A Texas magistrate with no practical experience could not have released DeCarlos Brown, as occurred in North Carolina before the killing of Iryna Zarutska, under a new state law.
In January, North Carolina Magistrate Teresa Stokes allowed Brown to walk free after he was arrested for allegedly misusing the 911 system, telling police that he was being controlled by “man-made” material that dictated his every urge, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.
Stokes’ actions were within state law, as North Carolina permits non-lawyer magistrates to handle arraignments and set conditions of release.
Earlier this month, Brown was charged with the brutal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was seated directly in front of him on a train. Surveillance footage of the attack has sparked outrage, as it shows a clearly shocked Zarutska doubled over and bleeding while other passengers appear unfazed, and the suspect walks around the train car.
The case has fueled debate in North Carolina over whether magistrates without law degrees should retain the authority to decide bail.
North Carolina City Councilman Malcolm Graham reportedly said, “You can be a magistrate and don’t have a law degree. That’s insane,” per CBS Austin.
While CBS Austin reported that “Stokes attended Cooley Law School,” a search of the membership directory of the North Carolina State Bar did not return any results for “Teresa Stokes.”
Zarutska’s death fueled a response from national law enforcement officials who sought to prosecute the case at the federal level, beyond the hands of state magistrates.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a press release. “I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Like Texas, North Carolina’s magistrates are appointed. However, in North Carolina, they do not need to hold a law degree or pass the bar exam to serve in the position. The law even permits those with only a two-year degree and less than five years of experience in a related field to serve as a magistrate.
Texas law is stricter about who can be a magistrate. Under the state’s Code of Criminal Procedure, all magistrates must be licensed attorneys.
A 2021 bail reform measure, Senate Bill 6, also requires magistrates to undergo training before setting bail, the Texas Municipal Court Education Center website explains.
Beginning on the first of this month, state law further mandates that magistrates have five years of legal experience before appointment, although some exceptions permit them to have as few as two years of experience. The change was made through S.B. 664, a bill from Republican state Senator Joan Huffman, that passed both chambers of the state legislature in May.
The new law “seeks to standardize” the previous patchwork of processes for appointing a magistrate across the state and “enhance the qualifications” of appointees, a Texas Policy Research bill analysis states.
The legislation further “mandates specific training on bail practices for any judicial officer with authority over bail-related decisions,” the analysis adds.
While a Texas magistrate could theoretically make the same decision as Stokes in North Carolina, the person doing so would presumably be more qualified under the new state law.