$8 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Convicted and Imprisoned Missouri Man
Represented by Jonathan Potts, Robinson filed suit against the city of Sikeston after a May 2018 Missouri Supreme Court decision ruling there was “clear and convincing” evidence that Robinson did not shoot Sheila Box outside her Sikeston bar in 2000. Robinson maintained that he was at a family gathering at the time of the shooting. Three of his relatives verified his alibi.
Robinson said he was a troublemaker growing up in Sikeston with a criminal record. He said the police did not like him, and that was the reason they framed him for the murder in 2001.
In 2004, Romanze Mosby confessed to Box’s murder, along with several others. But he refused to sign an affidavit stating such and hung himself in his cell five years later.
Robinson filed two appeals based on Mosby’s confession, but he said the police helped to stop the acquittal on both appeals.
He then filed a motion to the state Supreme Court where a judge ruled that there was no physical evidence that linked Robinson to the crime and that two of the witnesses recanted their testimony placing Robinson at the scene of the crime. He reversed the conviction, and the state prosecutor made the decision not to retry Robinson.
Robinson immediately filed a wrongful conviction suit, and a year later, the city of Sikeston settled for $8 million. City Manager Jonathan Douglass said the city would pay $75,500, and their insurance provider would cover the rest.
In a statement Potts gave to Newsweek, he said, “We are thrilled to achieve some level of justice for David after he spent nearly two decades in prison for a murder he did not commit. No settlement will ever make up for the 18 years David permanently lost, but David and his family now have the opportunity to begin a new chapter in their lives.”
Robinson stated that he and his wife were creating a foundation to assist those in need after being released from prison.
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