No. 25-6534

Robert Keith Ray v. Colorado

Lower Court: Colorado
Docketed: 2026-01-09
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: None
Key Terms:
DueProcess Punishment JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2026-02-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

(1) Whether the State of Colorado violated petitioner's rights to due process, a fair trial, and equal protection by failing to address prosecutorial misconduct in the form of pernicious use of racially charged language, including twenty-four instances of the all-white prosecution team using the N-word in front of the jury that convicted petitioner of murder, sometimes when referring to petitioner himself, a Black man.

(2) Whether, given the persistent and pernicious presence of racial bias in the criminal legal system and the important position that prosectors hold in our society, constitutional harmless-error review should apply to prosecutorial misconduct of a racial nature even when such error is unpreserved due to a lack of contemporaneous objections by defense counsel.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Question not identified.

Docket Entries

2026-02-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
2026-02-03
Waiver of right of respondent Colorado to respond filed.
2026-01-06
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due February 9, 2026)
2025-12-03
Application (25A641) granted by Justice Gorsuch extending the time to file until January 6, 2026.
2025-11-28
Application (25A641) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 7, 2025 to February 5, 2026, submitted to Justice Gorsuch.

Attorneys

Colorado
Jillian Joy PriceColorado Attorney General's Office, Respondent
Robert Ray
Gail Kathryn JohnsonJohnson & Klein, PLLC, Petitioner