Edward Ernest Hartman was convicted of the 1993 murder of Herman Smith, Sr. and was executed via lethal injection in 2003 by the State of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

.

Hartman confessed to the crime but requested a life sentence. According to The News & Observer

The News & Observer

The News & Observer is the regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle area of the U.S. State of North Carolina. The N&O, as it is popularly called, is based in Raleigh and also covers Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. The paper also has substantial readership in most of the state east of...

, five mitigating factor

Mitigating factor

A mitigating factor, in law, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sentence.-Death penalty in the United States:...

s were presented at Hartman's trial, including alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

 (he claimed to be severely intoxicated at the time of the murder) and childhood abuse

Child abuse

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...

. The jury felt that these factors were outweighed by Hartman's theft of Smith's car and money. In seeking clemency, Hartman's lawyers (along with outside groups) argued that the prosecution had utilized Hartman's sexuality (he was gay) in a discriminatory manner, an argument rejected by the courts and by Governor Mike Easley

Mike Easley

Michael Francis "Mike" Easley is an American politician who served as the 72nd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina, from 2001 to 2009. He is member of the North Carolina Democratic Party and became the first North Carolina governor to admit to a felony in a deal that halted a lengthy...

 of North Carolina.

See also

• List of individuals executed in North Carolina
• Capital punishment in the United States
  Capital punishment in the United States
  Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
  
  

Sources

• "State executes convicted killer; Governor denies clemency after U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of man who killed housemate," by Matthew Eisley. Raleigh News & Observer, October 3, 2003