Comments on: Armchair Activist #22: Marcus Robinson Execution

By: Still in Disbelief

Still in Disbelief — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:02:11 +0000

I was friends with Erik and was actually in 1st period Gym with both Erik and Roderick. Why Roderick and Marcus (whom I did not know) would do such a senseless, heinous crime, I’ll never understand. Erik was a kind, easy going guy- he deserves justice. As far as I’m concerned, Roderick shoud be sitting on death row right next to Marcus.

By: Thelovechild

Thelovechild — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:37:23 +0000

A comment was made about Marcus Robinsons demeanor on channel 5 news from a juror name “Marium”. She said voting for the death penalty was easy for her because she was a former Douglas Byrd classmate of Eriks and Marcus showed no emotion during the trial. Did she ever think that maybe he was on medication that kept him from reacting to anything? Is this how all jurors think and vote. I thought a juror is suppose to weigh all evidence presented. Roderick Williams had blood on him saying he locked himself out of his mothers house and got cut, but come to find out that was a lie. All gun powder was found on Roderick and none was found on Marcus. If you shoot someone point blank range with a sawed-off shot gun the blood blow back would be on the shooter right? Blood was on Rodericks body, clothes, in the soles of his shoes and gun powder on his hand. With what I just told you, why is Marcus on death row and Roderick serving life with parole? Why was the blood not sent off that was found on Roderick? Erik stopped that night because he knew and trusted one person and that was Roderick. Yes, Marcus could have robbed him and left him alive because only a description could be given of him to police BUT Erik knew and could identify Roderick Williams which I again remind you is serving life with possible parole. Are you sure you want to condemn the wrong man and let the guilty continue living? That’s what “Marium” should have been asking herself not who’s crying and who’s not showing emotions. People often say, “it’s not strangers that harm us, it’s the people we know and trust”. Roderick silenced Erik for life, yet he is gonna live his out thanks to the juror name “Marium”.

By: Thelovechild

Thelovechild — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:30:02 +0000

Hi, i am in reference to lisa from February 1st I would like to clear up a misunderstanding. How do you really know Marcus said he was going to off a whitey? If someone told you they were going to off a “whitey”, and it happened wouldn’t you remember them saying that? Well again I was one who was in court from day one and the so called witnesses could not remember Marcus saying that. Now the interesting part, after not remembering they got to read their statements from 1991 and said o that’s what he said! To me that sounds fishy as fishy can get. The witnesses were in trouble themselves and was offered a deal to say Marcus was going to off a “whitey” to shorten their time in jail. Please if you were not in court to see with your eyes and hear with your ears, do not operate off of hear say because we all know everything we hear is not the gospel. Has everything someone said about you been the truth or have a lie every been told on you?

By: Peen

Peen — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:20:33 +0000

Being a personal and close friend of Marcus,I sat in court with him daily and in my
listing and viewing Marcus was not proven guilty of murder.Since i know Marcus,i
can tell you he never went to the same school or did he know the victim as said.In my opinion,no Mother should have to bury or see her child wronghfully convicted for something he did not do.According to the bible,we kill people with out mouth daily,what sentence do we derserve?

By: Peen

Peen — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:52:23 +0000

In response to JenB ’s comments written,Jan.25th@5:03 PM
Let’s set the record straight,okay.Marcus did not attend school,
nor did he know Erick Tornblom.Rodrick Williams is the person whom
you have reference to. According to court records,Rodrick knew the victum and attended school with him.It’s apparent you are talking hearsay and not facts.

Along with your incorrect statement,are we to suppose you to be a Psychiatrist or palm reader that you can see so much.If you were at the trial through it’s short duration,you’d see there was no evidence proving Marcus the murderer of Erick.

When there is no proof of who pulled the trigger,how is it that one get death and one get life with parole?What is wrong with this painting?But let me see,I know you will say if you had your way they both would be on death row.Now how did i see that!

By: Thelovechild

Thelovechild — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:45:50 +0000

God does not like it when we hope for someones excecution. The bible says that ,”whatever a man soweth so shall he reap”, “vengence is mine saith the Lord”, “fret not thyself because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity for they soon shall be cut off as the green grass”. I am totally against the death penalty and I pray for Mr. Robinson and all death row inmates. I have recently lost a family member to a senseless murder but asking a judge to sentence them to death is something I could never do. In most cases the victims family decides whether they want the accuser sentenced to life or go after the death penalty and we chose life. Why, because God only deserves the right to take life point blank, period. I would rather someone spend the rest of their life re-living the event over and over, I feel that’s justice enough.

By: Thelovechild

Thelovechild — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:21:14 +0000

Before people make comments about Marcus Robinson I really wish they would have their facts straight. Where is the evidence that Mr. Robinson murdered anyone? Was any blood or gun powder found on Mr. Robinson or was it found on Roderick Williams which is serving a life sentence with possible parole? I followed the case from day one and trust me ALL evidence was found on Roderick but because someone had to be punished and Marcus was of age he got the death penalty. Is this case being treated fairly? If Mr. Williams was the trigger man but did not receive the death penalty because being months shy of 18 is that fair to Marcus Robinson?

