BALDWIN PARK : High Court to Hear Appeal in 1982 Murder of Girl, 10
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear the Death Row appeal of a former ice cream vendor convicted in the 1982 murder of a 10-year-old Baldwin Park girl.
Legal experts say the Nov. 1 decision by the high court to review the case of Robert Edward Stansbury, 52, convicted in 1985 of killing Robyn Leigh Jackson, could result in lengthy legal moves surpassing the 15 years of legal efforts on behalf of murderer Robert Alton Harris, who was executed last year.
In March, the California Supreme Court reaffirmed Stansbury’s conviction, opening the way for him to begin what could be a decade or more of legal appeals at the federal level, the attorney said.
On Sept. 28, 1982, authorities said, Robyn was lured by the promise of free ice cream to Stansbury’s ice cream truck, which the previously convicted sex offender operated in Baldwin Park.
He raped and beat the child, then stuffed her body into his ice cream cooler. The next day, he drove her to Pasadena and dumped her, still alive, in a flood control channel.
The blow to her head as her body hit the concrete and exposure killed her, medical examiners testified.
Stansbury argues that he was not advised of his right to remain silent when questioned by police.
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