(FAYETTEVILLE) -- Citing findings of racial bias found in a Michigan State study, Cumberland County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks has converted Marcus Reymond Robinson's death sentence to life in prison under the state's Racial Justice Act.

This is the first time the Racial Justice Act has been used to take a person off of death row. The law does not determine innocence or guilt. Robinson, who is black, was on death row for the 1991 murder of 17-year-old Erik Tornblom, who was white. He was convicted in 1994.

The jury that convicted Robinson consisted of one American Indian, two blacks and nine whites.

The Michigan State research, which looked at cases in North Carolina between 1990 and 2010, concluded that prosecutors peremptorily struck black potential jurors at more than twice the rate as they struck non-black jurors. In Robinson's trial, blacks were dismissed from the jury pool 3.5 times more than other races.

Prosecutors said the jury strikes were legitimate and were not based on race. The Michigan State study was severely flawed, they argued during the hearing. However, Judge Weeks did not find the criticisms credible.