On Friday, a Johnston County judge found that race played a significant role in the death penalty trial of Hasson Bacote, influencing the makeup of the jury along with the decision of the death sentence.

A North Carolina judge has ruled that racial bias tainted jury selection and sentencing in the trial of a Black inmate who was sentenced to death in 2009.

Judge ruled prosecutors unlawfully dismissed Black jurors in Hasson Bacote's death penalty case and used racist language like "thug" and "predators of the African plain."