For nearly 18 years, David Robinson has toiled in prison for the murder of Sheila Box.
For the last 14 years, the State of Missouri has known another man confessed to the crime.
On Tuesday, it became official. After many delays, appeals and even marches for justice, David Robinson is going home.
The Missouri State Supreme Court issued a one-page order releasing Robinson on the grounds he met the "gateway claim" of actual innocence and referenced constitutional violations in his case.
Unlike the lengthy opinion offered by Judge Darrell Missey, who was appointed special master by the court, the Missouri Supreme Court kept its ruling short.
"Having reviewed the record and the amended and final report of the master, and finding there is no just reason to delay for further briefing and argument, the Court concludes the petitioner, David Robinson, has met the burden of proof necessary to establish his 'gateway' claim of innocence in light of the constitutional violations that occurred during his trial and is, therefore, entitled to habeas corpus relief," the court ruled. "Robinson's convictions are set aside, and this Court orders Robinson conditionally released from Respondent's custody 30 days from the date of this order unless the state elects to retry him in relation to the offenses for which he was convicted."
Robinson has been fighting for his release ever since he was convicted of Box's murder in August 2001 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Box was murdered Aug. 5, 2000.
"My prayers have been answered," said Jennette McCaster, Robinson's mother. "God sent his angels, and it's like I'm waking up out of a nightmare."
Pat Jackson, Robinson's wife said, "We serve an amazing God! Even when you don't think he hears our prayers, he is always listening! I'm just overwhelmed with joy to be able to share life with David on this side of freedom."
Robinson was convicted on false testimony, with the two key witnesses later recanting their testimonies. Another man, Romanze Mosby, confessed to the murder to several people in 2004, including Butch Johnson, an investigator with the state public defender office capital case division. Johnson recorded the confession, but Mosby at the time would not sign an affidavit to make his confession official. Five years later, after reading a Southeast Missourian story indicating Robinson had attained the legal counsel of the Bryan Cave Law Firm in St. Louis, Mosby, just weeks from being released from prison, hanged himself in his jail cell.
There were many troubling aspects of the case, many of which were admonished by Missey during his examination. The Southeast Missourian examined the case at length as well, and found inconsistencies and accusations of corruption with the lead detective in the case, John Blakely. Blakely, after Missey's ruling, was suspended by the City of Sikeston. He remains on Sikeston's payroll in the city's fire division, and has been stripped of his badge while the city hopes a federal agency will investigate the case.
Blakely knew Mosby was a suspect before the case went to trial, but did not investigate the lead. He testified before an appeals court he was not aware Mosby was a suspect, but told the Supreme Court he did know it.
A deputy with the Scott County Sheriff's Department, Bobby Sullivan, instead chased down the lead and found multiple sources alleging Mosby had committed the murder, but their testimonies were not heard because it was ruled hearsay.
Blakely also was accused of intimidating witnesses.
The primary witness in the case, the only person who said he saw Robinson commit the murder, was in jail at the time he approached law enforcement. After giving his statements, the Sikeston Department of Public Safety put Albert Baker in witness protection and paid him several times.
Robinson's close family members, Betty Sharp, a cousin and Robinson's brother Reggie, were thrilled by the news. Both of them joined McCaster in saying faith played a major part in Robinson's exoneration.
Reggie Robinson said he was "numb" and didn't feel the exhilaration he thought he might, partly because he was still in denial, and partly because he "knew it was coming. The Lord said it would happen, and it did."
Sharp said she, among others, talks to Robinson by phone on a daily basis and said he broke down on the phone when he was able to share the news with family.
She said she and Robinson's family are in the healing process, thanks partially to Robinson's attitude.
"He acknowledges his brothers and sisters are hurt and angry how it happened," she said. "But one thing David has been telling us is not to hold any grudges."
'Gateway'
As for the legality of the "gateway" claim, Missey explained in his report to the court a claim of actual innocence can be either a "gateway" claim or a "free-standing" claim of innocence.
A gateway claim, Missey explained, is demonstrated when "a constitutional violation has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent by showing that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror could have convicted him in light of new evidence of innocence.
"Under this analysis, the proof of actual innocence is 'a gateway through which a habeas petitioner must pass to have his otherwise barred constitutional claim considered on the merits.'"
A "free-standing" claim accounts for "those rare situations ... in which a petitioner sets forth a compelling case of actual innocence independent of any constitutional violation," Missey wrote. Missey added Robinson's case far exceeded the demands for free-standing innocence, and recommended a free-standing ruling, but stated Robinson met the "manifest injustice" threshold for a gateway claim, and that's how the Supreme Court ruled.
"David has spent the past 17 years trapped inside a prison cell for a crime he did not commit," Jonathan Potts of the Bryan Cave Law Firm wrote in a statement to the Southeast Missourian. "Today, the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling has finally put an end to David's tragic ordeal, which no person should ever endure. By overturning David's convictions, the court has not only ended the imprisonment of an innocent man, but has provided a new beginning for David and his family as they can finally be reunited outside the prison walls. In this moment of hope and celebration, however, we do not want to forget the victim of this tragedy, Sheila Box. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, whose support greatly touched David over the past few months, and we hope that they, too, can find closure in the court's ruling today."
Jonathan Douglass, city manager of Sikeston, said in a written statement, "The Missouri Supreme Court has ordered David Robinson released pending review by the Scott County prosecutor. This ruling, as with all rulings in this case, is respected by Sikeston's city administration and the Sikeston DPS."
In an email Tuesday evening, Mary Compton, the Missouri Attorney General's Office press secretary, said the office has received the decision and is reviewing it. The attorney general's office prosecuted the case and handled all of the appeals
Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd did not immediately return a message asking for comment.