OAKLAND — Minutes before receiving a sentence that makes him ineligible for parole until after his 100th birthday, a city resident continued to maintain that he’s innocent of murder, though a victim’s family member interrupted his statement to say, “You did it.”
Marius Robinson, 48, was sentenced to 55 years to life in the October 2021 court hearing, the details of which were made public with the release of a transcript last week. He was convicted last August of murdering Robert Ellis Coleman, 43, in a July 2020 shooting prosecutors say was motivated by Robinson’s desire for revenge after Coleman insulted his wife.
Speaking at the hearing, Robinson conceded “maybe I do need to go to jail for things I’ve done in my life,” and told Coleman’s family he can relate to their pain because his own son was murdered while he was in jail awaiting trial. But he insisted he isn’t the man who murdered Coleman.
“I do feel your pain. I regret the fact that this situation caused you to lose a family member, but I promise you justice has not been served because I’m not the person that killed your family member. I promise you,” Robinson said.
As he continued to speak, one of Coleman’s family members called from the gallery, “You did it.” Judge Andrew Steckler admonished Robinson not to respond, the transcript says.
Before it was his turn to speak, Robinson heard from two of Coleman’s sisters, one of whom, Andrea Perry, accused him of playing God by taking a human life.
“My brother didn’t touch this man. He walked away. He left it alone. He might have said what he had to say, but he left it alone,” Perry said. “You could have just let him live his life and walk away. But no. You want to take matters into your own hands and go shoot somebody.”
Before the sentencing, Steckler dismissed a number of defense motions, including one that called for Robinson’s conviction to be reversed under the racial justice act. Deputy public defender Joseph Penrod accused the prosecutor, deputy district attorney Adam McConney, of using “coded language” like calling it a case about “power and respect” or describing Robinson as “slick-talking and a dancer dancing around questions” when he testified during trial.
McConney responded that “the only person that inserted race into these proceedings or attempted to was Mr. Penrod.”
“I made every effort to keep race out of this trial despite Mr. Penrod’s best efforts,” McConney said. “Everybody impacted by this trial was African-American or is African-American.”
Coleman was shot and killed around 4:30 p.m. on July 2, 2020. Earlier in the day, he had an argument at a convenience store with Robinson’s wife. Prosecutors say when Robinson learned of the argument, he went around looking for Coleman and shot him dead with a .45-caliber pistol, at International Boulevard and 72nd Avenue.
The defense argued that a key state’s witness was the real killer and that prosecutors promised him leniency in order to scapegoat Robinson.
Robinson is still at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, awaiting transfer to state prison, records show.
Source: www.mercurynews.com