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NEWS > RETRACTIONS > EX-PANTHER SAYS RACISM PUT HIM ON DEATH ROW
EX-PANTHER SAYS RACISM PUT HIM ON DEATH ROW
March 26 2009
Raleigh, NC – Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth had a bright future. Plagued by injuries early in his football career many believed that he would be able to overcome those difficulty and capitalize on the talent he showed during his very solid rookie season. That was not to be though as off field actions, specifically his successful plans to murder his pregnant girlfriend put a damper on the excitement. Now though Carruth is making claims that it was racism that put him in prison, not a jury who found him guilty through massive mound of evidence.
The murder of Cherica Adams in 1999 sent shockwaves throughout the NFL and the sporting world and drew international attention to his case. Though found guilty, many have continued to dispute Carruth’s involvement in the murder and are petitioning for his release, Carruth chief among them. Now with the publication of his new book ‘Jailhouse Lawyers’ and a pair of Supreme Court decisions on the horizon, the Carruth case is back in the headlines.
“Carruth has long claimed that racism played a part in his conviction. It’s a common argument and one that people have a lot of difficulty fighting simply because arguing against it tends to colour you as racist and so it can become a very effective tool, whether honest or not” said Scrape TV Legal analyst Gabe Hawthorne. “In this case though there was quite a lot of evidence and the circumstances surrounding the killing don’t exactly evoke sympathy. It’s going to be a hard argument to make but at least he’s on the right track.”
Cherica Adams died a month after the shooting. Their son was born via Caesarean section but suffers from a number of health ailments due to his traumatic birth including cerebral palsy. 
“You also have to wonder at his motivation. I’m sure he wants to spend time with his son even though he did try to murder him in the womb. He may also want to try and take another shot at the NFL before he’s too old. The league does have a morals clause in all of their contracts and that could be an impediment to his return. Premeditated murder is usually frowned upon in moral circles,” continued Hawthorne. “The oddest thing about this whole claim is the fact that he isn’t actually on death row. Because he was only convicted of
conspiracy to commit murder he was only given a 19 year sentence. It may be that he was walked past death row and got scared, or it could be that all that prison loving has gone to his head. Either way it’s unusual.”
An inordinate number of black people are on serving time on death row in the United States, though because of appeals and other delays very few executions actually take place. North Carolina currently has 173 people on death row but has only followed through on 43 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. None of those people were Rae Carruth. 
“It could be that he is just looking for attention. Using racism and the idea of wrongful conviction tends to get a lot of attention and
occasionally action. Because it’s obviously not true though that might hurt his chances of getting anyone to take him seriously,” continued Hawthorne. “Inevitably someone will want to take up his case. The high profile nature of the case is going to bring some attention from lawyers whether they are good at their job or not. I sincerely doubt though that this will do anything to better his chances of playing football again though. Murdering pregnant women and disabling your own children are generally not things that people look upon fondly, even NFL fans.”
Carruth is currently set to be released in 2018. It is believed his sanity will be released at the same time.
Alexi Orton, Sports Correspondent
NEWS > RETRACTIONS > EX-PANTHER SAYS RACISM PUT HIM ON DEATH ROW
Correction: It has been brought to our attention that Rae Carruth is not petitioning
for release or accusing anyone of racism. The accusations came from former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal is currently on death row in Pennsylvania for the 1981 murder of a police officer. Scrape TV News regrets the error.
-Editor
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