#367 Guest Host Lauren Bright Pacheco with Sidney Holmes

On June nineteenth, nineteen eighty eight, Vincent Wright and his girlfriend Anssia Johnson were parked outside a one stop convenience store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While an Assia waited in the car, Vincent went behind it to fill the rear tire with air. Suddenly, two armed gunmen approached, demanding money. Vincent said he didn't have any. Just then another man pulled up in a brown Oldsmobile and told the two

Welcome Brandon, Thanks Lauren, it's great to be here.

Sidney. Can you just tell me a little bit about your upbringing and your family.

Well, I grew it up in a household with two parents. I have two sisters. We grew up in a Christian household. We know, very loving, family, were very close, all kind of functions. Family functions were always coming together Thanksgiving, you know, Christmas and all of the other days. The thing with me, I was always a book run I'm always, you know, a gadget type of guy. You know, I always the intelligent. I always want to be the smartest guy in the in the room. I was always that kind of guy.

And Sydney, just take me to who you were at the age of twenty two, the year that this happened in your life. What were your interests, you know, what were your hopes and plans for the future at that age.

Well, age twenty two, I was working at a hospital in which they was going to send me to school for a surgic technician. So, you know, I feel like my future was bright at that time. I was highly into the medical field. I was highly ambitionous, but it didn't happen.

And the irony is you had had two prior incidences run ins with the but you had turned your life around at that point, correct, Yes, ma'am.

It was a robbery case that at the same instinct, I was taking a coworker home and he went inside and committed to crimes without my knowledge, and I was charged with the crime as well.

But as I understand it, you did plead guilty in that case, even though you say you had no idea the robbery was going on. Were you offered some kind of plea deal or were you told that if you pled guilty it would make things easier.

Yes, that was the case.

So when all of this went down, you were seen as a previous prior offender, yes, ma'am. All right, And so Brandon, can you just take me to the time and the place that we're talking about. This happened in Fort Lauderdale, But give me an idea of what the scene was in nineteen eighty eight when the crime occurred. Just in terms of the relationship between the police and the public.

Well, you know, Broward County, Florida, has a history, and it's a well documented history.

At that time in Fort Lauderdale.

There were a lot of these types of armed robberies, and actually the arrest rate where police made arrests in those cases was quite low.

It was twenty to twenty five percent.

So there are a large number of these types of crimes happening, and you know, not enough police a lot of cases, had not a lot to go on, and so there are a lot of these unsolved cases. And so in those cases, you know, we see shortcuts being taken, and definitely we see shortcuts being taken here in Sydney's case, and those shortcuts definitely directly led to his wrongful conviction.

And probably contributed significantly to the fact that Broward County doesn't have a great track record when it comes to wrongful convictions. In fact, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, he leads the way in Florida with thirteen out of ninety one wrongful convictions.

That's correct.

There's definitely a long history, and of course that history affected a lot of folks, and you know, there's ongoing work, you know, still with our organization with the State Attorney's Office to try to assist individuals that we can identify that were affected by that history, and Sydney here in this case was definitely one of those folks.

I think it's also important to note that a lot of those wrongful convictions occurred under the watch of Florida's longest serving State Attorney, Mike Satz. I believe Satz was in office for almost fifty years.

Yeah, that's correct. And you know, to mister Satz's credit, you.

Know, one of the things that he did on the way out was established this conviction Review Unit, and that has continued, the review unit with great support by the current State Attorney, mister Harrold Pryor. But yes, it's quite unusual, especially in such a large jurisdiction as the seventeenth Circuit Broward County, to have someone with that amount of power for that long.

Okay, so now let's talk about the crime. This occurred on June nineteenth, nineteen eighty eight, Father's Day. The two victims, Vincent Wright and his girlfriend Anessia Johnson, were outside of a convenience store gas station. An Isia was sitting in the car and Vincent was putting air in the tires.

Yeah, so there were there were two perpetrators that were armed that came up to them and demanded money, demanded possessions. The victims didn't have anything to give them. I think the perpetrators were kind of frustrated by that. And you know, simultaneous to that, a third person driving a brown Oldsmobile kind of came up onto the scene as it's unfolding and told the two armed perpetrators, Hey, you just take their car. And so the two armed perpetrators stole the

And where were you, Sydney At six thirty pm that night when the crime.

Occurred, I was celebrating Father's Day with my father, friends, neighbors. We were riding up and down the street on a cold car. So for the whole day I was at my parents' house celebrating Father's Day.

And multiple people were able to confirm that.

Yes, multiple pier cond term out way of Boss the whole day.

So after the three perpetrators sped off, an Asia called the police and when the detective showed up, she told him what had happened and described the first two men. She wasn't able to describe the man in the brown car. At this point, Vincent had already set out with a friend to try to chase the stolen car down themselves, but Brandon, they didn't have any success, did they.

