Attorney Says His Drinking May Have Hurt Death Penalty Case
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NEWTON, N.C. — A defense attorney whose alcohol consumption was the subject of a death row appeal says his drinking may have affected another case in which a man was sentenced to death.
Thomas Portwood testified Tuesday in Superior Court that his habit may have affected his representation of Nathan Bowie, who was sentenced to death eight years ago for killing two men.
Portwood also represented Ronald Frye, executed in August for the 1993 murder of his landlord. Several prominent attorneys filed appeals that said Frye should have gotten a life sentence instead because Portwood did such a poor job.
State and federal courts rejected the appeals.
Portwood said Monday that he drank half a fifth of 80-proof rum every night during Bowie’s trial. “I did not feel I was impaired at the time,” he said, “but I know what the scientific studies show, and they show that alcohol is an impairing substance.”
Bowie, 30, was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murders. He remains on death row.
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