Supreme Court agrees to take up North Carolina man’s appeal in murder-for-hire case
Kaelan Deese
Video Embed
The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up an appeal by a North Carolina man who received a life prison sentence after being convicted for taking part in a scheme to murder in the Philippines by the order of a onetime leader of a multinational organized crime ring.
Lawyers for Adam Samia, 48, are challenging prosecutors’ use of a confession made by a co-defendant in his murder trial that they claim implicated Samia in violation of his constitutional rights. The co-defendant did not testify in his own defense, meaning Samia’s attorney didn’t have the chance to question the co-defendant.
The case was one of three that justices agreed to add to their docket for next spring.
Samia was convicted in 2018 along with former U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Hunter and another man from the Tar Heel State, Carl David Stillwell, on charges related to the murder of Filipino real estate agent Catherine Lee.
SUPREME COURT ADDS FOUR MORE CASES TO DOCKET, FROM CRYPTO TO THE IRS
Paul LeRoux, a South African who headed the crime organization and cooperated with federal authorities after his arrest in 2012, ordered the killing of Lee because he believed she had stolen money from him.
LeRoux, who was born in Zimbabwe, was sentenced in 2020 to 25 years in prison after his cooperation with authorities investigating the organization.
The organization is accused of committing money laundering, weapons and drug trafficking, and murder in multiple countries, according to prosecutors. Authorities furthered that Hunter, who led LeRoux’s team of mercenaries, hired Samia and Stillwell for a “kill team.” In exchange for funds, the pair murdered Lee.
During the 2018 trial, prosecutors introduced a post-arrest confession by Stillwell that mentioned Samia as the person who pulled the trigger against Lee. Stillwell did not offer testimony at the trial, meaning Samia’s counsel could not question him.
The Supreme Court has previously placed limits on the use of a confession in situations similar to Stillwell’s remarks, including that a defendant’s name has to be removed. But Samia’s lawyers argue that even with redactions, the confession still pointed squarely and unfairly at their client.
Samia, one of three men convicted in the murder-for-hire plot, has denied any involvement in the killing and said there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The high court also agreed to take up two more cases for the spring portion of its term, granting petitions over a lawsuit against the corporate communications service Slack due to its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019.
Justices also took up a criminal case against a fisherman who appealed after lower courts said he was tried in the wrong state for stealing trade secrets.