Last Monday he was released in Florida (USA) Sidney Holmesa man sentenced to 400 years in prison as an alleged accessory to an armed robbery in Broward County, north of Miami, after spending the last 33 in prison.
Holmes, 57, was convicted when he was 23 for a witness statement that has been shown to be potentially wrong. As explained by the local media NBCMiamihad been accused of being the hit-and-run driver of two unidentified men who robbed a man and a woman on June 19, 1988.
In November 2020, the outlet explains, he contacted the State Attorney’s Sentence Review Unit (CRU), which determined that his claim was plausible and launched an investigation with the help of the Innocence Projecta non-profit foundation that fights to exonerate innocent people.
“I never gave up”
After review, the CRU determined that there were “reasonable doubts” that Holmes was guilty because the conviction was based on the misidentification of a witness during the live and photographic line-up commonly used at the time.
Speaking to the media upon leaving the Broward Main Jail this Monday, Holmes was emotional and commented that “despite the tortuous road, he never lost hope.” “I never gave up,” he told the press. “My family was by my side the whole time, so lose the hope It wasn’t an option.”
