A Durham man has been taken off death row after a Superior Court judge commuted his sentence. Isaac Stroud had been sentenced to die for the 1993 murder of his girlfriend. But his attorneys argued mental illness should have disqualified him from a death sentence. The ruling means Stroud will instead spend life behind bars. Marilyn Ozer is an attorney who’s worked on the case since 2001.
"We are adamantly opposed to the death penalty. And therefore it is a victory for everyone to take one more person off death row. It’s never pleasant to sit beside someone who’s being told that he’s going to be in prison for the rest of his life."
Prosecutors did not object since Stroud will remain imprisoned. Ozer says the District Attorney spoke to the family of the victim and that they didn’t want to be involved in lengthy hearings. She says they just wanted it to be over.