Innocent man released after 34 years Innocent man released after 34 years

American Sidney Holmes spent more than 34 years in prison – although he was innocent. Now he has been released from prison after prosecutors dropped charges against the wrongfully convicted man. He was sentenced to 400 years in prison for armed robbery.

“I never lost hope and always knew this day would come,” the 57-year-old said, according to a statement from the Innocence Project of Florida. The non-profit organization stands up for innocent convicts. “I can’t wait to hug my mother in the free world for the first time in over 34 years,” Holmes said.

In October 1988, Holmes was arrested in connection with the armed robbery of two people outside a grocery store in Broward County, Florida. According to news channel CNN, he is accused of being the driver of two unknown men who committed the robbery. He was found guilty by a grand jury in April 1989 and convicted a month later.

In November 2020, Holmes contacted the Broward County District Attorney’s Conviction Review Division. According to CNN, he told authorities he was innocent and had no part in the 1988 crime. The Judgment Unit and the Innocence Project of Florida began a new investigation into Holmes’s case — and their findings “raised reasonable doubts about his guilt.” the agency said, according to the CNN report. “A strange turn of events” led to Holmes becoming a suspect, according to reports.

One of the two victims described the car used in the robbery as a tan Oldsmobile Cutlass with a tan roof and a hole in the trunk. Weeks later, the brother of a robbery victim saw a brown Cutlass driving down a street and reported the license plate number to authorities. According to CNN, this car was registered to Holmes. Although he had an alibi and his car had significant differences from the perpetrator’s vehicle, Holmes was identified by one of the victims in a second set of photos. On the other hand, he was not recognized when he was initially set up.

A judge on Monday granted prosecutors and the Innocence Project’s motion to overturn Holmes’ sentence and conviction, according to CNN. In the afternoon, the wrongfully convicted man was able to leave Broward County Jail and embrace his mother and family after 34 years. Videos on Twitter showed the emotional reunion.

“There was no physical or scientific evidence or witnesses linking Mr. Holmes to the crime,” the Innocence Project said, according to CNN. In a recent review of the case, prosecutors “determined that Holmes had a reasonable claim of innocence because he became a suspect and because uncertain eyewitness identification was the primary evidence against him at trial,” prosecutors said.

“The Broward prosecutor would not have charged Holmes if the case had been presented today,” the Conviction Review Division wrote in its final report.

(t-online, jpd)