Richard Moore: Should His Death Sentence Be Commuted?

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Earlier this week on FITSNews, we published a guest column from an attorney who writes under the pen name Civis Advocatus (a.k.a. “Citizen Lawyer”). Her column – which you can read here – made several compelling arguments in favor of the governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, commuting the death sentence of convicted killer Richard Bernard Moore.

Moore is set to die by lethal injection in South Carolina’s death chamber at 6:00 p.m. EDT this Friday (November 1, 2024). Assuming his sentence is carried out – and we have no reason to believe it won’t be – Moore would become the 45th person put to death by the Palmetto State since a nationwide ban on executions was lifted in 1976.

He would also become only the second inmate executed since 2011, when the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC) became unable to procure the drugs necessary to administer lethal injections. Lawmakers have since changed the law to allow electrocution and the firing squad as methods of capital punishment – and SCDC has since refined its lethal injection process to mirror the federal method. Two years ago, however, S.C. circuit court judge Jocelyn Newman issued a ruling which effectively blocked all executions in the state while the various methods were debated.

On July 31, 2024, the S.C. supreme court overturned Newman’s ruling – and permitted executions using all three methods. In the event a condemned inmate were to decline to make a choice, “the penalty must be administered by electrocution.”

In the aftermath of the court’s ruling, convicted killer Freddie Eugene Owens was executed by lethal injection on September 20, 2024 for the 1997 murder of 41-year-old convenience store clerk Irene Graves.

While Owens’ case was open and shut (in fact, he committed another violent murder while behind bars), Moore’s case has a unique fact pattern – one which has many questioning whether the death penalty should have been sought against him in the first place.

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According to Civis Advocatus, Moore would become “the first person executed in modern history who was initially unarmed and defending himself when threatened.”

Is that accurate?

Technically, yes. On September 16, 1999, Moore entered Nikki’s Speedy Mart in Spartanburg County with the intention of committing a robbery to subsidize his crack cocaine habit. He was unarmed when he entered the store. During the robbery, 42-year-old convenience store clerk James Mahoney produced a weapon – which Moore wrestled away from him. Mahoney then pulled a second gun and fired it at Moore – striking him in his left arm. Moore returned fire with the gun he had seized, shooting and killing Mahoney.

Some background: South Carolina provides for the death penalty in murder cases where a “statutory aggravating circumstance is found beyond a reasonable doubt.” These aggravating circumstances are specifically enumerated in the S.C. Code of Laws (§ 16-3-20) – and are determined on a case-by-case basis in proceedings which are held separately from the murder trial once a guilty plea or verdict has been entered into the record.

If a defendant in a capital case pleads guilty before trial, the sentencing decision falls to a circuit court judge. If a defendant is found guilty by a jury of his or her peers during a public trial, then the decision is made by the same trial jury which heard the original case. Like the original determination of a defendant’s guilt, any aggravating factors must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt” for the death penalty to be imposed.

There are twelve aggravating factors listed under the law – although the first factor encapsulates eleven separate crimes which, if committed alongside murder, would elevate the latter charge to a capital case. Those crimes include criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, human trafficking, burglary, robbery (while armed with a deadly weapon), larceny (with the use of a deadly weapon), drug trafficking, poisoning, torturing, dismemberment and arson.

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RELATED | SOUTH CAROLINA’S FIRST EXECUTION SINCE 2011

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Obviously, Moore’s case involved a robbery and a deadly weapon… although those currently pleading for his life insist it wasn’t initially his weapon, and that he was defending himself after being shot at by Mahoney.

The other aggravating factors deal specifically with the defendant, his or her victims, the crime itself and the motive for committing it. One of those factors refers to a murder being committed “for the purpose of receiving money or a thing of monetary value.” Moore stole $1,408 from the store, which would seem to make his case eligible for the death penalty irrespective of whether he was armed when he entered the establishment or not.

“His case was an improbable one for a capital prosecution: Moore entered the convenience store unarmed; both firearms, which discharged moments later in the convenience store, originated in the possession of the victim, and there was no surveillance video footage or other reliable evidence from the crime scene,” Moore’s attorney, Lindsey Vann, noted in an emergency petition (.pdf) filed before the U.S. supreme court this week.

Further, supporters of clemency have argued (not unconvincingly, I might add) that a contested election for solicitor may have impacted the state’s decision to pursue capital punishment.

“Richard’s case was prosecuted by an elected solicitor who was politically incentivized to seek the death penalty,” Civis Advocatus wrote, referring to former S.C. seventh circuit solicitor Trey Gowdy, who had just defeated an incumbent in an election dominated by debate over who was “tougher on crime.”

But the purported trump card of those seeking to have Moore’s sentence commuted? Racism. Or rather the presumption thereof…

“Richard Bernard Moore is the last man on South Carolina’s death row who was convicted and sentenced by an all-white jury,” Vann wrote in her emergency petition, accusing Gowdy and his team of impermissibly striking black jurors “solely because of the color of their skin.”

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“An all-white jury… casts serious doubt on the integrity of a capital trial and undermines the public confidence in the criminal justice system,” Vann argued.

Really? Last time I checked, racism was not what was undermining public confidence in South Carolina’s criminal justice system but… whatever.

Spelling it out more clearly, Vann claimed in cases like Moore’s “conscious or subconscious racial animus is most likely to put a thumb on the scale for death.”

Again… really?

Let’s think about that statement for a moment…

At trial, there was irrefutable evidence – including Moore’s own confession – that he entered Nikki’s Speedy Mart with the intention of robbing the establishment. Which he did. There was also irrefutable evidence – including Moore’s own confession – that during the robbery he shot and killed James Mahoney. Which he did.

So, here’s an important question: Does Vann have irrefutable evidence that all twelve jurors who heard his case are racist? And did her filing before the supreme court include sworn affidavits from all twelve attesting to that effect?

If not, Vann should probably sip more heavily than usual today from the proverbial cup of S.T.F.U.

Look, I can readily acknowledge this case doesn’t offer the most compelling fact pattern for a capital sentence. It conforms to the code, albeit barely. Further, I concur political considerations probably factored into prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty – which is a terrible look. I also readily accept the contention that Moore – unlike Owens – has been a model inmate during his period of incarceration. Accordingly, were McMaster to commute his death sentence to one of life in prison on Friday evening (which he is highly unlikely to do), I wouldn’t criticize him for it one bit.

In the event the execution proceeds, though, I also don’t mind one bit there being a new deterrent in effect for would-be robbers – armed or otherwise. F.A.F.O., as the kids say. And for Moore’s lawyer to claim the consequences of his F.A.F.O. moment from twenty-five years ago should be undone because all white South Carolinians are inherently racist is straight garbage.

Not to mention straight racist…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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