March 13, 2023

UPDATE – Sidney Holmes was released from prison on Monday evening (March 13).

A man who has served more than 34 years of a 400-year state prison sentence is expected to be released from prison today after a thorough reinvestigation of the 1988 armed robbery case by the Broward State Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit raised reasonable doubts about his guilt, Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor announced.

Sidney Holmes, now 57, contacted the State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit in November of 2020 claiming he was factually innocent of the June 19, 1988, armed robbery of two people outside a convenience store. The One Stop store was at 2525 NW 6^th Street in unincorporated Broward County, just west of Fort Lauderdale.

Holmes was arrested on October 6, 1988, convicted after a jury trial in April 1989, and sentenced the following month. Holmes, of Lauderhill, was convicted of being the driver for two unidentified men who robbed a man and woman at gunpoint outside the store. The two unidentified men stole the male victim’s car.

Prosecutors with the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) determined that Holmes had a plausible claim of innocence because of how he became a suspect and because of the precarious eyewitness identification that was the principal evidence against him at trial.

CRU prosecutors then asked the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF) to assist Holmes while the CRU and IPF worked together on a thorough post-conviction reinvestigation. This cooperative work was part of a U.S. Department of Justice grant provided to the CRU and IPF to screen and investigate potential wrongful convictions. The goal of this Congressionally-authorized program is to create a non-adversarial approach to identifying and remedying wrongful convictions in a more time- and cost-efficient manner.

Following this collaborative review and investigation, the CRU concluded that there was reasonable doubt as to Holmes’ guilt and that it is highly likely that he is factually innocent of the armed robbery.

Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor, the State Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit and an Independent Review Panel each independently concluded that  the information reviewed gives rise to a reasonable doubt as to his culpability and the State Attorney’s Office would not charge him today based on these facts. Five of the six independent panelists voted that he is innocent and should be exonerated immediately.

State Attorney Harold F. Pryor and the CRU prosecutors agreed that Holmes’ judgment and sentence should be vacated/thrown out. Holmes’ conviction is infirm and the State Attorney’s Office no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.

The CRU’s reinvestigation findings include:

• Eyewitness identification of Holmes was likely a misidentification partly due to the photo and live lineup practices commonly used by law enforcement at the time. The identification of Holmes was scientifically unreliable and contrary to modern-day best practices in several ways.
• A civilian investigation, launched by the brother of one of the victims, that caused Holmes to become the only suspect, based on some similarities between his extremely common Oldsmobile and the car used by the robbers, overlooked differences between the two cars and was likely a misidentification of the vehicle.
• There is no evidence tying Holmes to the robbery, other than the flawed identification of him as a suspect.
• Both victims told the CRU reinvestigation they believe Holmes should be released from prison.
• The Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies who did the original investigation expressed shock that Holmes was sentenced to and had served so much time in prison.
• 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 methods used would not be acceptable practices today.
• Victims, witnesses and law enforcement officers were fully cooperative during this reinvestigation and we appreciate their candor and help.

Read the Conviction Review Unit’s full memo and findings here.

Holmes was moved from the Everglades Correctional Institution to the Broward County Main Jail. A court hearing was scheduled for Thursday (3/16) with Broward Circuit Judge Edward Merrigan but the judge signed an order Monday morning approving a joint request from the Broward State Attorney’s Office and the Innocence Project of Florida to throw out Holmes’ conviction and sentence. Prosecutors then dismissed the charge.

Judge Merrigan has scheduled a court hearing for 2 p.m. today in courtroom 6870.

Broward prosecutors are working with the judge and the defense to get Holmes released from the jail and the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections as swiftly as possible.

State Attorney Pryor has arranged for OIC of South Florida to help Holmes make a successful return to freedom and to provide him with reintegration services, including job training and job placement.

Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor said: “We have one rule here at the Broward State Attorney’s Office – do the right thing, always. As prosecutors, our only agenda is to promote public safety in our community and to ensure that justice is served. I commend the victims, witnesses, and law enforcement officers for their candor and assistance in reinvestigating a crime that occurred more than 34 years ago.

“Our Conviction Review Unit is dedicated to seeking the truth and reviewing plausible claims of innocence from people who have exhausted all of their rights to appeal and have nowhere left to turn. We review each case with an open mind, with no preconceptions, and we follow the evidence wherever it goes. Our goal in a criminal prosecution is not to win the case at any cost but to ensure that justice shall be done. I am proud of our Conviction Review Unit prosecutors Arielle Demby Berger and Sarah Gresham and Investigator Joyce Cavallo and the hard work they do. We also thank the Innocence Project of Florida for their help.”

Arielle Demby Berger, the assistant state attorney in charge of the Conviction Review Unit, said: “I always tell people that we are not the ‘exoneration unit,’ we are the ‘conviction review unit.’ Our job protects the community because having an innocent person incarcerated is not only morally and ethically wrong but it is dangerous. If the wrong person is incarcerated, the true perpetrator is free to commit more crimes. These cases are rare and take a lot of time and diligence to reinvestigate. This is exactly why conviction review units and the opportunity for an exoneration are so crucial to ensuring justice.”

Innocence Project of Florida Executive Director Seth Miller and co-counsel for Holmes said: “We are so thrilled our colleagues at the Broward Conviction Review Unit chose to collaboratively investigate Mr. Holmes’ case and saw significant issues with the evidence that we identified when we first looked into this case. It is a credit to State Attorney Pryor’s leadership that his office can look objectively at old cases and come to a decision that a miscarriage of justice has occurred when the evidence supports that conclusion. We are thankful to State Attorney Pryor and the entire Broward Conviction Review Unit team for giving Sidney his life back.”

In 2019, the Broward County State Attorney’s Office opened the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) to continue our practice of reviewing and investigating claims of innocence. The CRU screens cases for plausible claims of innocence and conducts detailed investigations, using the newest science, technology, techniques, experts and laws to ensure that innocent people are free and that true perpetrators are held accountable.

Since its inception, the unit’s noteworthy cases include the exoneration of Leonard Cure and another case that provided new evidence that further implicated Robert Earl Hayes in a 1990 homicide. Additional information about the grant and the CRU are available here.

Broward State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit Memorandum and findings re Sidney Holmes, click here.

Broward State Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit: Assistant State Attorney Arielle Demby Berger (chief of the unit), Assistant State Attorney Sarah Gresham and Investigator Joyce Cavallo.

Innocence Project of Florida attorneys: Seth Miller and Brandon Scheck.

Case information: Sidney Holmes (DOB: 12/26/1965) Case # 88019279CF10A on www.browardclerk.org

Contact: Paula McMahon, Broward State Attorney’s Office spokeswoman: mediarelations@sao17.state.fl.us or 954-831-7910