Man Freed From Prison in Murder Case : Justice: Jamaican says he was ‘railroaded’ by authorities in off-again, on-again identification by jailhouse informant.

Derrick Robinson lost three teeth and his faith in the U.S. justice system during the 30 months he spent in jail for a murder prosecutors now say it appears he didn’t commit.

The 32-year-old Jamaican native walked out of a Dade County courtroom last month, professing his innocence in the 1988 murder of a Lake Lucerne woman, Leuthel Ramsey, who was shot twice in the face.

“The truth is I’m not guilty and I’m free right now,” he said. “They railroaded me, the police. They didn’t like me. They accused me of things I hadn’t done.”

Robinson’s release followed the emergence of two new witnesses to Ramsey’s death who claimed Kevin Morley, a man awaiting trial for shooting a Miami Metro-Dade policeman, was the actual killer.

Robinson’s ordeal began the night of Aug. 9, 1988, when detectives woke him up and read him his rights.

Prosecutors had an eyewitness willing to come forward who fingered Robinson, plus leads from a number of area residents who told police Ramsey was killed by a man with dreadlocks. Robinson at the time had a Rastafarian hairstyle.

However, while Robinson was awaiting trial, the eyewitness, Michael Waters, was arrested and accidentally placed in the same cell with Robinson. Waters quickly recanted his testimony. But soon after being reassigned to another cell he insisted again that Robinson was the killer.

Waters’ changing testimony prompted prosecutors to downgrade the charge against Robinson from first- to second-degree murder.

Robinson entered a plea of convenience through which he told the court he was innocent, but would plead guilty to second-degree murder and accept a seven-year sentence.

Robinson, who had been arrested on robbery and marijuana charges but never convicted, said he entered the plea because he was afraid if he went to trial he would be railroaded and find himself facing the electric chair.

While serving the sentence, Robinson lost his teeth and had his arms broken in falls in the prison shower, he said.

“It feels great to be out,” he said before heading to the home of relatives. “I prayed every day and every night the truth would come to light.”

Robinson had high praise for his court-appointed attorney, Simon Steckel, who was so convinced of his client’s innocence that he personally paid for a private detective to investigate the Ramsey killing.

“The scariest thing about what you saw happen this day is he (Robinson) is not the first person I’ve come in contact with convicted of murder who is innocent,” Steckel said.