CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A jury heard testimony this week in the trial of Derek Ward, a man charged with raping and killing his cousin Brittini Ward in 2010.
Ward was charged with killing his cousin in 2010. The trial had been delayed for years because he was deemed unfit to stand trial. After 14 years, a judge allowed the trial to begin with Ward representing himself. Ward was eventually found guilty.
During the trial, some people noticed he was in the courtroom wearing his orange prison jumpsuit and not civilian clothes, even while representing himself.
If you take a look at some of the most famous murder trials in North Carolina, you’ll see all of the defendants are wearing their street clothes and not their orange jumpsuits.
So why was Derek Ward in his jail uniform for his trial?
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WHAT WE FOUND
Lee said under state law, a defendant has a right to appear before the jury in ordinary civilian dress, and cannot be compelled to appear in prison garb.
"So the reasoning is, if you want the presumption of innocence, you should have the presumption of civilian garb to look innocent as well," Lee explained. "So the law allows a person to have that option, but he's chosen not to."
While a defendant's clothing might not seem vital to their case, Lee said it's important.
"I don't think a lot of people understand the kind of nuances that it goes with in terms of defendants picking out the clothes and specifically what clothes they wear to have them appear different to the jurors," Lee said.
In an email to Verify, Stolp confirmed Ward was given the option to wear civilian clothes during his trial but refused. Along with the prison jumpsuit, Ward has also been wearing shackles. Lee said this is not unusual, adding it’s to make sure he is unable to escape the courtroom.
"A lot of times their hands are not shackled because it's above the table, and it still will give that same perception of being detained, but usually they still will have their feet shackled," Lee explained.
Lee said it's possible Ward chose to wear his prison garb as a way to lean into an insanity defense, and as we know his trial was delayed for years because he was previously deemed unfit to stand trial.