By: A.H

A.H — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:45:37 +0000

I personally believe that according to God’s law we do not have the right to pass judgment such as this one; deciding who lives & who dies should be a decision left strictly up to him, no matter how cruel & harsh the crime was that that person committed. This is a problem with todays society we spend too much time trying to decide what’s best for one circumstance or another, why do you think there is so much turmoil in the world today? Today’s society has gotten farther & farther away from listening to the father. Lord forbid, even if I’d lost a son to murder, I’d still be against the death penalty, because the same way you judge one the father will judge you 10 fold. To those who have lost a loved one to murder I’d like to apologize & send my deepest sympathies & say may God be with you & heal you in time, God bless!

By: lisa

lisa — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:56:06 +0000

hi was a friend of the man marcus murdered. the person who wrote about racial issues, well marcus chose Erik because he was a whitey, yes he was abused, but he was able to live a normal life up until this point, thats bs if he was so messed up why didnt his mother get him help. and cruel and inhumane my ass was Eriks execution style murder not cruel and inhumane, i also agree that the other man involved shouldnt get life in prison they should both fry. lethal injection is to good. when they chose to kill someone they chose to die.

By: JenB

JenB — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:03:46 +0000

As a close and personal friend of Erik, I followed the case and my opinion is this: Marcus Robinson showed no mercy to Erik’s pleas for life, why should anyone show mercy to him? Erik’s mother died earlier this month waiting for justice for her son. Marcus Robinson had played a game of basketball with Erik not too long before he decided to rob and murder him. They went to school together - how do you murder someone you’ve known most of your life in cold blood for a poc car and some change in his wallet? If Marcus Robinson can’t control himself because of a so called “mental condition” then I see no better place for him than death row - let God decide is he is to be forgiven.

No mother should have to live through the pain of having a closed casket funeral for her 17 year-old son because someone shot him point-blank in the face after he left work. Marcus Robinson knew good and well the laws of our society, and that murder is punishable by death - let him pay the consequences he deserves!

By: sailorman

sailorman — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 22:33:41 +0000

RonF,

It’s been a while since I was in law school, helping out some professors and discussiong the Innocence Project etc etc. So i’m sorry, i can’t recall any particulars, and am acting only on memory.

that said, i am almost certain that there have been fairly good studies showing a discrepancy between black>white and black>black murders wrt the death penalty. I tend to trust my memory on this one for some reason. Perhaps someone else can confirm.

By: RonF

RonF — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:50:53 +0000

I don’t support the DP, though. I don’t believe in the legal system’s infallibility enough to justify giving it such a power. It’s the ultimate expression of State power over individual rights. In this day and age, the penal system can incarcerate someone securely enough to prevent them from killing anyone ever again.

By: RonF

RonF — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:47:33 +0000

Actually, to see a disparity in DP sentencing in White –> Black vs. Black –> White, I’d want to see the percentages of guilty verdicts as well, and I’d want any differences in mandatory sentencing taken into account. If the guilty verdicts are disproportionate to population, then it would make sense that the DP sentencing would be as well.

By: novathecat

novathecat — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:08:12 +0000

Mike Easley is a former state prosecutor and is highly unlikely to commute anyone’s sentence. Early in his first term it came up that he had a conflict of interest in issuing pardons, since he had sent up many of the death row inmates himself. IMHO, he should recuse himself and let someone else review these cases.

By: pheeno

pheeno — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:16:04 +0000

Ya know…if it was my child that had been killed, I cant say that I’d respond well to total strangers trying to assure me there arent trying to downplay the seriousness or suffering caused. It would send me into a state of pissed off that would not bode well for the one on death row for it.

That being said, Im pro death penalty in cases where there is no doubt. This obviously does not meet that and needs to seriously be revised.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:14:52 +0000

Argh. Hopefully someone can come along and close that tag. My bad.

Site: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=5&did=184

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:14:11 +0000

Killing a Black person especially if you’re White isn’t going to get you a death system.

This doesn’t appear to be true. There are certainly racial disparities in death penalty sentencings, but this seems to show that about 7% of interracial DP cases are whites executed for killing blacks. (Assuming that the number of interracial murders are proportional to the population, that should be more like 13%.) There’s a legitimate question about how much racial discrimination is in play, but nobody has a get-off-death-row-free card due to skin color.

By: Radfem

Radfem — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:15:40 +0000

So bringing in a religious document to jury deliberations is okay as long as it’s the Bible? Jurors are not supposed to adhere to the laws of the Bible, but the laws of the state.

Killing a Black person especially if you’re White isn’t going to get you a death system. Capital Punishment was set up to punish the killing of White people especially by people of color. For example, the vast majority of American Indians are on death row, not for killing people of their own race but of killing Whites.

I think it’s only Asian-Americans who are more likely to be on death row for killing members of their own race, rather than White but their numbers are fairly small. Interesting considering that for each race, intramurder is much more common than killing someone outside of your race.

By: Chuck Butcher

Chuck Butcher — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 04:34:02 +0000

Capital punishment is wrong on so many levels that it would be impossible to address in a comment. short version:
The legal system is not omniscient
There is no sorry we screwed up
The responsibility for the slaughter of a helpless human is spread across and entire State’s population
Any argument about bias in its application assumes its legitimacy

By: Tapetum

Tapetum — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 04:22:06 +0000

Because a just society doesn’t execute people for being damaged?