The sexual misconduct lawsuit against former high school girls’ basketball coach Thurston J. Robinson may get a new trial following allegations that a juror asked one of the witnesses for a date while the trial was underway.
Jurors are not allowed to communicate with witnesses during trials or otherwise engage in conduct that could prevent the trial from being fair and impartial, a state prosecutors’ manual produced by the University of North Carolina School of Government says.
Former Terry Sanford High School player Miya Giles-Jones sued Robinson in January 2023 on claims he touched her inappropriately and carried out other acts of sexual misconduct while he was her coach. Robinson was criminally charged shortly after, and his criminal case is still pending.
In addition to coaching at Terry Sanford High School, Robinson had coached at E.E. Smith High School and he coached girls’ travel basketball, witnesses testified at the civil trial in May.
A trial for the lawsuit was held in May in Cumberland County Superior Court, and Giles-Jones asked for $2.5 million in compensation. On May 16, the jury ruled against her in a 12-0 decision.
Now Superior Court Judge Robby Hicks, who presided over the trial, is investigating the alleged juror misconduct and has scheduled a hearing for July 2. The witness and the juror who allegedly asked her for a date have been subpoenaed to testify.
The allegations against the juror
On May 28, Giles-Jones’ lawyer Michael Porter filed a motion seeking a new trial based on the allegation against the juror.
“At the outset of the trial, the Court ordered and admonished all jurors, ‘not talk or have contact of any kind with any of the parties, attorneys or witnesses,’” the motion says.
On the second day of the trial, Porter’s motion says, Porter and his co-counsel Antonio Gerald called Sarrayyah Kennedy to testify. After Kennedy testified, the motion says, juror Keem Cook reached out to her on Facebook Messenger and asked her for a date.
Kennedy saw the message from Cook that evening, the motion says. It says she turned him down and deleted the message.
“This juror-initiated contact with one of the Plaintiff’s witnesses occurred with several days left in the trial and well before jury deliberations,” the motion says.
Kennedy contacted Giles-Jones’ legal team after the verdict, the motion says.
“The fact that a juror initiated electronic contact with and propositioned one of Plaintiff’s witnesses for a romantic encounter and was rejected has tainted the trial that occurred in this matter (that otherwise would have been error free), and prevented the Plaintiff from having twelve unbiased and impartial jurors,” the motion says.
The motion asks Hicks to set aside the verdict that ruled for Robinson and against Giles-Jones and grant her a new trial.
What happens next?
Hicks held a hearing on the matter on June 10. He initiated an investigation as required under state law and subpoenaed Cook and Kennedy “to question them about this potential inappropriate juror misconduct,” Porter told CityView on Thursday.
“If this alleged conduct occurred, it could have potentially made one of the jurors biased,” Porter said. Cook may have turned against Giles-Jones after Kennedy rejected him, Porter said.
If there were no contact between Cook and Kennedy, would there have been a different verdict?
“We will never know. However, the law entitles you to 12 unbiased jurors,” Porter said.
Efforts to contact Robinson’s attorney, Jared Hammett, were unsuccessful.
The hearing to learn more from Cook and Kennedy is scheduled for 10 a.m. July 2 in room 3B of the Cumberland County Courthouse, according to the subpoenas.
If Hicks is persuaded by the testimony from Cook and Kennedy, he could order a new trial.
What about the criminal charges against Robinson?
Robinson was arrested in January 2023. During the lawsuit trial in May, there was testimony that Robinson had inappropriate conduct with several girls whom he coached.
The criminal case is still pending.
Cumberland County court records show that Robinson is charged with 10 counts of misdemeanor sexual battery, five counts of felony taking indecent liberties with a student, and one count of felony indecent exposure.
The court system’s online database says Robinson has a court date in his criminal case on July 30.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
