Appeals Court Affirms Exoneration

Update October 1, 11:24 a.m.: The N.C. Supreme Court granted an emergency motion filed by the state Attorney General’s Office to block the release of Nathaniel Cauthen and Rayshawn Banner. The court also blocked enforcement of Superior Court Judge Robert Broadie’s August ruling that exonerated the two brothers and two other men, Christopher Bryant and Jermal Tolliver, in the 2002 murder of NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, and dismissed all criminal charges. The court has yet to rule on a petition asking the court to review the Court of Appeal’s decision.

Update September 30, 5:26 p.m.: Prosecutors with the N.C. Attorney General’s Office have filed an emergency motion asking the state Supreme Court to block the imminent release of Nathaniel Cauthen and Rayshawn Banner. They are also asking the court to review the Court of Appeals ruling issued earlier Tuesday denying the state’s appeal of the men’s exoneration. Prosecutors are asking the state Supreme Court to take action on the emergency motion as soon as possible; the court has yet to take action.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals effectively affirmed Tuesday the exoneration of four men convicted as teenagers in the 2002 death of Nathaniel Jones, the grandfather of NBA star Chris Paul. The unanimous decision means that the two who are still incarcerated could soon walk free. 

The ruling comes nearly two months after Superior Court Judge Robert Broadie issued a 33-page decision exonerating Nathaniel Cauthen, Rayshawn Banner, Christopher Bryant, and Jermal Tolliver in Jones’ murder. He also dismissed all charges against the men with prejudice, meaning they can’t be re-tried. The men, along with the late Dorrell Brayboy, were teenagers when Winston-Salem police identified them as suspects in Jones’ death. 

Prosecutors appealed Broadie’s ruling. But the three-judge panel of the appellate court said that “the State has not meritoriously argued any errors exist in the trial court’s order” and that prosecutors had failed to “articulate a clear right to appeal the trial court’s order.” 

The court also noted that during a January evidentiary hearing in Forsyth County, the men’s attorneys presented 19 witnesses and introduced more than 100 exhibits, while prosecutors didn’t present any evidence. 

Cauthen and Banner have been serving life sentences for first-degree murder, and the Court of Appeals’ order means they will likely be released soon. Bryant and Tolliver were convicted of second-degree murder and got out of prison in 2017. Brayboy was released in 2018 but was murdered a year later. 

Chris Mumma, attorney for Cauthen and Banner, said she was struck by how strongly the court’s order was worded. 

“They see the truth,” she said. Prosecutors could appeal to the state Supreme Court, but Mumma thinks the court likely won’t review it based on the Court of Appeals’ order. 

Mark Rabil, who represented Tolliver, and Brad Bannon, who represented Bryant, were not immediately available for comment Tuesday. 

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, who had previously blasted Broadie’s ruling, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. O’Neill worked with N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s office to get the Court of Appeals to issue a stay blocking the release of Banner and Cauthen. A spokesperson for the AG’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Paul, who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, has not made any public comment about the exonerations. He appeared September 16 at Wake Forest University’s Face-to-Face Speaker Forum. He spoke fondly of his grandfather, who was the subject of his 2023 memoir, Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, On and Off the Court, but was mum about his feelings on the recent exonerations. 

But in the book, which was published after problems with the original case became public, he said he still believed the men were guilty but was conflicted about their long sentences. His family, who also has not made any recent public statements, has previously said they believe the men committed the crime. 

Jones, 61, was a well-known proprietor of what was believed to be the first Black-owned service station in North Carolina. In 2002, Paul had yet to enter the high-stakes world of professional basketball. He was a standout basketball player at West Forsyth High School. Paul signed to play basketball for Wake Forest University on November 14, 2002, his grandfather present among his family amid flashing cameras. 

The next day, Winston-Salem police found Jones’ body lying face-first in the carport of his East Winston-Salem home. Police said Jones was attacked as soon as he had gotten home and brutally beaten until he died from a cardiac arrhythmia. They said Jones’ hands were tied behind his back with black tape and his mouth was taped shut. His wallet was missing. 

Days after Jones’ death, Paul scored 61 points in his grandfather’s honor, intentionally missing a free throw to match Jones’ age. The iconic moment catapulted him into the national spotlight. 

Banner was 14 and Cauthen, Bryant, Tolliver, and Brayboy were 15 when Winston-Salem police arrested them. They have long claimed their innocence and said that police used harsh interrogation tactics to coerce them into making false confessions. Four said police threatened them with the death penalty, even though North Carolina had eliminated it for juveniles in 1987. 

There was no definitive physical evidence, including DNA or fingerprints, tying the boys to the crime scene, and their statements were inconsistent both with each other’s and with what physical evidence the police did have. The boys couldn’t agree on where they left Jones’ body, who participated in the beating, or what weapons were used.

New questions about the case arose when Jessicah Black, a key witness, recanted her testimony six years ago, first to former Houston Chronicle reporter Hunter Atkins. She has since told the same story about her recantation under oath multiple times, including in January at the evidentiary hearing over which Broadie presided. 

Broadie, a superior court judge from Davidson County, cited Black’s recantation in his ruling, saying that he thought it was credible and significant. If Black had not testified falsely, “a different result would have been reached in the defendants’ trial,” he wrote.  

Black withstood withering cross-examination from prosecutors, who alleged she told the truth at the original trials and was now lying. At times, Black was inconsolable on the stand. 

She was 16 at the time of the arrests and testified that police repeatedly lied to her about evidence in the case, particularly that Jones’ blood was in her car. She said police told her she would go to prison for life if she didn’t cooperate. Black said she felt she had no choice but to tell police what they wanted to hear. 

There were also elements of her original testimony that could not be corroborated. For example, Black testified that she took the boys to two stores to purchase the black tape used to tie up Jones. But those stores did not sell that kind of tape. 

“It’s crooked. Crooked and dirty,” she said at the January hearing. “I think they knew they were dealing with a bunch of kids. … They lied. They lied a lot. They told me they had so much evidence that they had, and they didn’t.”

Mumma said she hopes that Banner and Cauthen are released later on Tuesday. 

“We’re going to move quickly to get them out,” she said.