A Queens County jury convicted Michael Robinson of murder for a second time on June 30, 2026, more than three decades after he first stood trial for the killing of his estranged pregnant wife, Gwendolyn Samuels [1]. Robinson's original 1993 conviction was vacated in 2023 after new DNA evidence was introduced, clearing the path for retrial before Queens County Supreme Court Judge Michelle Johnson [1]. The prosecution proceeded on the same murder charge that had produced the initial guilty verdict, and the case returned to a jury more than 30 years after Samuels was killed [1].
The retrial turned, in part, on Robinson's challenge that the new DNA evidence was exculpatory, a theory the defense presented to the second jury [1]. That jury rejected the argument and deliberated for less than a day before returning a guilty verdict [1]. The swift deliberation closed one of the longer post-conviction-review cycles in recent New York history, with Robinson spending the intervening years, between his vacated conviction and retrial, at issue in the courts.
Judge Johnson sentenced Robinson the following day, July 1, 2026, to 25 years to life in prison [1]. Because Robinson was first convicted in 1993, any credit for time already served will factor into the administration of that sentence under New York law, though the precise calculation was not reported in available sources. No immediate statement from defense counsel regarding a planned appeal was reported following the sentencing [1].