Posted on 04/20/2012 10:24:23 PM PDT by Zakeet
In a landmark ruling, a North Carolina judge vacated the death penalty Friday of a convicted murderer, saying prosecutors across the state had engaged for years in a deliberate and systematic pattern of racial discrimination while striking black potential jurors in death penalty cases.
In a 167-page order harshly critical of prosecutors, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks said they "intentionally used the race of (jury pool) members as a significant factor in decisions to exercise peremptory strikes in capital cases." He ruled that discrimination was a factor not only in the case Weeks heard involving convicted murderer Marcus Reymond Robinson, who is black, but also in capital cases involving black defendants across North Carolina.
The ruling was the first under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, passed in 2009, which allows judges to reduce death sentences to life in prison without parole in cases where defendants prove racial bias in jury selection. Prosecutors fought the law, calling it a back-door attempt to overturn the death penalty.
[Snip]
Prosecutors have 60 days to appeal Weeks' ruling. Republicans, who control the state Legislature, have attempted to repeal the Racial Justice Act but have been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.
[Snip]
Robinson was convicted of killing 17-year-old Erik Tornblom with a shotgun blast to the face during a robbery that netted $27.
Tornblom's stepmother, Patricia Tornblom, and his father, Richard Tornblom, have bitterly opposed the act and said earlier this year that Robinson should be executed. They sat in silence Friday as Weeks read his ruling.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Censored .
The media hides these stories from all of us they to are the enemy
When a judge can do this, only because he and he alone chooses, it is time for a drastic change in our legal system. One man, on his opinion, should not be allowed to halt an execution. He should be able to issue an opinion, but not set law for everybody. The execution should go forward until an appeals court hears the case. This arrogant fool should not be a judge.
“...Williams then shot Tornblom in the face with the shotgun.”
It is very difficlt not to generalize about Negroes in power positions. If it wasn’t for the likes of Lt. Col. West and some I the people I knew in the service, I don’t think I could.
2DV, that might prove 'interesting' for those of us living near Fed facilities like Lewisburg et al,
but it's my understanding that such pardons as you allude to are not applicable to sentences imposed under state law/s.
.. and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
The democratic party has imploded in the last few weeks over a Democratic Leader having sex with another minor male and covered up by the party.
Well, the murdered killed for 27 bucks. What will the judge do for 30 pieces of silver.
Open season on people who “Don’t look like you.”
“Other evidence tended to show, two days prior to the murder, that [Robinson] told Williams’ aunt that “he was going to burn him a whitey”.
On the morning of the murder, [Robinson] obtained the shotgun from a friend, who heard [Robinson] tell Williams that he wanted to rob a Quik Stop or “do” a white boy.
After the murder, [Robinson] told a friend that he had robbed a guy the night before and shot him in the head.”
I'm anticipating/hoping that Pennsylvania's ' T ' once again overcomes the ghetto/looter bastions in the corners and keeps us solidly in the 'red' column come November. *
* One of the marxist/orwellian language control victories that I truly abhor is their success in labeling R states as red while the true red states are labeled blue !
[numerous expletives deleted ;-]
The wonder is not him getting off. The wonder is that Holder has not made him an employee of the doj. But there is still time for it to happen.
At the time of these events, Robinson had just turned eighteen years old and only eleven days earlier had been released from prison.
This judge's ruling stinks beyond measure. There are absolutely NO grounds for reducing sentence.
I continue to be shocked over just how many nobama sons there are. In this instance the caucasian kid maybe “disrespected” the black with the shotgun because he only had $27? The judge is a racist mental midget.
Another of Obama’s Sons.
The Tyranny of the Black Robes.
“Really, whites have little self-respect left. We don’t want to fight for ourselves against the forces directed by the Left through blacks in positions of power.”
Speak for yourself. You don’t speak for me.
“We’re becoming South Africa......”
We sure are.....That picture when you scroll down looks just like something you see in S. Africa on a dialy basis and the media completely ignores it......They kill just because your white and that is happening here at an alarming rate......
You are wrong. Further, you're blind, because you fail to see that the pressure is building to a massive backlash where people (not just "whites", but decent people of all stripes) are simply going to say to hell with the "race card". Politicians who are too cowardly or too stupid to get on board will be swept aside.
No justice, no peace...
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