On August 20-22, 2019, a three-judge panel convened in Wake County to hear the case of State vs. James Blackmon (Wake – 83 CRS 84695). In 1988, Mr. Blackmon entered an alford plea for the September 28, 1979, murder of Helena Payton. At the end of the hearing, the three-judge panel unanimously concluded that Mr. Blackmon had proven by clear and convincing evidence that he was innocent of second-degree murder.