CLEVELAND — After a News 5 investigation, a man who says he's innocent of murder will have the opportunity to present evidence supporting his request for a new trial during an evidentiary hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday morning.
RELATED: After News 5 investigation, Cuyahoga judge allows innocence claimant to seek new trial
Roberto Wynn first asked the court to consider new evidence in his case more than two years ago after a key witness in his homicide case recanted her testimony.
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Judge Jeffrey Saffold granted Wynn's leave to file a motion for a new trial after an attorney conference held the same day a News 5 investigation into his case aired.
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"I appreciate you airing this story, not just for myself, but for everybody else that's wrongfully incarcerated," Wynn said during a phone call from prison with me.
News 5 Investigators reached out to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office about Wynn's case. A spokesperson responded that the office "will speak in court."
The new evidence
Wynn was convicted of fatally shooting Christopher Basie on April 25, 2008.
In 2022, the witness in the case signed a statement recanting her trial testimony.
In the statement, she said she "blamed" Wynn for a shooting that "he didn't commit" and that she was sure he "didn't have a gun."
She wrote that she was mad at him at the time and did not realize his "life would be spent in a cage" over her statements.
According to a motion filed by Wynn's attorney, the witness was 12 years old when the shooting happened on Parmalee Avenue on Cleveland's East Side.
"What's left of the case is merely the testimony of wildly inconsistent witnesses," Donald Caster, Wynn's former Ohio Innocence Project attorney, said.
Wynn is now represented by OIP attorney Lauren Staley.
"Without the witness who recanted, there almost certainly wouldn't have been a conviction in this case," Caster said.
Prosecutors have said there were multiple witnesses who identified Wynn.
Innocence cases often languish
"Unfortunately, delays are very common," Michael Donnelly, a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge, said. "It's not because of an individual judge. It's a systemic problem."
After 14 years on the bench in Cuyahoga County, Donnelly was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court. He is currently an adjunct law professor at Cleveland State University's College of Law and the creator of Ohio Court Watch, which aims to increase transparency and oversight in the state's legal system.
RELATED: Who gets a second chance with the Ohio Supreme Court and who doesn't?
"The safeguards that people have on the front end of the system, like the right to an attorney, the right to a speedy trial, those don't exist," he said. "As a result, cases can languish.”
News 5 Investigators found 28 Cuyahoga County cases where motions for a new trial were open longer than 120 days, which is the standard set by the Ohio Supreme Court.
"In post-conviction [proceedings], people can basically file anything," Donnelly said. "There's a lot of the motions that are frivolous."
"Unfortunately, cases that do have merit — that have been opposed by the state and there may be evidence to be tested — they get lost in the mix," he said.
What's being done to prevent this?
Ohio Court Watch recently launched a website that tracks cases like Wynn's and others involving convicted people who claim innocence and are waiting to learn whether they will be allowed to present new evidence.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Ohio Innocence Watch.
Ohio legislative proposal
A proposed state law would also make it easier for innocence claimants to obtain post-conviction relief.
H.B. 177 requires judges to hold a hearing when they find that an innocence claimant's case has credible new evidence.
However, like many innocence cases, the legislation has also languished.
The bill was introduced in March 2025 and assigned to the Ohio House Judiciary Committee but has yet to receive a single hearing.
"This would be a reform of great significance," Donnelly said.
"If you could undermine the theory of guilt, you're entitled to a new trial under the law," he said. "But the hurdle — because of the flaw in the law in post-conviction right now — you can't get there."
Donnelly said attorneys can complain to the Ohio Court of Appeals or the Ohio Supreme Court when a judge delays ruling on a motion.
However, he said most attorneys do not because they fear angering the judge they want to rule in their favor.
'I just want my freedom back'
Wynn said he is anxious, excited and nervous about Tuesday's hearing.
"The time has come for all the truth and the details to be revealed," he said.
Wynn's parents, Carla Butler and Ronnie Wynn, hope Judge Saffold will grant their son a new trial and that his conviction will be overturned.
"It's not just him locked up. We been locked up too," Ronnie Wynn said.
"It's been a long time, but I look at it as my prayers have been answered," Butler said.
After years behind bars, Wynn said he is also hopeful he will eventually be set free.
"The truth will happen, and the truth will come out, but it's a hard process," he said. "I just want my freedom back."
