He had 366 years left to serve in his 400-year sentence but on Monday night, Sidney Holmes was free.
Holmes, of Lauderhill, Florida, was exonerated after a review board re-examined the facts of his case and determined he was “very likely” misidentified, officials announced Tuesday. He spent 34 years in jail before he was released.
“I knew this day was going to come. Sooner or later,” Holmes told reporters. “Today is the day.”
In April 1989, a jury found Holmes, now 57, guilty of being the getaway driver for two men who robbed two victims, taking their car, at gunpoint outside a convenience store near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in June 1988, authorities said. Holmes applied to have his case reviewed by the Broward State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit, which examines potentially wrongful convictions, in 2020, claiming “factual” innocence.
How did Holmes end up behind bars?
The review found that Holmes was likely misidentified.
The two victims, Anissia Johnson and Vincent Wright, gave dubious descriptions of the getaway vehicle and its driver, who they testified never got out of the car during the robbery, according to a memorandum by the review unit recommending his release.
The pair said the getaway car had pulled up behind their vehicle as two men approached to rob them, and ultimately stoleVincent Wright’s car.
Wright’s brother, Milton Wright, helped search for the getaway car, claiming that the same men tried to rob him in a separate incident earlier in the day.
Roughly two or three weeks later, Milton Wright spotted Holmes’ Oldsmobile, a ubiquitous car at the time, and wrote down the license plate number, believing it to be the getaway car, and gave the number to Vincent Wright, who then turned it over to the police, according to the memo.
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Faulty identification practices
Police interviewed a fully cooperative Holmes, who, asserting his innocence, agreed to have his photo taken. Police ultimately presented an old photo of Holmes in a photo lineup to Wright, who did not identify Holmes.
Authorities then proceeded to show Vincent Wright another photo lineup, this time with a different image of Holmes, and the victim then identified him, the memo said.
Vincent Wright would again identify him in a live lineup, and during court, according to the memo.
Experts consulted by the review unit said the identification of Holmes in the second photo lineup could have been the result of the victim remembering his face from the first photo lineup, and erroneously attributing it to his memory of the robbery, according to the memo.
“Prosecutors do not believe there was any intentional misconduct by witnesses or law enforcement as the identification practices and technology have vastly improved since 1988 and deputies followed the accepted standards at the time,” the review board said in its statement. “The methods used would not be acceptable practices today.”
There was no other evidence tying Holmes to the crime.
Holmes never claimed to know who the robbers were, “because he was most likely not a participant in this robbery,” the memo said.
Why did Holmes get 400 years for robbery?
The prosecutor in the case, Peter Magrino, originally asked the judge to give Holmes an 825-year sentence.
“Based upon his prior contact in the criminal justice system and his actions in this case, [Holmes] should not be released from prison while his body is still functioning,” Magrino told the judge during a pre-sentencing hearing.
Holmes had two prior armed robbery convictions from 1984. According to the memo, the judge thought that an 825-year sentence was “perhaps a little bit too much,” so he sentenced him to 400 years.
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Investigators also spoke to the detectives who originally investigated the case, and with Johnson and Vincent Wright. They all expressed a level of shock at the sentence Holmes received, and the two victims both stated they thought Holmes should be freed.
Even if Holmes were guilty, “this happened so long ago…feels like he served his time,” Johnson said.
Holmes told reporters he held no rancor over his time behind bars.
“With the Christian faith I have, I can’t have hate.” Holmes said. “I just have to keep moving.”