Robert Johnson released after judge vacates his conviction in 1996 Chicago murder
After nearly 30 years, a man who was wrongly convicted of a murder in Chicago was able to walk free Thursday night.
Robert Johnson was 16 years old when he was arrested and sentenced to 80 years in prison. He was let out of the Cook County Jail Thursday evening after his conviction was vacated by a judge.
Johnson's attorneys said police took him from his grandmother's house and arrested him in connection with the April 14, 1996, murder of Eddie Binion, a drug dealer who was shot and killed in a robbery in his apartment.
Johnson's grandmother, Mary Robinson, is now 92. They reunited on Thursday night.
After almost three decades behind bars, Johnson said he was desperately looking forward to the hugs from family and friends.
"I didn't think this day was going to happen," he said.
Johnson was sentenced to prison after a juvenile gave false testimony — even though no physical evidence or witnesses tied Johnson to the case.
The juvenile later recanted his testimony and said police forced him to implicate Johnson falsely.
Detectives on the case had previously worked under disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge, who oversaw the torture and coerced confessions of at least 125 people from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Burge was fired from the Police Department in 1993 — a few years before the Johnson case — after a police review board found he had tortured a suspect. He was convicted of lying about torture in testimony he provided for a civil case in 2010, and he died in 2018.
As for Johnson, he credits his faith in God and the letters he wrote while he was incarcerated.
"I screamed, but nobody listened to me," said Johnson.
He also credits his grandmother.
"She never left me!" Johnson said. "She used to always say, 'Well, Robert, I hope I'm here when you get out,' and I used to always say: 'Grandma, don't say that. You're going to be here,' and man, she was here."
And Robinson was thrilled that she was.
"My only wish to God was to live to see my grandson walk through the door, and he did," she said, "and I'm just so grateful. He looks good, doesn't he?"
In the future, Johnson said he already has his GED and is working toward an associate's degree. But he also plans to advocate for people wrongly convicted like him.
"I just want the world to know that there are people, there's still people here in prison and in Cook County jail for crimes they didn't commit," Johnson said.
As for immediate plans, good food is top of mind.
"Just really just a homecooked meal," he said. "The food in prison, I'm sure you all know, is horrible!"
Johnson's attorney said his family did end up going to Dave & Buster's Thursday night. They also said he still has a long road ahead.
Next month, the state will determine whether they will appeal Johnson's case, retry it, or dismiss it.
