Pardon possible for Chandler

Attorneys for convicted murderer Frank Chandler want mercy for their client and are citing conflicts of interest and misapplication of the law as just some of the reasons why he should live.

Chandler is scheduled to die Friday, but supporters, including his counsel and a former State Supreme Court justice, visited Gov. Mike Easley last week seeking clemency for the 32-year-old.

The trio says that the murder was accidental and that therefore Chandler should not be killed.

"(Easley) was very interested and engaged in the arguments given," said Robert Orr, the former justice. "He obviously takes it seriously, as well he should."

Chandler's counsel - assistant capital defender Mark Rabil and attorney J. Clark Fischer - has written a letter to Easley explaining its rationale.

"This was an 'accidental' murder committed during the course of a felony, a break-in," the letter stated.

Rabil said in an interview that the 90-year-old victim, Doris Poore, came upon Chandler in her house and screamed. A surprised Chandler swung his arm and hit Poore in the head, killing her.

The jury did not find that Chandler had acted with premeditation, the main requirement for first-degree murder.

But the prosecution claimed that he was seeking "pecuniary gain," one of many aggravating factors in a murder case that makes one eligible for the death penalty.

The star witness for the prosecution, Chandler's cellmate Jeffrey Wilson, provided the testimony regarding the aggravating factor.

He said Chandler searched for the woman's purse after hitting her, thus giving the prosecution all it needed to seek the ultimate punishment.

But Chandler did not find a purse and therefore did not gain from his crime.

Questions also have arisen regarding the star witness and his relationship with Chandler's defense attorney, Terry Collins. Collins was disbarred in 1998 after pleading guilty to felony forgery charges.

Controversy surrounds the prosecution as well, Rabil said.

"The (district attorney) who prosecuted this case was removed from office two years after this case," he said. "Every lawyer in this case is unsavory."

Orr, who reviewed Chandler's case at the state Supreme Court level, said he did not focus on these aspects. He was the lone dissenter among the seven justices.

He said Chandler should not be executed because the aggravating factor did not apply in this case.

"If there wasn't an aggravator, it is an automatic life sentence," he said. "And this was the only aggravator submitted to the jury."

Neither Easley's office nor the state attorney general's office could be reached for comment.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.