On a cold winter evening in Detroit, Michigan, Hassan Green, a 40-year-old Black man, was fatally shot inside a friend's home. The tragedy unfolded on Tuesday, February 15, 2011, at a house located at 3087 Lawton Street, in a neighborhood not far from the bustling thoroughfare of Michigan Avenue. Mr. Green, who required the use of a wheelchair following a prior shooting incident, was known by friends for his resilience. On that particular day, he was visiting a friend at the Lawton Street residence, where a few men had gathered.
The relative peace of the evening was shattered when at least three armed men forced their way into the home. The friend who lived at the residence had briefly stepped out to do laundry at a nearby laundromat. When he returned, he walked into a terrifying scene: the intruders were holding his friends, including Hassan Green, at gunpoint. He later testified that he saw one of the armed men, identified as James Roby, standing directly in front of Mr. Green’s wheelchair. According to witness accounts, Mr. Green, in a final act of courage, pleaded with the assailants not to harm his friends. Moments after he spoke, a shot was fired, and Mr. Green was struck. The armed men then quickly fled the house, leaving chaos and tragedy in their wake.
When emergency services arrived, Hassan Green was found with a fatal gunshot wound. The Detroit Police Department’s homicide unit immediately took charge of the investigation. Detectives secured the scene on Lawton Street, collecting evidence and beginning the critical process of interviewing witnesses. The friend who had walked in on the robbery provided a crucial piece of information, identifying James Roby from a photographic lineup as the man he saw standing over Mr. Green just before the shot was fired. The investigation continued for months, and another key witness emerged nearly a year later. A neighbor came forward and also identified Roby from a photo array as one of the men she had seen running from the house on the night of the murder.
Investigators were able to further solidify their case against Roby using technology. Cell phone mapping data obtained by the police placed Roby's phone in the immediate vicinity of the Lawton Street home at the precise time the home invasion and murder occurred. This convergence of witness identification and physical evidence led police to arrest James Roby and charge him in connection with Hassan Green's death.
James Roby stood trial in Wayne County Circuit Court, facing multiple serious charges for his role in the deadly home invasion. The prosecution presented the evidence gathered by the Detroit Police Department, including the testimony from the two witnesses who identified Roby and the cell phone location data that corroborated his presence at the scene. After hearing the evidence, the jury deliberated on the charges. While they ultimately acquitted Roby of first-degree felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, felon in possession of a firearm, and felony firearm charges, they found him guilty of the lesser but still significant charge of second-degree murder.
Following his conviction, James Roby was sentenced as a third-habitual offender to a prison term of 40 to 60 years. He subsequently challenged the jury's verdict by filing an appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals. In his appeal, Roby argued that there was insufficient evidence to convict him and that the witness testimony presented at trial was inconsistent and therefore unreliable. On November 21, 2013, a panel of appellate judges reviewed the case record and the arguments presented. The court ultimately disagreed with Roby's claims, finding that the evidence, including the two witness identifications and the cell phone data, was legally sufficient for the jury to have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence, bringing legal finality to the case and ensuring the man responsible for the death of Hassan Green was held accountable for his actions.
