The following is a statement from New Jersey Public Defender Yvonne Smith Segars regarding the matter of Robert Marshall currently U.S. District Judge Joseph Irenas. It will serve as the only official statement from the NJOPD on this matter at this time.

"The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender is determined to ensure the fairest and fullest hearing of all the issues in Mr. Marshall's case. When the ultimate outcome - life and death - is at stake, our constitutional duty can be no clearer. The issue at the heart of this particular hearing is the assistance of Mr. Marshall's trial counsel in the penalty phase. In a case that had such widely differing outcomes for the various defendants, every aspect of the trials should be scrutinized to the fullest."