Single Juror Spares Killer
J.C. Castor gets life after jury deadlocks 11-1 on sentence

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

J.C. Castor's new lucky number?

One.

A lone holdout juror, convinced that Castor did not deserve the death penalty for the murder of Golden Billings, spared Castor's life Thursday after a full day of deliberations in the penalty phase of Castor's trial. Judge Thomas Ross ruled the jury ''hopelessly deadlocked'' and automatically imposed - as is set out under the law in such circumstances - a sentence of life without parole for Castor.

''There were 11 of us (jurors) for death and one that wanted to give him life,'' said one juror, who wished not to be identified. ''It didn't start out that close ... it started out pretty much split. The day wore on and we did a lot of deliberating and soul searching ... it was gone over pretty thoroughly. But you just reach a point where you realize that it's not going any further.''

As one juror put it, ''It was his (Castor's) lucky day.''

Luck or no luck, jurors - the same 12 who convicted Castor, 57, of first-degree murder on Tuesday - wrangled from around 10 a.m. until just after 5 p.m. Thursday on whether Castor's ''good'' traits outweighed his past wrongs. Jurors in the end missed a unanimous decision on that issue by only one vote, thus avoiding the ultimate question: whether Castor should be put to death for shooting Billings twice in the chest on Jan. 9, 1998.

Outside Rowan County's Superior Courtroom, Terry Bunn, Castor's stepson and a witness in the trial, said Castor didn't deserve death for Billings' murder. However, Bunn said he was glad his stepfather was being put back in prison, where he previously spent 18 years for the 1971 murder of 81-year-old Cabarrus County resident Pearl Walker.

''I feel better about the fact that he's (going) there (to prison),'' said Bunn, who was at the trial every day. ''That's the lifestyle he's used to.

''If they would have found him not guilty and then turned him loose, then we'd be up here (in court) again. I've never tried to portray him as being a saint ... he could get violent. In his right mind he is OK ... but if he goes without his pills and starts drinking (alcohol) then he just starts being J.C. again.''

Amanda Boss, Billings' sister and another witness and regular at the trial's daily proceedings, said her family was happy about the first-degree conviction and that ''justice had been served.''

In a statement prepared before Castor's sentence was determined, Boss said ''Whether it's the death penalty or not we're sorry for Mr. Castor's family. We've known and are still experiencing the pain of loss of a loved one.

''Nothing is going to bring Goldie back and this trial has brought back all the hurt and pain once again. But one thing that has helped is the kindness and respect and understanding that Mr. Castor's family has shown for our loss.

''We'd like to extend the same for them, but we're happy justice has finally been served.''

Despite the tragic and violent circumstances surrounding Billings' death and Castor's subsequent implication in the crime, members of each family decided to sit together throughout the trial. That's in part because Castor's family and Billings' family aren't strangers, Bunn said.

''I had talked with Amanda (Boss) right after this happened,'' Bunn said. ''I told her that neither one of us was there when this happened ... and that we didn't need to become enemies. I told her that whatever the courts decided I would be happy with.''

Bunn admitted that he knew Boss was in favor of Castor receiving the death penalty.

''This could have just as easily been the other way around ... with us up here to watch Goldie (Billings) on trial for killing J.C. (Castor),'' Bunn said. ''And I'm sure we would have pushed for the death penalty. So I understand why she (Boss) wanted the death penalty ... but I still don't think he (Castor) needed to be on Death Row. He'd be dead by the time they got through all his (death penalty) appeals.''

Despite his relief that the jury spared Castor from death, Bunn didn't try to diminish the severity of Billings' death.

''I know we can still go see him (Castor),'' Bunn said. ''We can visit him on Sundays. But Goldie's family can't go see him. It's a bad situation for both families, but it's something we're going to have to live with.''

Thursday's court proceedings, as is often the case after jurors begin their deliberations in the penalty phase of such trials, were basically a hurry-up-and-wait process for the attorneys - District Attorney Bill Kenerly and defense attorneys Marshall Bickett and Bays Shoaf - involved in the case and courtroom observers.

After hours of deliberations, jurors returned to the courtroom around 3 p.m. Thursday, indicating to Ross they had reached a punishment recommendation. The court's clerk read the recommendation - life without parole - but Ross sent jurors back to deliberate further after the jury's foreman, in open court, voiced his concern over whether jurors had reached their recommendation properly.

In the complex and confusing arena of death penalty deliberations, jurors are asked to weigh ''aggravating'' circumstances - factors that make a defendant more deserving of the death penalty - against ''mitigating'' circumstances - factors that make a defendant less deserving of the death penalty. Using those circumstances, jurors then consider four issues designed to guide them toward a decision.

The first two issues are relatively straightforward: does the aggravating circumstance exist (in Castor's case, his conviction for Walker's murder); and do any mitigating circumstances exist (for example, Castor had a history of physical problems including chronic head pain, and has had multiple surgeries of which all have affected his behavior). It was the third issue that jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on: ''Do you ... find beyond a reasonable doubt that the mitigating circumstance(s) found is, or are, insufficient to outweigh the aggravating circumstance found?''

According to one juror, who asked not to be identified, the panel was initially unclear on the fact that they had to reach a unanimous decision on the third issue. So when their discussions bogged-down, they answered ''No'' to that issue and returned to the courtroom, where they recommended Castor be sentenced to life in prison.

However, the jury's foreman - in an attempt to make sure the jury had followed proper procedure - asked Ross to clarify the law surrounding the issues. Ross, then aware that the jury had not reached a unanimous decision on the third issue, ordered the panel back into deliberations.

''It was frustrating at times,'' one juror said. ''We didn't realize at first that, if we were deadlocked, the judge would impose the life sentence. We didn't know it for sure ... but toward the end we kind of thought that was what might happen.''

The jury, on two occasions after being asked to deliberate further, sent notes to Ross indicating they couldn't reach a unanimous decision on the third issue. Also, a juror became physically ill sometime after 4 p.m. Thursday, at which time it appeared clear Ross would have to declare the jury deadlocked.

Shortly after 5 Thursday afternoon, Ross ordered Castor to spend the rest of his natural life in prison without the possibility of parole. Castor, smiling much like he had throughout the trial, waved to Bunn and a few other family members in the audience as court bailiffs took him into custody.