South Carolina Death Row Inmate Files Final Appeal, Claims Ineffective Trial Representation

COLUMBIA, S.C.—A man who has been sentenced to death is appealing to the state Supreme Court, arguing that his trial attorney was poorly prepared and exhibited undue sympathy towards the victim.

As per a court order issued earlier this year, Marion Bowman Jr. is next in line for execution. The state Supreme Court has paused executions for the holiday season, but a date for Bowman’s execution may be established as early as January 3.

Bowman was sentenced to death for the murder of 21-year-old Kandee Martin in 2001. Martin was fatally shot in the head, and her remains were discovered in the trunk of a torched vehicle.

Bowman’s attorneys filed an appeal on Tuesday, seeking to halt his execution until a comprehensive hearing can be conducted. They argued that Bowman’s trial lawyer referred to the white victim as “a little girl” while calling Bowman, who is Black, “a man,” despite the fact that he was younger than Martin at the time of the incident.

Much of the trial evidence against Bowman stemmed from testimonies provided by friends and family members who were given plea deals to testify against him. Prosecutors introduced evidence of a sexual relationship between Bowman and Martin, although he was not charged with any sexual assault.

During the trial, attorney Norbert Cummings at one point suggested that Bowman plead guilty, despite Bowman’s insistence of his innocence, claiming it would be challenging to find a jury sympathetic to a Black defendant and that a plea would prevent a death sentence, as stated in the appeal.

During a 2014 hearing on whether Bowman’s conviction should be overturned, Cummings posed a question to him about his presence in a secluded area of Dorchester County on the night of the murder.

“Marion, what are you doing on Nursery Road at that time of the morning with a white female and African American males in Dorchester County? Really. This is 2001 but what good are you doing out there on a dirt road?” Cummings remarked, according to Bowman’s recent appeal.

Cummings did not respond to a message left at his law office on Tuesday.

Prosecutors did not disclose essential information regarding the witnesses who received plea deals to testify against Bowman, such as their psychological issues and a potential confession from one witness, as well as the criminal charges that another faced while testifying. This information could have prompted the jurors to question the credibility of the testimonies, Bowman’s lawyers contended in the appeal.

Attorneys for the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office have not yet responded to the new court filing. Bowman has exhausted all standard appeals, with judges upholding his conviction and death sentence at every stage.

At 44, Bowman has spent over half of his life on death row. Another aspect of his appeal filed on Tuesday urges justices to consider the growth he has experienced during his 22 years in this situation.

Supporting statements from multiple former nurses and other death row personnel depict Bowman as a gentle giant with a unique ability to assist inmates with mental health issues in cooperating with psychologists and adhering to their medication. He has also served for years as the official liaison between death row inmates and prison administration.

Bowman is poised to become the third inmate executed in South Carolina following the General Assembly’s introduction of a shield law in 2023, which allows for secrecy concerning the state’s procurement of lethal injection drugs. South Carolina had not executed anyone for 13 years due to a shortage of these drugs.

Freddie Owens and Richard Moore were executed earlier this year. Bowman, along with three other inmates, has exhausted regular appeals and could face execution schedules as frequently as every five weeks starting in 2025.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit earlier this year from the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought permission for prison officials to record and air a podcast featuring Bowman asking for mercy and discussing his life on death row.

South Carolina’s prison regulations prohibit on-camera, in-person interviews with inmates or the recording of their phone calls or speeches for broadcasting purposes.

By Jeffrey Collins