A South Carolina death row inmate who has spent more than two decades awaiting execution is making one final effort to save his life, arguing that the lawyer who represented him at trial was unprepared, biased, and failed to provide an adequate defense.
Marion Bowman Jr., convicted in the 2001 murder of 21-year-old Kandee Martin, is expected to be the next inmate scheduled for execution in South Carolina once the state’s temporary holiday pause on executions ends.
Now, as the possibility of an execution date draws closer, Bowman’s attorneys have filed a last-minute appeal with the South Carolina Supreme Court, asking judges to halt any execution plans and order a full hearing into what they describe as serious flaws in his original trial.
Bowman was sentenced to death for the killing of Kandee Martin, whose body was discovered in the trunk of a burned vehicle after she had been shot in the head. Prosecutors argued that Bowman was responsible for the murder, and jurors ultimately convicted him and imposed the death penalty.
But more than 20 years later, his current legal team says the case was deeply flawed from the beginning.
According to the appeal, Bowman’s trial attorney, Norbert Cummings, repeatedly referred to the victim as “a little girl” while describing Bowman as a man, despite Bowman actually being younger than Martin at the time of her death. His attorneys argue that the language reflected bias and may have influenced how jurors viewed both the victim and the defendant.
The appeal also raises concerns about race.
Bowman’s lawyers claim that Cummings suggested he plead guilty because he believed it would be difficult to find a jury sympathetic to a Black defendant accused of killing a white woman. According to court filings, Bowman consistently maintained that he did not kill Martin and wanted to fight the charges.
The defense further argues that much of the prosecution’s case relied on testimony from friends, relatives, and other witnesses who received plea agreements or favorable treatment in exchange for cooperating with investigators.
Bowman’s current attorneys claim jurors were never fully informed about potential credibility issues involving several key witnesses, including alleged psychological problems, pending criminal charges, and statements that may have contradicted later testimony.
“Many of the witnesses received deals, and their stories changed over time,” attorney Lindsey Vann argued, saying jurors should have been given more information to evaluate the reliability of their testimony.
Prosecutors have consistently defended the conviction, and courts have repeatedly upheld both the guilty verdict and death sentence throughout more than two decades of appeals.
Still, Bowman’s attorneys are asking the state’s highest court to consider another factor: who he has become during his years on death row.
The appeal includes statements from former prison staff members who describe Bowman as a positive influence inside the prison system. Former nurses and correctional employees reportedly characterized him as calm, respectful, and helpful to inmates struggling with mental illness. For years, Bowman also served as a liaison between death row inmates and prison officials.
Now 44 years old, Bowman has spent more than half of his life behind bars.
His case comes as South Carolina resumes executions after a 13-year pause that ended following new legislation allowing the state to keep the sources of its lethal injection drugs confidential. Two inmates have already been executed since executions resumed, and several others, including Bowman, remain eligible for execution in the coming months.
For the family of Kandee Martin, the case has stretched across nearly a quarter century. For Bowman, it may represent the final legal battle of his life.
⚖️ A murder conviction. Twenty-two years on death row. Allegations of bias, unreliable witnesses, and a lawyer accused of failing his client.
👉 Should courts revisit death penalty cases when new questions arise about the quality of a defendant’s original legal representation, or should verdicts stand once decades of appeals have already been exhausted?
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