Robert Johnson spends first day as a free man in 29 years, after judge vacates 1996 murder conviction
After nearly 30 years in prison for a murder he maintains he did not commit, Friday was Robert Johnson's first day of freedom, a day after a judge vacated his 1996 murder conviction.
Johnson has not been free to spend a day the way he wants to since he was 16 years old. That's when he was arrested for a murder that he's always maintained that he had nothing to do with.
Now, at age 45, he has a lot of catching up to do.
"I kept on telling them I didn't have nothing to do with this, but they didn't believe me," Johnson said.
Johnson said he hasn't slept for the past couple days.
"It's just my mind is racing so much, I just I haven't had a time. I haven't had … haven't been able to settle down mentally," he said.
Johnson can't sleep because there's so much he wants to do.
After being released following nearly 29 years of incarceration, his first stop after hugging his 92-year-old grandmother was Dave & Busters for dinner. He said the video games he played in 1996 can't hold a candle to what he saw Thursday night, and the food – pizza and French fries – "tasted a lot better than prison."
He said he feels like he's been dropped on another planet — as his cousin showed him how to use a laptop computer, the first he's ever seen in his life.
As he catches up with his family in the suburbs, Johnson said can't wrap his mind around the autonomy that he has outside of prison walls.
"It takes something from you. It really does, especially when you're not supposed to be there in the first place," he said.
How did Johnson end up behind bars?
The last time Johnson was free, police took him from his grandmother's house and arrested him in connection with the April 14, 1996, murder of a man who was shot and killed in a robbery in his apartment on the South Side.
There was no real evidence against Johnson, just the testimony of a teenager who later recanted, and said police forced him to falsely implicate Johnson.
"I mean, Robert's case is really stunning, because it really starts to make you wonder, how did he ever get convicted?" said Megan Richardson, Johnson's attorney with the Exoneration Project. "The state's entire case against Robert at trial was the incentivized testimony of a young juvenile defendant, and that's frankly it."
No physical evidence or other witnesses ever linked Johnson to the murder.
The detectives on Johnson's case had worked under disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge, and are now well known for abusive and coercive tactics.
After years of fighting to prove his innocence, Johnson's conviction was vacated this week. Next month, prosecutors will determine whether they will appeal Johnson's case, retry him, or dismiss the charges against him.
For Johnson, it was a very good sign that prosecutors did not ask that he be detained until his next hearing.
Meantime, Johnson hopes he can inspire others in his shoes.
"Seeing someone actually walk out of here, it let me know it can be done. You've just got to be patient. But it was hope. It gave me hope," he said.
Johnson said his short-term goals are getting his first cell phone and a driver's license, although he admitted that will take some time since he doesn't know how to drive. Long-term, he was able to get his GED while in prison, but has dreams of becoming a paralegal one day and helping others who have been wrongfully convicted.
