Pennsylvania woman sets up GoFundMe account for David Robinson after CBS report

A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area woman has set up a GoFundMe account for Sikeston, Missouri, resident David Robinson after learning of the challenges he faces since being freed from prison after serving nearly 18 years for a murder he did not commit.

Janine Schuliger told the Southeast Missourian she learned of his plight after watching a segment on the case that was broadcast earlier this week on the CBS Morning News. She said recorded the episode and watched it Wednesday morning.

She said she started the GoFundMe account, under the heading "wrongly convicted David Robinson" immediately after viewing the segment. She donated $50 and has a goal of raising $10,000 for Robinson. The account is titled "wrongly convicted David Robinson."

Robinson, who went to prison at age 32 and is now 50 years old, has found it a challenge to get back his life since being released from prison in May.

He recently married his longtime girlfriend, Pat Jackson, who is a nurse. Robinson is still looking for a job.

Inmates who are paroled get help with housing and finding employment in Missouri, but inmates who are released after being found innocent often don't receive such assistance, according to the news story.

State funds are available for inmates in cases in which DNA testing proves their innocence, according to the CBS report. But Robinson's freedom hinged on a judge's recommendation, not DNA testing. For Robinson, there was no state assistance.

Schuliger doesn't know Robinson, but she said Wednesday she wanted to do something to help him. "I was just moved by the story," said Schuliger, who subsequently read the investigative articles of the Southeast Missourian regarding the miscarriage of justice in the Robinson case.

"I was outraged," she said of Robinson's ordeal. "I don't know how he survived all these years." She said, "I know our justice system needs to be revamped."

Robinson said he is thankful for Schuliger's charitable action. "I greatly appreciate it," he said.

Even though he is innocent of the crime for which he was charged, Robinson said many employers are reluctant to hire him. He said the fact he is black adds to the challenge of getting a job.

As for police and prosecutors, Robinson said, "They never admit they made a mistake."

Robinson was convicted of the Aug., 5, 2000, murder of Sheila Box in Sikeston.

Robinson was convicted of the murder of Box on the testimony of two jailhouse informants, one of whom was paid more than $2,000 in a "witness protection" program. Both witnesses recanted their testimonies.

In 2004, another man, Romanze Mosby, confessed to shooting the victim during a botched drug deal. Mosby committed suicide in 2009 while serving a prison sentence for another crime.

Judge Darrell Missey, a special master appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court, studied the cased and recommended the Missouri Supreme Court exonerate Robinson.

The Supreme Court ruled Robinson met a "gateway" claim of actual innocence, meaning his constitutional rights were violated.

Schuliger wrote on the GoFundMe page that "the nightmare that this man has lived through for the past 18 years is incomprehensible. David Robinson was wrongly accused, then wrongly convicted ... There was no evidence linking him to his crime and, in 2004, the 'witnesses' who accused him confessed to lying. It has taken until May of this year to get him released!"

As to the GoFundMe account, Schuliger said she has "never done something like this before, but I'm hoping others will feel that he is someone who needs a little compassion for what he has endured by our ludicrously unfair justice system."

Robinson will have an opportunity to gain compensation through the courts in a lawsuit, but he has yet to file such a suit. Civil suits can last years.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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