Know, so the perpetrators with the stolen car had about a five minute head start. Police actually found the stolen vehicle the next morning and returned it back to Vincent, but essentially police didn't have any leads. They didn't do much of any of their own investigation over the next few days. But meanwhile, Vincent had gone home that night of the crime and had told his brother Milton what

He's basically playing citizen detective.

That's right.

And so he saw one brown oldsmobile, wrote down that license plate, sent it to the police. Police ran it through their system, and came back and told the right brothers, No, actually that's the wrong car. Of course, they're looking for three young black male perpetrators. And I can only imagine that whatever car that brown Oldsmobile that Milton saw was registered to was probably not a young black man.

And so police said, no, that's not a match.

But Milton continued to drive around over the next few days and at one point was driving behind Sydney's car, which was a brown Oldsmobile. So he gave that license number to the police. Police saw that it was registered to Sydney, who, of course is a young black man. And Sydney also had these prior convictions for armed robbery, and at that point it's kind of like bingo, here's the guy that we're looking for. And from that point forward, I would describe police as investigation as tunnel vision.

Essentially.

That's pretty incredible when you think of it. I mean, what are the chances of Sydney having the same car as the perpetrators.

So that's interesting that you mentioned that, because in our post conviction investigation, we consulted with a historian at an Oldsmobile museum in Michigan who told us, you know, you're not going to believe this, but that car and that precise color were the most common car and the most common color of the most common car out on the streets in the United States at that period of time, and so I can only presume that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of these, you know, very type of

But even by his own description, you know, Sydney's car didn't match because what he described was a similar looking car but had a blown out circle where the lock would have been.

That's right, Milton is definitely the driving force of this investigation, but you know, there were many inconsistencies between the car involved in the one stop robbery, the car involved in the attempted carjacking of Milton and Sydney's car, and so one of the most significant inconsistencies is that the car involved in the one stop crime, in the arm robbery of Milton was described as having a hole in the

Yes, let's talk about their physical characteristics. What was the description given of the man in the brown car.

So in his first deposition, Vincent said that the perpetrator was five foot six. Vincent said that he himself was five foot eight and the perpetrator was shorter. Than he was. He described him as one hundred and seventy pounds, kind of heavy set. He described him as a little bit overweight, and that was not Sydney at the time of the crime.

Sidney just described to me then what your height and weight was at the time of the crime. When you were twenty.

Two, I was six feet one hundred eighty three pounds.

She were a tall, skinny guy.

Yeah, six feet about one eighty three.

Got it.

The lead investigator in this case was Detective Robert Campbell, and it does seem like he was focused on you as the only suspect, despite the fact that the driver of the oldsmobile was not even one of the armed robbers. Sydney, when did you even get an inkling that the police were setting their sights specifically on you?

My car at the time was ready to the address I was using at that time was my grandmother's resident and when they got to tag them rand his number to the address, they came into the house and left a business card. Satday, I need to contact them, these two detectives, in which I did because I have nothing been high, I haven't done anything. So I called them and they came by questioned me and I actually take a photograph to mirect. I didn't think anything was to that.

Initially, the victims were shown what we would call mugg book, which is essentially just a large book of photographs of people who had previously been arrested for similar crimes, and neither of the victims made an identification from the mug book. Several days later, Sydney's license plate number was given to the police, and that is the impetus for him becoming

But then, of course the photo that Sidney just talked about, the one he freely agreed to give the police, came into play exactly.

And so, as Sidney explained, you know, police came to talk to him and he told them, you know, I didn't do this. I have nothing to hide. Yes, of course, please take a photograph of me, you know, expecting that that photograph is going to help a limit him as a suspect because he knew that he didn't commit this crime. And so a second photo lineup was created using that new photograph of Sydney that he agreed to take, and five different people than from the filler photos in the

And it should be noted that Detective Campbell was the one who administered every one of those lineups.

The female victim, she did not identify Sidney. She never made an identification. In the case Vincent, the male victim, he identified Sidney in the second lineup, and that's the principal evidence used to convict him and Sidney.

You know, you were quite willing to assist the detectives in their initial investigation, and turns out there wasn't much of an investigation because you were arrested on October sixth of nineteen eighty eight.

That morning of October sixth, I was sitting at my parents' house, actually talking to my father having breakfast at the kitchen table. Then you know, to the the same to the tapis came knocking at the front door, say they had a warrant for my arrest, armed robbery. They took place at this at that station. I'm looking at him saying, for robbery. I haven't robbed anyone. So, you know, being the humble god I am, you know, the Homer spirit. Okay, I

So a little over six months later, on April twenty fourth, nineteen eighty nine, your trial began. Your defense attorney was Mitchell Pole, and the prosecutor was Peter Magrino, So Brandon, what did the prosecution present.

