State v. Marcus Robinson

This Source Verification Page documents the Order Granting Motion for Appropriate Relief entered in State v. Marcus Robinson by Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Weeks. The order addresses evidence presented during litigation under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act concerning prosecutorial jury-selection practices, Batson challenges, and the use of race-neutral explanations for peremptory strikes. The order discusses prosecutor training materials, including examples used to justify juror exclusions, and evaluates whether those practices contributed to racial discrimination in jury selection. Statement of Facts D cites this order to document judicial findings regarding the relationship between prosecutorial training materials and the exercise of peremptory strikes.

Related SMAR Citation

"Robinson Order at 360"

Case Name

State v. Marcus Robinson

Judge

Gregory A. Weeks

Date

April 20, 2012

Verification Source

State v. Marcus Robinson, Order Granting Motion for Appropriate Relief

Source Location

Cumberland County Superior Court

Highlighted Pages

1, 156–157

Referenced in the Supplemental Motion

Page 34, Paragraph 62

Source Status

✔ Original Court Order obtained and reviewed.

✔ Relevant passages highlighted.

✔ Publicly available source

✔ Included within the Source Verification Archive

Cited to Support

Lyle C. May alleges that prosecutorial training provided through the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys emphasized the development and articulation of race-neutral explanations for peremptory strikes rather than the prevention of discriminatory jury-selection practices. The Robinson Order is cited to establish Judge Gregory A. Weeks' finding that prosecutors relied upon training materials designed to help avoid successful Batson challenges and that examples presented in the litigation demonstrated the use of pretextual race-neutral justifications during jury selection. May relies upon this finding to support his claim that the training received by prosecutors, including ADA Kate Dreher through the Top Gun II CLE program, encouraged practices that could conceal discriminatory motives behind peremptory strikes in capital prosecutions. May further cites the Robinson Order as a judicial finding linking prosecutor training materials to jury-selection practices that were later challenged under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act.

Supporting Documents

Original Court Order

Link to the original court order.

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Highlighted Research Copy

Working research copy containing the highlighted passages cited in the Supplemental Motion.

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