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FAYETTEVILLE – A retired judge was called to the witness stand Tuesday as part of the continuing Racial Justice Act hearing in a Cumberland County murder case.

Judge Lynn Johnson (ret.) was prepared to answer questions about the murder trial of Marcus Robinson more than 15 years ago.

"So based upon your observations as the trial judge, was race a significant factor in the strikes against black potential jurors in the case of the state of North Carolina vs. Marcus Robinson?" a prosecutor asked Judge Johnson.

"Objection,” said the defense attorney.

That was a frequent call in court Tuesday: A defense attorney's objection to block testimony from Johnson. They argued that no judge should testify on his decision making process in a case.

Johnson handled the murder trial for Marcus Robinson in 1994. Prosecutors say the judge's statements on jury selection in the Robinson case is some of the best evidence they have to prove that racial bias did not affect juror choices.

"You want to talk about the public losing faith in the court system?” said Assistant District Attorney Rob Thompson. “You accuse us of all this stuff and then you won't let us publicly show it in the courtroom where we are supposed to be transparent and showing everything to everybody. They want to accuse us and then muzzle us and then tie our hands so we can't defend ourselves."

So the state's lawyers went another route: Asking the judge about his experience with the lead prosecutor in the Robinson trial.

"Based on your knowledge of the representation of Mr. John Dickson, did he have any reputation for bad character traits for racial discriminating against jurors in the selection process?” asked a prosecutor.

"No," said Judge Johnson

"Objection your honor," said the defense.

Johnson did review the jury questionnaires from both the state and defense in the Robinson case.

"I took the questionnaires and went down the master index and recorded the sex and the race of the individuals as reflected in the questionnaires,” said Judge Johnson.

But he was not allowed to answer whether he saw any racial bias in jury selection. The defense did not cross-examine.