Detective in David Robinson case placed on leave; Sikeston requests investigation into case

The city of Sikeston, Missouri, has placed a detective on administrative leave after a judge issued a report Friday that stated police and prosecutors violated David Robinson�s due process in the Sheila Box murder trial and called out the detective in a searing assessment that said detective John Blakely �is lacking in candor or competence, or both.�

The judge also wrote that Blakely �is the least credible witness to have testified before this Court in this matter.�

Robinson is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2000 murder of Box. On Friday, Judge Darrell E. Missey, serving as a special master for the Missouri Supreme Court, issued a recommendation to the justices that Robinson be exonerated and he had exceeded the legal requirements to be declared innocent.

In an email to the Southeast Missourian on Saturday evening, Sikeston city manager Jonathan Douglass wrote, �We have placed Detective Blakely on administrative leave pending our full review of the special master's recommendation and determination of our next steps. We have asked the U.S. Attorney�s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri to review the investigation. The integrity of our law enforcement and the just administration of the law is our utmost concern. Because this case is still in litigation and awaits ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court, we cannot say more at this time.�

Missey, in his assessment of Blakely�s testimony, wrote that not only did Blakely contradict other credible witnesses, but �he contradicts himself and gives accounts of events that seem remarkably unlikely. This Court has concluded that Detective John Blakely lacks credibility and should not be believed.�

Blakely has been accused in sworn court depositions of serious misconduct. Missey tore into Blakely with searing language throughout his report, calling out numerous statements he believed not to be true.

�The evidence in this case reveals a clear pattern of conduct by Detective Blakely in when he brought forward unreliable evidence that pointed toward David Robinson and ignored or suppressed facts which pointed away from him,� Missey wrote. �This Court is left with the impression that Detective Blakely had a particular goal in mind during the course of his investigation. Rather than gather all of the evidence and follow where it may lead, Detective Blakely reached the conclusion that David Robinson should go to prison for the murder of Sheila Box and assembled facts which would support that conclusion while disregarding all other evidence. In summary, this court finds that Detective John Blakely testimony is not credible.�

Missey specifically mentioned in his conclusion police and prosecutors knew one of the state�s witnesses had been lying about staying in the same jail cell as Robinson, but that witness was allowed to testify anyway.

�That supposedly shared cell was the setting and opportunity for Jason Richison to have allegedly heard the critical statement, �I shot the bitch, who cares?� To have knowingly presented false testimony about the setting of that statement, and to have failed to take any steps to correct that false testimony, violates due process,� Missey wrote. �Furthermore, Jason Richison�s lie about being the cellmate of David Robinson should have called the remainder of his testimony into question.�

Missey said it was his belief Blakely went hunting in the local jail in hopes of finding someone who would say incriminating things about Robinson. Further, he said it was unlikely and unreasonable that Robinson, while in jail, would have talked about the color of clothes he was wearing the night of the murder and that he was wearing a hat.

Richison was one of two state witnesses to testify against Robinson at the murder trial, where no physical evidence linking Robinson to the murder was presented. Richison later recanted, saying he lied after being pressured by Blakely with more serious drug charges; he also made accusations of abuse, which Missey wrote in his report were unlikely. Missey wrote it was more likely that Richison testified as he did in exchange for leniency with the prosecutor.

Blakely also changed his story about his knowledge of another suspect in the case, Romanze Mosby. Mosby, four years after the murder, confessed on tape to shooting Box to a public defense investigator, Butch Johnson. He also told several cellmates, including his stepfather, that he had killed Box after seeing Box raise a gun from her lap during a drug deal. Mosby refused to sign an affidavit when Johnson made the recording, then years later killed himself in his cell. The recording and other witness testimony regarding the confession were deemed hearsay and not allowed into evidence.

