USA - Alabama. A Johnston County jury decided the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for Hassan Jamaal Bacote, 23, black

A Johnston County jury decided the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for Hassan Jamaal Bacote, 23, black (some say the correct name is Hasson Bacote). The same jury that found him guilty of 1st-degree murder in the Feb. 16, 2007 slaying of 18-year-old Anthony Surles when Surles attempted to flee from his brother’s home during a home invasion and armed robberty by Bacote and others. It is not clear when or whether the sentence would be carried out. Executions have been on hold in North Carolina since 2007 after the N.C. Medical Board said that its ethics policy prevented doctors from monitoring executions. Marshals have also charged Jeffrey Lamont Evans, 32, and Antwain Nathaniel Groves, both blacks, in the crime.