United States: Sentenced to 400 years in prison, he was finally acquitted and released

In 1989, he was convicted of being the driver of a 1988 armed robbery in South Florida at the age of 23. The most severe punishment is 400 years imprisonment. Yet Sidney has always maintained his innocence.

In 2020, thanks to his lawyers, he was able to appeal to the Broward County Division of Criminal Review to defend him. This time, his complaints paid off. The judge reconsidered his conviction and found the charges against him insufficient.

What calls this condemnation into question are the identification practices used at the time. First, the key witness of the facts was unable to identify Holmes in the six photographs presented to him. His face would later be integrated into a selection of photographs of several suspects, where the witness would eventually point to him. And it was on this testimony that Sidney was sent to prison for several years. But he was charged after witnesses identified his vehicle, a brown Oldsmobile Cutlass, as the car used in the robbery. This pattern became more prevalent in the United States in the late 1980s. Since Sidney had already been convicted of armed robbery, the original sentence sought by the courts was 825 years in prison.

The Broward State’s Attorney’s Office concluded that there was ‘no evidence linking Holmes to the robbery’ and affirmed Holmes’s innocence, citing a ‘misidentification’ by a then-witness. Armed robbery victims also finally realized the weakness of the case and demanded the release of the prisoner. He was then able to locate his relatives, including his mother. “I can’t hold grudges, I have to move on. I never lose hope”, He told reporters after his release.

See also  "Vladimir, answer us!": Russian soldiers' wives and mothers roar

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *