Sidney Holmes who was Wrongfully Convicted is Freed after Serving 34 Out of 400 Years

A Florida man has been vindicated after spending more than 34 years of a 400-year sentence for an armed robbery.

Sidney Holmes was a free man on Monday, March 13, when he was released from jail after prosecutors dismissed charges against him. Holmes was arrested in October 1988 in connection with an armed robbery at a Broward County gas station involving two victims.

He was accused of being the driver for two unidentified men and was convicted by a jury in April 1989. Report says he his car was similar to that of the vehicle used in robbery, but despite his alibi and differences in the vehicles, he became a suspect.

“I knew this day was going to come. Sooner or later. Today is the day”, Holmes told reporters as he walked free. “I can’t put it into words…it’s overwhelming”, he said.

Holmes applied to have his case reviewed by the Broward County State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit in 2020, saying he was innocent of the crime. The review unit and the Innocence Project of Florida, reopened the case and found out that Holmes was likely “misidentified.”

According to the Innocence Project, one of the victims had described the getaway car as a brown Oldsmobile cutlass which was similar to Holmes’ car. “There was no physical or scientific evidence, nor any corroborating witnesses, linking Mr. Holmes to the crime, say the Innocence Project.

Holmes was identified in a second photo lineup as the getaway driver, which experts says may have been a result of remembering him from the first photo lineup. Report says the prosecutor of the case initially wanted Holmes sentenced to 825 years, but the judge gave him a 400-year sentence instead.

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