Man 24, Convicted in ’91 Shop Slayings : Court: Jurors must now decide whether the part-time CSUN student should get life in prison or death for the two murders in a Northridge sandwich store.

A part-time college student was convicted Monday of killing two young men in a Northridge sandwich shop to conceal a $600 robbery and the jury will begin debating today whether to recommend that he be sentenced to die.

A San Fernando Superior Court jury deliberated three days before finding James Robinson Jr., 24, of Northridge guilty of the June 30, 1991, slaying of James White, 19, who was working in the Subway Sandwiches shop that night, and Brian Berry, 18, a longtime friend of White who was visiting at the time of the holdup.

Robinson held up the shop because he had formerly worked there and knew how the safe operated and that the shop had no security camera, then killed the two young men “execution style” because “dead men tell no tales,” the prosecution contended.

The jury reached a verdict late Thursday, but it was sealed until Monday because Judge Ronald S. Coen had another commitment Friday.

The jury must now decide whether to recommend that Robinson be sentenced to life in prison or to death, because he was found guilty on two of the special circumstances that make a murderer liable to execution--a multiple murder and murder during a robbery. He was also convicted of second-degree robbery.

Relatives and friends of the victims, many who wore buttons with photographs of the two men, quietly sobbed after the verdicts were read. The parents of both men said that the jury reached the right decision and that they hope the jury will recommend execution.

“The death penalty is appropriate,” said Steve Berry, father of Brian.

“I’m hoping for the death penalty, but it would still be a hollow victory because it won’t bring back my son,” said Kristine White, mother of James.

Outside the courtroom, Robinson’s attorney, Bruce Hill, said he believes that the jury carefully evaluated the evidence presented, but said that he stilll finds it difficult to believe that his client committed the slayings.

“I have to reconcile that the James Robinson that I have gotten to know . . . is the same James Robinson that the jury has found guilty,” Hill said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ken Barshop said, “The evidence supported the verdict.”

During the two-week trial, witnesses testified that Robinson was seen at the sandwich shop in the 10300 block of Zelzah Avenue just before the shootings. Other witnesses testified that afterward Robinson bragged about committing the robbery and slayings. Police found the weapon used in the shootings in Robinson’s apartment.

Barshop argued that Robinson, a part-time student at Cal State Northridge who worked at the sandwich shop from August to October of 1990 before being fired on suspicion of theft, committed the robbery because he was having financial problems.

Robinson admitted from the witness stand that he was in the shop the night of the slayings, but said the two men were already dead when he walked in. He said in court that he then saw a car leaving the scene that resembled a car owned by a former roommate.

The former roommate testified that he and Robinson had a falling out over money and he had asked Robinson to move out just before the killings. The roommate said Robinson had displayed the gun and boasted that he was going to rob the sandwich shop.