James Robinson California

James Robinson is an inmate on death row in the state of

California..

Crime

During a robbery, Robinson killed two employees, James White and Brian Berry of the Subway shop where he once worked. 

Williams testified that defendant's behavior then changed and that he began to handle and play with the gun and became “obsessed” with it.   In addition, Williams testified, defendant “became, quote, unquote, a bigger man, you know, because he had all this protection behind him so now he could walk and talk big.”   Williams explained that defendant's possession of the gun gave him “an attitude, like he was just invincible” and that “wherever he went the gun went․ And you could just tell, you know.   When someone changes you can just tell.”

Williams also testified that, when defendant still was working at the Subway shop and on numerous occasions well before defendant moved into Williams's apartment in June 1991, defendant mentioned the possibility of robbing the Subway shop because he needed money.   Williams related that defendant said the shop would be an easy target “because he ․ knew the place.”   According to Williams, he told defendant he was crazy and assumed defendant was joking.

These conversations, Williams explained, recurred on numerous occasions after defendant moved into Williams's apartment in June 1991.   Williams recounted that defendant told him how he planned to rob the Subway shop and repeated that he would do so because he needed money:  “He told me he was going to go in and order some food. After that he was going to hold ‘em up, and if, when he went in, ․ they were people that he knew he would have to kill them, shoot them execution style.”   According to Williams, defendant also spoke specifically of his “need to get his hands on some money,” the layout of the shop, the absence of security cameras, the use of  pliers to remove money from the shop's safe, and the relative ease of escaping through the shop's back door.

Address

James Robinson J25900

San Quentin State Prison Death Row

San Quentin, CA 94974

Links of Interest

Robinson v People

Videos of Interest

Notes

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