An Oakland man spent seven months behind bars facing murder charges, despite an autopsy being unable to determine her cause of death, court records show.
Baraka Robertson, 42, was charged last Oct. 18 with murdering 53-year-old Belinda Washington in a beating at an Oakland home. Washington was found, dead, in a home on the 2500 block of 82nd Avenue, six days before Robertson was arrested.
Washington suffered from bruises and small cuts to her head, which authorities initially believed had killed her. But a subsequent autopsy not only failed to find an official manner of death, but found the injuries were “superficial” and didn’t kill her, according to court records.
On May 17, weeks after turning the autopsy findings over to Robertson’s attorney, an Alameda County prosecutor dismissed the case, freeing Robertson after seven months behind bars. In a statement to this newspaper, Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods said Robertson’s attorney had been asking for the autopsy report for “months” before it was eventually turned over to the defense.
“It shouldn’t have taken this long for this case to be dismissed. Oakland police knew about the autopsy findings for months,” Woods said. “Our client should have been released immediately. Instead he had to sit in Santa Rita until the DA finally gave us the report that showed this was not a murder.”
Oakland police have not responded to requests for comment on the case.
Three weeks before the case was dismissed, Robertson’s lawyer filed a motion for discovery that argued prosecutors had continually failed to turn over exculpatory evidence.
In court records, Oakland police investigators said Robertson — who has a developmental disability — was identified as a suspect based on text messages he sent to another person. One said that he was upset with Washington for using an EBT card without his consent and asked the person to “Come get me because I am about to snap and kill this b—- Belinda.”
Robertson was also the suspect in a hit and run involving Washington’s truck that occurred after her death, police said. When detectives attempted to interview Robertson, he requested a lawyer, according to court records.