Man serving 400-year sentence is exonerated after 34 years behind bars: ‘Can’t have hate’
Heather Hamilton
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Sidney Holmes walked out of prison a free man after being exonerated of a 400-year sentence following a Florida state investigation that determined he was innocent.
Holmes, now 57, had spent more than 34 years behind bars before Florida’s State Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found he had not committed armed robbery.
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“I can’t put it into words,” Holmes reportedly said, describing his new freedom. “It’s overwhelming.”
He said he never lost hope and is now focused on the future.
“You got to stay humble. You know, God is first. With the Christian faith I have, I can’t have hate. Just have to keep moving,” Holmes said.
A judge tossed out Holmes’s conviction on Monday after a review of the case showed he had an alibi and that he was misidentified by a witness.
“Ultimately, all of us came to the same conclusion that this man was wrongfully convicted, and this man should not have been in prison, and we needed to get him out right now,” Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor said.
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Holmes was arrested in 1988 after purportedly being the driver for a pair of unidentified men who robbed a couple at gunpoint. He had been sentenced as a habitual offender following a previous conviction of armed robbery in 1984.
Upon his release, Holmes said he was craving seafood and went to enjoy a meal with his family at Olive Garden.