An African-American man who was unjustly sentenced to life in prison in Florida for one-armed robbery at a liquor store was released after 16 years with the help of an organization called the Innocence Project.
Judge John Murphy of Fort Lauderdale, Southeast Florida, ordered Monday that Leonard Cure, 51, be released after the Florida State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit in Fort Lauderdale determined that there was a high probability that he would have been wrongly convicted.
Murphy did the necessary paperwork to change the sentence imposed on Cure in 2004 by the time it was already met under pressure, Florida Phoenix digital media said.
According to court documents, Cure ended up being convicted due to an imperfect tax investigation based on misidentification by witnesses and ineffective legal aid, the source added.
Abogados floridanos de Innocence Project collaborated with investigators from the tax office of the Judicial Circuit 17 to find evidence that would allow Cure to be free again.
“Cure has a very positive attitude, much more than they will probably have in their case,” said Krista Nolan, an Innocence Project lawyer she represented in the sentencing review process.
Nolan told Florida Phoenix that Cure is already living with his family and looking for work.
In October, an independent sentencing panel, which is part of the State Attorney’s Office, voted unanimously in favor of ending Cure with the argument’s conviction that there is a reasonable doubt as to his guilt and he was more likely to be innocent.
According to Florida Phoenix, if it weren’t for a Florida rule that states that only erroneously convicted inmates who have no other background for other causes can be compensated financially, Cure could receive up to $ 800,000.