The N

The N.C. Supreme Court set aside 2 death sentences. Saying the judge in the case had given jurors improper instructions, the state Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Brandon Cabott Jones, 33. On Aug. 13, 1999, Jones and 2 accomplices -- Damon Stafford and Devon Bynum -- broke into a home in Gastonia owned by Donald Hunt Sr., 44. The men beat Hunt's wife in front of Hunt and one of the couple's sons. When Hunt moved to protect his wife, police say Stafford shot Hunt 6 times, killing him. But he also accidentally shot Bynum, who died later. Brandon Jones was found guilty in August 2001 of two counts of 1st-degree murder and was sentenced to death. In Friday's ruling, the state Supreme Court said the judge in the sentencing hearing, Richard Doughton, gave improper instructions to the jury regarding an "aggravating factor" in the case. The Supreme Court ruled the judge should not have instructed jurors that financial gain was a motive in the shootings. The Supreme Court also ordered a new sentencing hearing -- again citing improper instructions to jurors -- for Cornelius Alvin Nobles, who was convicted of the 1997 shooting death of his wife, Ronita Nobles. The high court's rulings do not affect the guilty verdicts in the cases. New juries could sentence the men either to life in prison or reimpose the death penalty.