Chicago man cleared of 2013 murder after X-ray evidence proves innocence
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man who has spent more than a decade behind bars for murder went free on Monday, after he was exonerated by medical evidence that proved it was physically impossible for him to have been the shooter.
At a hearing on Monday, attorneys for Anthony Robinson said the medical records were never presented in court, and Cook County Judge James Obbish — the same judge who convicted Robinson at a bench trial in 2014 — said if they had been, it would have been a very solid defense.
"I knew coming into today that the judge was going to make a good decision, a better decision for him," said Robinson's aunt, Patricia Robinson.
Surveillance video from the January 2013 shooting death of Kelvin Jemison in front of a Bronzeville housing complex showed Jemison and his shooter running through the frame.
After shots were fired, the shooter turned around and sprinted back in the opposite direction.
Based on that video, and the since-recanted testimony of a witness, Robinson was convicted and sentenced to 55 years in prison – even though he insisted that it couldn't have been him.
This is because Robinson couldn't run.
"He told them — they didn't follow up. He told his lawyer — he didn't follow up. No one would listen to Anthony," said Robinson's attorney, Lauren Myerscough-Mueller of the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School. "Finally, today he was listened to."
According to 2013 X-rays that were never entered into evidence at his trial, Robinson had recently been shot in both of his legs, shattering his tibia and fibula on his left leg.
A medical expert who recently reviewed the records said it was physically impossible for Robinson to be the sprinting shooter in the video, which shows the shooter running effortlessly without any limp or defect in his stride.
"This is a huge piece of evidence — the medical impossibility of the crime — that should have been presented," said Myerscough-Mueller. "It wasn't."
At Monday's hearing, Myerscough-Mueller argued that his previous attorney didn't do his job at his trial by failing to present that evidence. The judge agreed, saying it was a viable defense that should have been presented.
Cook County prosecutors agreed to vacate Robinson's conviction and drop all charges against him. Robinson was released from custody at Stateville on Monday.
His attorney will file for a certificate of innocence, which the Cook County State's Attorney's office has already said they will not oppose.
