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FAYETTEVILLE – Testimony from a key witness for the prosecution continued Friday in the state's first-ever Racial Justice Act hearing.

Convicted killer Marcus Robinson is trying to avoid the death penalty by convincing a judge racial bias played a role in his murder trial.

Testimony from the first two weeks of the state's first Racial Justice Act hearing has centered around two studies.

Marcus Robinson's lawyers claim a Michigan State study done by researcher Barbara O'Brien shows there is racial bias in jury selection in North Carolina.

The study looked at 173 cases in the state and explored the reasons why minorities were excused from jury duty. With two black jurors seated on the 12-person jury for Robinson's trial, O'Brien felt the study showed race was a significant factor in Robinson's case.

"We did the best we could and the best we could to be as accurate as possible, but the extent that there is error or disagreement as to how we characterized a category, the important thing is consistency,” said O'Brien.

The other study discussed during the hearing was done by Dr. Joseph Katz. He analyzed the Michigan State study and has called its findings into question.

His study is based on answers the prosecutors gave after he asked them why jurors were excused.

"There's rule of thumb that prosecutors follow that they're knowledgeable about based on their experience as to why they would strike someone,” said Katz.

The defense challenged Katz on the notes he took for his study, noting that some findings were based on oral feedback.

"Do you think its fair to rely on your expert opinion that is at least partially based on phone conversations where you purposefully took no notes so that Mr. Robinson's lawyers could not review them?” asked a defense attorney.

“Do I think it's fair? Yes," said Katz.

After Katz got off the stand, the prosecution indicated he could be called to testify again next week. Testimony will resume on Monday