DACS

mostellerrobert Inventory of the Robert P. Mosteller Papers, 1978-2002 Processed by: Meghan Lyon; machine-readable finding aid created by: Meghan Lyon David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, N.C., USA

Aleph Number: 004982650

Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: June 2011Processed by Meghan Lyon, June 2011; finding aid encoded by Meghan Lyon, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, June 2011 Description is in English Finding aid was prepared using DACS and local Style Guide Inventory of the Robert P. Mosteller Papers, 1978-2002 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185 USA

Descriptive Summary David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University Mosteller, Robert P. Robert P. Mosteller Papers, 1978-2002 Material in English 6 Linear Feet 3750 Items For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Former president of the North Carolina Center for Death Penalty Litigation. Legal files, transcripts, and motions from the case of John Wesley Oliver, a former death row inmate in North Carolina. Includes materials from his initial trial with co-defendant George Moore and subsequent appeals in North Carolina's court system. Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.

Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert P. Mosteller Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Provenance

The Robert P. Mosteller Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift in 2011.

Processing Information

Processed by Meghan Lyon, June 2011

Encoded by Meghan Lyon, June 2011

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2011-0132

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Historical Note

Robert P. Mosteller (b. 1948) is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was born in North Carolina and earned graduate degrees from both Yale and Harvard before working for the Washington, D.C. Public Defender Service as Director of Training and Chief of the Trial Division. Mosteller taught at Duke Law School from 1983 to 2008. He is particularly interested the death penalty, and served as co-reported for the Death Penalty Initiative of the Constitution Project and as president of the North Carolina Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

Mosteller was also an attorney for John Wesley Oliver, a former death row inmate whose case file represents the content in this collection.

In May 1979, John Wesley Oliver and co-defendant George Moore, Jr., were convicted of murdering Allen Watts and Dayton Hodge in an armed robbery of a gas station in Robeson County, North Carolina. Oliver was sentenced to death for both murders, while Moore was sentenced to death for the murder of Dayton Hodge. On appeal, the Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed the defendants' convictions, but vacated the death sentences and remanded the cases for re-sentencing.

In January 1982, Oliver was re-sentenced to death for the murder of Dayton Hodge, and both defendants were sentenced to death for the murder of Allen Watts. The case was appealed, and the death penalty for Watts' murder was overturned, but Oliver's second death sentence for the murder of Dayton Hodge was affirmed.

In April 1994, following a hearing on Oliver's Motion for Appropriate Relief, the court vacated Oliver's death sentence when the Superior Court judge found that the prosecution had withheld from the defense important information that would have cast doubt on eyewitnesses' identification of Oliver as the person responsible for the death of Dayton Hodge. The judge ordered a new sentencing hearing regarding Hodge's murder. In a 2009 article, Mosteller writes that "a combination of processes resulted in the exclusion of all African Americans in a jurisdiction where approximately one-fourth of the population was African American from a jury that in 1982 recommended death sentences for two African American defendents [Oliver and Moore] charged with the murder of two white men.... The death sentence was vacated on the basis of a violation of the defendant's due process rights under Brady v. Maryland" (Kotch and Mosteller: "The Racial Justice Act and the Long Struggle with Race and the Death Penalty in North Carolina").

The cases came before the court in November 2001 for re-sentencing, and the State of North Carolina elected not to seek the death penalty. Oliver was sentenced to life imprisonment for both murders, while Moore was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Dayton Hodge.

Collection Overview

Collection consists of the case file for John Wesley Oliver, a former death row inmate who was represented by Robert P. Mosteller. Materials from Oliver's case (as well as his co-defendant, George Moore, Jr.) date as early as witness statements from 1978, and end with NC Court of Appeals judgments from 2002. The majority of the files are legal motions, trial transcripts, and court orders from Moore and Oliver's various court cases and appeals in 1979, 1982, 1993, and 2001. There is very little material that falls outside the official documentation of the case, and there is no personal material from Mosteller in this collection. Files have been arranged as best as possible in chronological order.

Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive.

Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.

Oliver, John Wesley. Mosteller, Robert P. Moore, George. Hodge, Dayton. Watts, Allen. Death row--North Carolina. Death row inmates--North Carolina. Prisoners--Racism--North Carolina. Trials--Racism--North Carolina. African American prisoners. Trials (Murder)--North Carolina. North Carolina. Superior Court (Robeson County) North Carolina. Supreme Court. Human Rights Archive (Duke University) Related Material

Related material can be found in the Center for Death Penalty Litigation records, also held by the Human Rights Archive (Duke University).

Contents of Collection John Wesley Oliver materials, 1978-2002 (8 boxes) 1John W. Oliver trials - witness statements, December 1978 NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25576, etc.: Indictments, orders, and judgments for Moore and Oliver, 1978-1979 NC Superior Court, Criminal Session: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Transcript on Appeal, Vols. 1-4 (Pages 1-872), May 14-23, 1979(6 folders) 2Transcript on Appeal, Vols. 4-6 (Pages 873-1420), May 14-23, 1979(4 folders) NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25577 Sentencing of George Moore before Judge D.L. Smith, May 1979 NC Supreme Court, No. 11: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver Defendant Appellant's Brief, Spring 1980 NC Supreme Court, No. 11: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Case materials, Vols. 1 and 2, 1980(2 folders) 3Case materials, 1979-1980(7 folders) 4NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25575, etc.: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Evidence list for trial, Jan. 1982 Transcript on Appeal, Vols. 1 and 2, Jan. 25-28, 1982(4 folders) Re-sentencing of George Moore before Judge James Pou Bailey, March 1982 NC Supreme Court, No. 133A82: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Appeal of judgments, 1983 Moore: Defendant Appellant's Brief, 1983 Oliver: Defendant Appellant's Brief, Feb. 1983 5Brief for the State, Mar. 1983 NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25575: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver Motion for Appropriate Relief, Nov. 11, 1986 Orders for execution and Orders staying execution, Dec. 1986 US Supreme Court: John Wesley Oliver vs. State of NC, October 1987 Outgoing correspondence re: Oliver, 1991-1994 NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25575: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver Motion for Appropriate Relief, 1993 NC Supreme Court, No. 133A82: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver and George Moore Brief for the State, 1993 NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25576: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver State's Supplemental Rebuttal Brief, 1993 Rural Justice Center, 1993 NC Superior Court, State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver Motion for Appropriate Relief transcript, Vol. 1 (Pages 1-300), Aug. 30-Sept. 13, 1993 6Motion for Appropriate Relief transcript, Vol. 2-5 (Pages 301-1418), Aug. 30-Sept. 13, 1993(4 folders) Motion for Appropriate Relief transcript, Vol. 1, Part 1 (Pages 1-121), Nov. 29-30, 1993 7Motion for Appropriate Relief transcript, Vol. 1, Part 2 (Pages 122-256), Nov. 29-30, 1993 Motion for Appropriate Relief documents, 1990-1994 Arguments and Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Nov. 1993 Motion to Suppress Identification, July 1994 Files from AGs, 78-CRS-25575: John Wesley Oliver, Files 1-3(6 folders) 8Files from AGs, 78-CRS-25576: John Wesley Oliver, File 1 (2 folders) John Wesley Oliver: Reversing the death penalty case arguments, undated NC Superior Court, 78-CRS-25575: State of NC vs. John Wesley Oliver Sentencing case documents, 1982-2001 NC Court of Appeals, COA02-177: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Case materials, 1978-2001 Briefs, Apr.-May 2002 Slip Opinion, Dec. 31, 2002 NC Supreme Court: State of NC vs. George Moore and John Wesley Oliver Petition for Discretionary Review/Notice of Appeal of Substantial Constitutional Question, 2002 NC Superior Court: State of NC vs. Noland pleading and exhibits, 1985-1987 and undated(2 folders)