Justice Delayed: The Robert Marshall Story

Justice Delayed

For the next 18 years, Robert O. Marshall remained in a 7-by-12-foot cell on New Jersey's death row, filing appeal after appeal and seeing all of them shot down, first by the state courts and then by the federal court for New Jersey.

Two years ago, however, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that while the guilty verdict in the case should be upheld, there were enough questions raised by Zeitz' handling of the penalty phase that the lower federal court should review it.

On April 8, 2004, after conducting an evidentiary hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph E. Irenas set aside Marshall's death penalty and ordered that a new penalty phase be conducted by the state courts. A spokesman for the state attorney general's office said prosecutors are planning to appeal Irenas' ruling, and may even take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

NJ Dept of Corrections patch

According to New Jersey Department of Corrections officials, three days after Irenas' ruling, Marshall walked out of death row and into the general population at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. He remained there at this writing.

Zeitz did not return repeated telephone calls from Crimelibrary to discuss the case.

But in an April 9 interview with Kathleen Hopkins of the Asbury Park Press, Zeitz was quoted as saying "Another set of lawyers will have another opportunity to save his life, and I'm happy for that." He did not discuss his relationship with Marshall or offer any explanation for the Spartan strategy he employed during the penalty phase of Marshall's 1986 trial.

For his part, Kelly was predictably less enthusiastic about the decision. While he allows that it is possible that Marshall may once again face death for his crime, Kelly maintains that it is unlikely.

To Kelly, the latest twist in the Marshall saga was not a surprise. "I kind of assumed that would happen," he said. "Not because of the facts of the case in particular, but it seems that we have a death penalty in New Jersey and when you get to the bottom line, no one wants to take the last step."

In fact, Kelly argued, the Marshall case is proof that the death penalty in New Jersey, which after more than two decades has not resulted in a single execution, is irrevocably flawed.

"I think they should just abolish it, save the taxpayers a lot of money," Kelly fumed. "All it is lip service. A bunch of politicians, 20 years ago...decided they wanted to appease their constituents so they passed a death penalty in New Jersey. It's a joke."

That's a sentiment that is echoed by Zimmer, the former congressman and state senator who a decade ago cited the Marshall case of one example of how the state's death penalty was hampered by its own glacial pace.

"The focus of our commission was the time that it takes for a death penalty case to work its way through the courts," Zimmer said. "This is a case in point about how justice delayed is justice denied."