But Mosby was a suspect at the time Robinson was being investigated for the murder. Then-Scott County deputy Bobby Sullivan testified in a pretrial deposition he followed the lead because no one at the Sikeston Department of Public Safety wanted to follow it. Sullivan in a pretrial deposition named several officers he told about information he�d received about Mosby being the murderer. Sullivan named Blakely and then-detective Mike Williams, who is the current chief. Sullivan testified he believed Robinson was not guilty of the murder, and testified he believed Blakely and others had developed �tunnel vision� in the case.

Missey said in his report that he found Williams to be a credible witness, though Missey wrote that he believes elements of Robinson�s statements to Williams were presented out of context by prosecutors in the trial.

�The Court disbelieves Detective Blakey�s testimony that he simply overlooked doing follow-up investigation of Romanze Mosby because he believed someone else was doing it,� Missey wrote. �Detective John Blakely was in charge of this investigation and had to have been aware of what actions were and were not taken with regard to Romanze Mosby. This Court believes he intentionally declined to investigate Romanze Mosby, which prompted Deputy Bobby Sullivan to investigate matters on his own, even though the case was not his. Further, review of the trial transcript reveals that prosecutor Elizabeth Bock told Judge Copeland in pre-trial conference that she instructed the Sikeston police not to interview Romanze Mosby. This is a fact Detective Blakely conveniently did not share with this Court when he was asked why he had not interviewed Romanze Mosby.�

Jurors never heard Sullivan�s testimony nor that Mosby was considered a suspect, because the information Sullivan received was deemed hearsay and not admissible.

Blakely testified under oath in 2015 he didn�t know Mosby was a suspect until after the conviction, saying �that would have been followed up on if we would have received that information.� He denied knowing about Mosby as a suspect three times under questioning by the state�s prosecutor. In August 2017, he changed his story, telling the court he was aware Mosby may have been involved but did not investigate further.

But Blakely had been involved in investigating Mosby and his brother in other crimes, including one shooting in which Box�s stepson had been a victim. Another man was convicted of that crime even though Mosby initially was considered the primary suspect. Blakely also had known Mosby possessed the same caliber of gun that was used to kill Box.

Many documents associated with the crime Mosby was convicted of have been lost by the Sikeston DPS. Similarly, the Missouri Attorney General�s Office said it lost taped recordings between Sullivan and Mosby and other witnesses, even though court documents state the Attorney General�s Office had possession of them.

An ongoing investigation into the case by the Southeast Missourian that has spanned nearly two years and included the examination of thousands of pages of documents, also revealed a witness claimed under oath in a post-trial setting that Blakely called him the night before the trial and threatened him with drug charges if he testified in favor of Robinson. That man, Ronald Coleman, said Albert Baker, the second witness in the case, had told him he was lying to police about seeing Robinson shoot Box.

Coleman did not appear in court to testify. The jury believed Baker�s version of events. Baker later recanted his testimony, admitting he lied to police to get out of jail. Baker was let out of prison and was placed in witness protection. He also claimed Blakely gave him a blue, football-shaped pill before he took a polygraph test. Charges were filed against Robinson after Baker passed the test.

Coleman said he told detective Chris Rataj about the phone call from Baker.

Blakely has denied all the accusations in sworn testimony. Missey did not address these allegations in his report; Coleman was not called to testify in the latest appeal.

In a telephone interview Saturday night, Johnson, the public defense investigator who has been working on Robinson�s case for more than a decade, said he was glad to see Sikeston take the step to have an outside agency look into the case.

�I don�t like Blakely; I don�t think he�s a good cop,� Johnson said, adding he understands those making accusations don�t have good reputations. �But when there�s a preponderance of stuff, with people saying the same thing, you�ve got to start wondering. I�d like to see the truth come out, and if it does, I don�t think Blakely will be an officer anymore.�

Numerous sources told the Southeast Missourian in 2017 the Sikeston DPS cut corners in criminal cases in the early 2000s.

It�s unclear whether the Attorney General�s Office will appeal Missey�s recommendation, or when the Supreme Court will convene to decide whether to follow through on Missey�s recommendation.

The attorney general�s office has not issued a comment to the Southeast Missourian regarding Missey�s report.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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