Convictions Overturned in 2002 Killing of Chris Paul’s Grandfather
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A North Carolina judge has thrown out the convictions of four men linked to the 2002 death of NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather, triggering a review by state prosecutors who are weighing an appeal.
Superior Court Judge Robert Broadie vacated and dismissed the convictions late last week in Forsyth County, citing recanted testimony from a key witness, ineffective legal counsel, and what he called questionable police conduct. DNA evidence, the judge wrote, backs claims that the defendants’ confessions were false and that they were not at the crime scene.
The ruling affects Nathaniel Arnold Cauthen, Rayshawn Denard Banner, Christopher Levon Bryant, and Jermal Matthew Tolliver. All were 14 or 15 when arrested, and they were convicted in separate trials in 2004 and 2005 for the killing of 61-year-old Nathaniel Jones, who suffered a fatal heart attack after being tied up, beaten, and robbed outside his Winston-Salem home.
Cauthen and Banner were serving life sentences for first-degree murder. Bryant and Tolliver, convicted of second-degree murder, had already completed their prison terms. A fifth defendant, Dorrell Brayboy, was also convicted of second-degree murder and was fatally stabbed in 2019.
The state attorney general’s office on Monday asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to pause enforcement of Broadie’s order while it reviews possible next steps. Without a stay, prosecutors argued, Cauthen and Banner could be released before the appeal is heard.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill criticized the decision and questioned the judge’s choice to dismiss the cases “with prejudice,” a move that could limit further prosecution. “I have never seen that happen before in a court of law,” O’Neill said in a statement.
Defense attorney Christine Mumma, who represents Banner and Cauthen and heads the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, defended the ruling. “If the General Assembly didn’t want judges to have the authority to dismiss with prejudice, they wouldn’t have given judges that authority,” she wrote in an email.
At the time of his grandfather’s death, Chris Paul was a standout high school player committed to Wake Forest University. Now 40, the 12-time NBA All-Star plays for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Source: ESPN
