SAN FERNANDO : Prosecutors to Ask for Death Penalty

Prosecutors announced Friday that they will once again try to persuade a jury that a man convicted of shooting two teen-agers to death in a Northridge restaurant deserves the death penalty.

Last month, jurors in the case of James Robinson Jr., 24, could not decide between death and life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case was tried in San Fernando.

Robinson, who was a part-time student at Cal State Northridge at the time of the June 30, 1991, crime, was eligible for the death penalty because of his multiple victims and the fact that the killings took place during a robbery. He was convicted May 3 of two counts of murder and second-degree robbery.

“We evaluated the case after the mistrial and decided that death was the appropriate penalty and chose to seek it again,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop said.

Robinson’s attorney, Bruce Hill, disagreed.

“Life without parole would meet the crime, but would not justify or excuse what happened,” Hill said.

Had prosecutors chosen not to seek a new penalty phase trial, which will probably take two to three weeks to complete, Robinson would have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Barshop said he will return to court June 25 when a trial date is scheduled to be set. A new jury will be impaneled.