to writing the letter, but denied writing the concluding line. Rowsey also introduced testimony from two jail inmates who testified that they overheard conversations between Rowsey and Steele during which Steele acknowledged that he, not Rowsey, had killed the victim. The State countered this testimony, however, with substantial evidence indicating that Rowsey was the shooter. The State introduced evidence of Rowsey's shoe prints in the blood around the victim's head, and evidence that Rowsey possessed the murder weapon both before and after the murder. Furthermore, Steele provided extensive testimony recounting the events of the murder and bolstering the State's claim that Rowsey was the shooter.

Given the weight of the evidence, the jury concluded that Rowsey was indeed the shooter and convicted him of both first-degree murder and armed robbery. At sentencing, Rowsey introduced evidence indicating that he had come from a broken home and suffered a difficult childhood. The State introduced evidence that Rowsey had broken into a church and stolen $900.00 worth of items only weeks before the murder. The State also introduced evidence of Rowsey's prior criminal record, which included fifteen counts of injury to personal property in 1990, one count of possession of a malt beverage by a minor in 1990, and two counts of misdemeanor larceny in 1991.

The jury returned a recommendation of death. On October 1, 1993, the trial judge entered judgment and sentenced Rowsey to death. The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed the conviction and sentence, State v. Rowsey, 343 N.C. 603, 472 S.E.2d 903 (1996), and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari, Rowsey v. North Carolina, 519 U.S. 1151, 117 S.Ct. 1087, 137 L.Ed.2d 221 (1997).

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