Support for Charles McNeair's release increases
Charles McNeair, left, hopes to receive clemency soon. Wanda Cox, one of his dedicated supporters is in the middle wearing a shirt wit h McNeair’s picture and information about how to advocate for his release. {Contributed photo}
Lexington native, Charles McNeair, has been imprisoned since November 26, 1979.
Convicted of second degree rape and felony breaking and entering, McNeair was sentenced to life in prison the following year. Four decades later, a group of dedicated individuals have united to demand for his release.
Wanda Cox learned about McNeair’s case a few years ago. She was scrolling Facebook one day when she saw a post about his case. The originator of the post was a man in California. At the end of his status, he asked “Can’t somebody locally help this man.”
Initially, Cox didn’t believe the story was true. She was so adamant in proving it wasn’t, she began researching.
“I thought there’s probably more to that. I kind of wanted to prove to myself that it wasn’t real.”
As her search continued, Cox uncovered information which contradicted her theory. This led her down a path of building a relationship with McNeair’s family thus providing her with an avenue to earn the trust of McNeair. In a document submitted to Davidson Local by Cox, she shares what McNeair told her about the crime he was accused of committing:
“At the time, the young 16-year-old vehemently stated his innocence and explained he was in a “relationship” with the older white woman and that she had pursued a romantic relationship with him despite their age difference. The young, illiterate juvenile was beaten, threatened, denied his rights, and provided ineffective counsel.”
Additionally, Cox writes “All his denials and declarations of innocence were met with deaf ears by all those entrusted with the justice system in Lexington, NC. The police subjected him to beatings and the district attorney, well known for his theatrics and dramatic wielding of power and opinion, moved forward with great speed and purpose to get young Charles sent away. Journalist Phoebe Zerwick was assigned to Lexington as a reporter for the Winston Salem Journal in the mid-1980s. According to her book, ‘Rage of Innocence’, she...”learned about Southern justice from the district attorney H.W. “Butch” Zimmerman, whose office was decorated with Confederate memorabilia. Defense attorneys would gather there on Friday afternoons while he read excerpts from his collection of slaveholder diaries. Many about their sexual exploits with enslaved women, recited not as stories of rape but for the entertainment of the men in the room.”
On February 2, approximately 30 supporters of McNeair gathered on the steps of the Davidson County Historical Museum (formerly the Davidson County Courthouse) to raise awareness about the case. In September 2022, a petition requesting clemency for McNeair was submitted to Governor Roy Cooper by Attorney Jami Lau of Duke University Law School’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic. At the time of publication, there hasn’t been a response from the governor’s office.
NAACP member Rev. Lester Smith noted it was time to spread the word throughout the community.
“We’d been operating underneath, trying not to alarm. It seems like without getting the community involved we’re not going to get any traction. We know the former district attorney had a strong confederate bent and we feel that’s part of the reason why Charles didn’t get a fair trial. We need to make sure the county and state knows. We’ll continue to push forward and ask for clemency. We want to be fair and respectful of all families. Charles gave permission to put his story out there. Any public sentiments of support may get it before the governor quicker.”
At the rally, Cox shared additional thoughts.
“Charles’ case is one of, in my opinion, a miscarriage of justice. We don’t really need to decide if he’s guilty or innocent. The charge that he’s in for would normally carry 10-12 years. He’s been in for 43 years. He has a life sentence. He was not allowed at the time of his arrest to have parents present or any kind of contact with the outside. He was 16 and had a second-grade education. We’ve proved his illiteracy through obtaining school records. We’re sure he couldn’t understand what was happening. He was going to be charged with two prior rapes. It intimated him enough to plead guilty to second degree rape. He was promised an automatic appeal which is an overt lie. There’s no such thing. He was basically cast aside.”
However, according to Cox, they miscalculated his resilience.
“I think they thought his illiteracy would keep him quiet forever but they underestimated the character of the man. He has his GED. He has some college credits. He’s a very intelligent man. It took a long time to get the details of what happened because he was used to no one caring. No one wanted to hear his story. He’s going to be at my house every Sunday night for hamburgers when he gets out.”
*On Saturday, March 25, McNeair’s supporters will be in Raleigh for a peaceful protest at the Governor’s Mansion located at 200 N. Blount St Raleigh, NC 27601. For more information about the march, contact Pastor Alan Suber or Cox. If you can’t be in attendance but would like to support McNeair, you can email clemency@nc.gov or call (919)324-1456.
