Robert Johnson spent his first day as a free man after nearly 30 years behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. On Thursday, a judge vacated his 1996 murder conviction, marking the first time Johnson has been free since he was arrested at 16. Now 45, he is adjusting to a world that has moved on without him.
"I kept on telling them I didn't have nothing to do with this, but they didn't believe me," Johnson said. Since his release, he hasn't been able to sleep. "My mind is racing so much... I haven't been able to settle down mentally."
Johnson's first moments of freedom included hugging his 92-year-old grandmother and enjoying a meal at Dave & Buster's. The pizza and French fries were a stark contrast to prison food, and he marveled at modern video games, saying they "can't hold a candle" to the ones he remembered. He is also navigating technology for the first time, as his cousin introduced him to a laptop—something he had never seen before.
His journey to incarceration began in 1996 when he was arrested in connection with the murder of a man during a robbery on Chicago's South Side. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, only the testimony of a teenager who later recanted, claiming police coerced him into falsely implicating Johnson.
"I mean, Robert's case is really stunning," said Megan Richardson, Johnson's attorney with the Exoneration Project. "The state's entire case... was the incentivized testimony of a young juvenile defendant, and that's frankly it."
The detectives involved in his case had ties to disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge, known for using abusive and coercive tactics. After years of fighting for his innocence, Johnson's conviction was overturned. Prosecutors will decide next month whether to appeal, retry, or dismiss the charges.
For now, Johnson is focused on his future. "Seeing someone actually walk out of here, it let me know it can be done... it gave me hope," he said. His next steps include getting a phone, learning to drive, and pursuing his dream of becoming a paralegal to help others wrongfully convicted.
Link: CBS News
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