CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A 49-year-old Missouri man who served nearly 20 years in prison for first-degree murder has been freed after a judge criticized how the homicide investigation was handled and the state’s top prosecutor recommended that charges be dismissed.

David Robinson was greeted with hugs as he emerged around 10 p.m. Monday from the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley reviewed a judge’s ruling in February that found a police detective was “lacking in candor or competence, or both.” That detective’s investigation helped send Robinson to prison for life in the fatal shooting of Sheila Box in Sikeston in 2001. The detective has resigned.

Hawley also evaluated the evidence available for a retrial. Since Robinson’s sentencing, another man has confessed to killing Box and two witnesses have recanted.

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is recommending that charges be dismissed against a man who has served nearly 20 years in prison for the death of a southeast Missouri woman.

Hawley announced Monday that his office is recommending David Robinson of Sikeston be released from prison. Robinson has been behind bars since 2001 for the killing of Sheila Box, who was shot to death after leaving a Sikeston bar.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled May 2 that Robinson’s constitutional rights had been violated during the investigation into Box’s death and during his trial.

Prosecutors presented no physical evidence tying Robinson to the crime and two key witnesses recanted statements that Robinson was the killer. Another man confessed to the murder in 2004 but the confession was never introduced as evidence.

It was not immediately clear when Robinson will be released from prison.