The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

by Jeff Hobbs

On December 13, 1990, after more than four dozen appearances at the courthouse over the previous three years, Skeet came back for the sentencing. The state sought the death penalty, but Skeet received a life sentence in Trenton State Prison. He would not be eligible for parole until 2020, thirty years hence. Near the end of the hearing, Skeet was given a chance to make a statement. He stood up before the court and cleared his throat. I respect my lawyers and I have a lot of respect for them and I think they’re fine gentlemen, but as far as in a professional capacity sometimes, well, from my understanding a crime is committed, the police reports are taken and all investigations go at that point and from that point and if those police reports are erroneous then people are going to have erroneous investigations and they’re going to try to defend based on that. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Lechliter, I know he’s just doing his job, but he wasn’t there and if they say this is the designated defendant then it’s his job to win the case, you know, but the truth never came out. It’s win or lose and unfortunately my lawyers lost, but justice wasn’t done and the truth never came out during that trial and I think a better effort could have been put forth . . . From the beginning, as I said, I did not commit this crime. I know the jury has determined that I’m guilty of the crime. I really don’t know anything about what happened in that room. I was not there. I did not commit the cri...

The record of Robert Douglas vs. The State of New Jersey exists in the microfiche library at the state law library in Trenton, NJ. From beginning to end, the document was about 4,000 pages transcribing Skeet's trial from beginning to end. It took about a week of driving up and down New Jersey to locate, another week to read on the old library machine, and another week to read again. The document was only one of many sources in reporting this section of the book, but it was stark and chilling. People ask me often if I believe Skeet was guilty. There is really no way to know for sure, over thirty years after a crime that wasn't investigated or litigated very thoroughly in the first place. What remains absolutely clear is that Skeet Douglas did not receive a fair trial because he was black and didn't have money. That the judge basically said as much, publicly and in court, is haunting.