The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments June 7. The fact that the court decided to consider Bacon's case is prima facie evidence that the justices take the conflict of interest allegations seriously.

Yet, the conflict of interest allegation is a slender reed for Bacon and other death-row inmates. The high court rejected a similar argument earlier this year, so it may be using Bacon's appeal to settle the issue in North Carolina. Precedent doesn't offer a lot of encouragement for Bacon. In 1988, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said Virginia's governor at the time could consider clemency in a capital case even though he had served as state attorney general.