Wrongfully convicted man, now free, wants justice to come for arresting officer

CHICAGO (WGN) — A wrongfully convicted man who was released from custody on Thursday evening after spending nearly 29 years behind bars says he wants to help others like him who’ve had their freedom taken away, and he wants to see the officer who arrested him held accountable.

Robert Johnson was a teen when he was arrested in connection with the 1996 killing of Eddie Binion and later convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery and home invasion. Now 45 and a free man with the help of the Exoneration Project, Johnson said he aspires to become a paralegal.

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Johnson’s defense said that during his trial years ago, there was no physical evidence or eyewitnesses connecting him to the crime.

“The evidence was incredibly weak,” said Megan Richardson, Johnson’s attorney through the Exoneration Project.

Additionally, a juvenile co-defendant has recanted his testimony, sharing that police who worked under disgraced Chicago police commander Jon Burge forced him to falsely accuse Johnson, lawyers said.

“I remember him,” Johnson said. “He was the motivating force. They followed his lead, all the detectives. … And he did it as if, again, he knew that he wasn’t going to be held accountable.”

“I wish he could go to prison so he can experience what I did. It was really dehumanizing being in that place,” he added.

Johnson’s first stop after walking out of the Cook County Jail was to the grandmother’s house he hadn’t seen in in decades.

“It was surreal,” he said. “It really was because the last time I walked out of that house, that was the last time I saw that house for almost 29 years.”

Johnson is scheduled to return to court on March 13 when prosecutors will decide whether or not to appeal the court’s ruling.