After spending nearly 30 years in prison for a murder he claims he did not commit, Friday marked Robert Johnson’s first day of freedom following a judge’s decision to overturn his 1996 murder conviction. Since he was taken into custody at the age of 16, Johnson has maintained that he had no involvement in the crime. This was the first day he could live as he wished.
At 45 years old, he has a lot of ground to cover. According to CBS News, Johnson mentioned that he hasn’t slept in the last few days due to all the things he wants to accomplish. After serving nearly 29 years in prison, his first destination after embracing his 92-year-old grandmother was Dave & Busters for a meal. He remarked that the video games he encountered in 1996 pale in comparison to what he experienced on Thursday night, and the meal—pizza and French fries—“tasted far better than prison food.” He expressed that he feels as if he’s landed on a different planet—his cousin had to show him how to operate a laptop, the very first he has ever encountered. While reconnecting with his family in the suburbs, Johnson said he struggles to comprehend the freedom he now enjoys outside the confines of prison.
*BACK STORY*
The last time Johnson experienced freedom, authorities took him from his grandmother’s residence and detained him in relation to the murder of a man, shot during a robbery in his apartment on the South Side on April 14, 1996. There was no substantial evidence implicating Johnson, only the statement of a teenager who later retracted it, claiming that the police coerced him into falsely accusing Johnson. No physical evidence or additional witnesses ever connected Johnson to the homicide. After years of striving to establish his innocence, Johnson’s conviction was overturned this week. Next month, prosecutors will decide whether to appeal Johnson’s case, retry him, or drop the charges against him.
