Robinson's news met with tears, shouts in phone calls after judge's statement of innocence

David Robinson has been on the phone a lot lately, talking with family and friends about the report by Judge Darrell Missey, who is recommending to the Missouri Supreme Court that Robinson�s murder conviction be vacated.

�I talked to my youngest daughter, and she cried for about 15 minutes, and I had to call her back,� Robinson said during a phone call from prison to the Southeast Missourian on Monday. �I called my momma, and she didn�t even talk; she was too busy shouting and praising the Lord.�

Missey on Friday released his recommendation to the justices, writing that the case against Robinson has evaporated with two recantations and a confession from another man to the 2000 murder of Sheila Box.

Missey also was highly critical of lead detective John Blakely, of the Sikeston (Missouri) Department of Public Safety, and he also called out then-assistant attorney general Elizabeth Bock, who prosecuted the case on behalf of Scott County. Bock is now a judge for the 44th Circuit in south-central Missouri, serving Douglas County. In the wake of the report, the city of Sikeston issued a statement saying Blakely had been suspended and the city had asked for a review by the U.S. Attorney�s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri. City manager Jonathan Douglass said in the release the city could not comment further. It�s unclear why the city chose the U.S. Attorney�s Office to review Blakely�s investigation, and the U.S. Attorney�s Office did not reply to an inquiry to its office about the process or prevalence of such an investigation.

As for Robinson, he said, �I�m a blessed man.�

He said workers at the Jefferson City Correctional Center have been offering him congratulations. Robinson said as part of the prison�s rehabilitation process, inmates are required to take Impact of Crime on Victims classes, and a graduation requirement compels inmates to own up to their crimes and the effect they had on their victims and victims� survivors.

�I never did that,� Robinson said. He said when victims of crimes not related to him came to be part of the program, �I told them �My name is David Robinson. I�ve been convicted, but I�m actually innocent.��

A woman who helps run that program in the prison was one of the people to congratulate Robinson in recent days, he said. Robinson said he�s had very little sleep since receiving the news.

Robinson said he was pleased to hear about Blakely�s suspension and Sikeston�s call for an investigation.

He acknowledged his criminal history and attitude before being accused of Box�s murder.

�I had a strong hate, dislike and mistrust of (prison) staff and authority, period, but I let all that go � years ago, in fact,� Robinson said. �But they need to think twice about framing somebody.�

If the Missouri Supreme Court exonerates Robinson and makes a claim of actual innocence, it would establish precedent in Missouri. A judge ruled �actual innocence� in 2009, for Josh Kezer in the murder of Mischelle Lawless, another case out of Scott County. But that decision was not appealed. Later, a Missouri man named Rodney Lincoln had appealed his conviction after the recantation of testimony of one of the witnesses in his case. The appellate court ruled it did not have the authority to claim �actual innocence� except in capital cases, citing the first Missouri precedent, State v. Amrine in 1987, which was a death-penalty case.

If the Missouri Supreme Court decides to issue an actual innocence claim, it would establish Missouri can reverse life-without-parole cases with a free-standing claim of innocence that meets �clear and convincing� evidence. It also could use Robinson�s case to expand such claims to any case.

It�s not yet clear when the Missouri Supreme Court will convene to accept or reject Missey�s recommendation.

The Southeast Missourian reached out to the Missouri Attorney General�s Office for comment Friday and Monday, but the office had not responded to inquiries by 5 p.m. Monday.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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