People v. Robinson CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

The Racial Justice Act (RJA) was enacted to prohibit the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction on the basis of race. As relevant here, a violation occurs when a defendant is charged with a more serious offense than defendants of other races who engage in similar conduct and are similarly situated, and the prosecution more frequently sought convictions for more serious offenses against people of the defendant’s race. (Pen. Code, § 745, subd. (a)(3).)1 Defendant Jaquan Robinson, an African American, was charged with two counts of human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act by force or fear, among other charges. Robinson filed a motion asserting that the decision to charge him with human trafficking violated the RJA. The motion included statistical analysis, aggregate data, and an expert’s opinion alleging racial disparities by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office (District Attorney) in filing human trafficking charges. The trial court denied the motion, finding Robinson did not satisfy the prima facie showing that he was similarly situated with defendants of other races who engaged in similar conduct yet were not charged with…