Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly are advancing their legislative response to the murder of Iryna Zarutska last month.
In House Bill 307, dubbed Iryna's Law, lawmakers largely focused on making it more difficult for people who have committed violent offenses or who are displaying signs of mental illness to be freed before going to trial.
DeCarlos Brown, Jr., the man charged in Zarutska's killing, was free on a written promise to appear on charges of misusing 911 at the time of her slaying. The murder raised questions about when people should be released before trial and how the judicial system should address offenders who are displaying or have displayed signs of mental illness.
House Bill 307 requires magistrates to automatically send any defendant who has been charged with a violent crime and has been involuntarily committed within the last three years for an evaluation to determine whether they should be committed again. That mental health evaluation would also be required in any case where a judge believes the defendant is a threat to themselves or others due to mental health issues.
The bill also tries to hasten the appeals process in North Carolina's death penalty cases. Legislative leaders vowed to introduce the legislation earlier this month, after footage of Zarutska's slaying gained widespread attention.
Iryna's Law also seeks to make it more difficult for recidivists to be freed before trial, limiting the kind of release magistrates can offer to defendants who have faced three or more charges that are classified as Class 1 misdemeanors or higher within the previous decade. Those defendants would need to provide a secured bond or be under house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Eddie Caldwell, the executive director of the N.C. Sheriff's Association said the group supports Iryna's Law.
"We believe that House Bill 307 is a good first step in ensuring that those in our communities that are mentally ill are in mental hospitals and not in jails and those that are dangerous criminals are in jail and not out on the street," Caldwell said in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.
Liz Barber, a North Carolina ACLU attorney, said that increasing involuntary commitment without also ramping up mental health resources would not increase public safety.
"The involuntary commitment process is a road to nowhere. We do not have the resources to provide to these people. It takes weeks, not days, to stabilize someone experiencing a mental health crisis. It takes months to transition them to long-acting meds, additional months to come up with a treatment plan that is going to work," Barber told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Another piece of the legislation places more focus on magistrates who decide what kind of bond a defendant should post. The bill requires any judge who authorizes pretrial release for a defendant charged with a violent offense or who has faced three Class 1 misdemeanor or higher charges within a decade to provide a written reason for why they authorized the release.
The Chief Justice of the N.C. Supreme Court would have the ability to suspend magistrates who fail to provide that written explanation. Right now, only the chief district court judge of the district where the magistrate is working can suspend them.
The bill also adds the defendant's housing situation to the factors the judge must consider when making a bail decision, a list that already includes things like their family ties, employment and financial resources.
Brown was homeless at the time of Zarutska's slaying.
Iryna's Law made its way through Senate committees on Monday and is currently on the Senate floor.
Restarting executions in NC?
Another focus of Iryna's law would make it easier for North Carolina to re-start inmates who have been sentenced to the death penalty. The most recent execution in North Carolina happened in August 2006.
Under Iryna's Law, state courts would need to hold a hearing on appeals from people sentenced to the death penalty within two years of the filing. Right now, there is no limit on when those cases need to be heard and some have lingered for decades.
"These murder appeals are simply going on too long without a family ever seeing justice for their loved one. And this is an effort to try to speed these up," said Sen. Danny Britt, R-Robeson.
The appeal would also be heard in the county of conviction. Right now, they are heard in Wake County.
This would make it easier for lawyers, law enforcement and other people who were involved in the proceeding to attend the appeal, Britt argued.
"The bulk of the moving pieces are all within that jurisdiction," Britt said.
At least one lawmaker expressed hesitation about doing anything to restart the use of executions in North Carolina. There are currently 122 inmates on death row in the state.
"I understand the desire to get justice for families who have been wronged and who need closure and also just cannot support a bill that expedites the death penalty in our state," said Sen. Sophia Chitlik, D-Durham.
Iryna's Law also adds personnel to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's office. It would raise the number of full-time assistant district attorneys in the county from 61 to 71, while also adding five full-time legal assistants.
To accomplish that, the law appropriates more than $1.4 million annually to Mecklenburg County.
Senator Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, said the additional prosecutors are greatly needed.
"These new additional positions are critically important to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office," Mohammed said on the Senate floor, noting that the city and county are already paying for 20 additional prosecutors.
Earlier in the day, Mohammed had said there also needed to be additional clerks and funds for the state's private assigned counsel program that assigns private attorneys to defend clients who can't afford a lawyer.