So essentially it's the identification of Sydney by one of the two victims, and again that's only after the second lineup that he was in, plus whatever stock you want to put into his car being similar, although significantly different than that of the perpetrator's car that he was driving

And the only thing that put Sidney in the.

Crosshairs here is that he has, you know, that type of car, and he's a young black man with the prior arm robbery convictions, and so again that kind of totality of the factors just leads police into tunnel vision that he must have been the person who committed this crime.

I'd also want to know that this identification was the result of planting Sydney's image in Vincent's mind in the first photo array in which he was not identified, followed by an identification in the second after the seed had been planted. Nevertheless, that was the state's case. So what did the defense present?

So the defense's case was that this was a misidentification, that essentially the state got the wrong guy, and to bolster that misidentification defense, the defense presented several alibi witnesses that, like Sidney said, he was at this Father's Day cookout and because he was there, he could not have committed this crime at the one stop. And so essentially what it boils down to is you have on the state side,

Can you just take me to what it was like to sit inside that courtroom?

Well, you know, it was agony. You know, I thought sure that I was going to be going home that day because of lack of evidence, you know, and the alibi witness and alab people's uh standing on the standing total jerum wear my wayabouts. But when they deliberated, you know, came back with it gives a verdict. You know, I was completely and giving them four hundred er sentence at age of twenty two, I was just devastating, you know what a while, you know, and then I have a

On from So.

Sidney was not ever accused of being one of the guys involved in an armed robbery. He's accused of being a guy who drives by and says, hey, you should take that car, and then drives away. And based on that, prosecution recommends eight hundred and twenty five years, and he gets sentenced to four hundred.

Yeah, that's correct. Four hundred was a compromise. The prosecutor asks for eight hundred and twenty five years. The defense attorney came back and said, well, forty years would be a sufficient sentence, that.

Would be an effective life term.

And the judge said, well, perhaps eight hundred and twenty five is too many years. I can only presume that he landed on four hundred because it's somewhere in the middle of forty and eight hundred and twenty five, and that's the sentence that Sydney got, four hundred years. And so I think a lot of people are thinking, well, why four hundred y eight hundred and twenty five. These

Did they ever before it even got to court, did they ever offer you some kind of a deal if you could give them the names of the two armed assailants?

They offered a deal. Well, why would I take a deal for something I haven't done. No, I'm not taking a deal because I haven't did anything I'm an anacent.

Man, and how can you name two people you have no eye idea, I.

Don't know who they are.

If I can just elaborate on At Sidney's sentencing after he was convicted, the prosecutor said to the judge at sentencing, and I'm looking at the quote right now, I would point out that this defendant was given the opportunity to carry the keys to the prison in his back pocket

Sidney, you were in prison for thirty four years. Can you just take me to what your day to day was like?

Yeah, I spent a lot of time in life. They're trying to research, trying to find, you know, a way to become free, you know, get this charge of me something I didn't do. But in the meantime, why outside of that, I educated myself. I read a lot. I love to read. I educated my self computer skills. I got a social degree in theology. I learned coul their art skills, I learned counseling skills. I would drug abuse skills.

And unfortunately it was a long fight, decades long. You filed appeals for post conviction relief several times and all were denied. What was the turning point.

Well, twenty seventeen, I would let's take write our application to the n Surprise of Florida. And you know they have a screening process. You know, they have to a lot of cases they have to go through. I also applied to the CRU and then between them and they collaborated with each other.

And that was the Broward County Conviction Review Unit, headed up by Assistant State Attorney Ariel dembie Berger Brandon. When you started working with the CRU on Sydney's case, what stood out to you? What were the biggest red flags.

In Sydney's case. Unfortunately, just like one read of the trial transcripts, they aren't very long, and there were all these holes, these things that didn't make sense. It's like, how did this person even become a suspect in the first place. It's not until you really dig into the police reports, the depositions, and the discovery that's kind of behind the scenes that the jury isn't always privy to. When you get down to the bottom of the facts.

And as we talked about earlier, that eyewitness identification was obviously tainted. What did you learn when you dug deeper into that process.

We had two separate eyewitness identification experts and everything relevant to Sydney's identification, and they both identified double digit issues pertaining to the identification, both the victim's ability to perceive the event at the convenience store, but then also the way that the lineup was composed and administered by the police.

I thought it was really interesting to the during the reinvestigation that you interviewed Vincent Wright and Anicia Johnson, who were the original victims of this crime.

I think Miss Johnson and mister Ray were very forthcoming in the information that they provided to us. They were quite honestly astonished that Sidney, irrespective of whether he committed the crime, that he was still in prison for this, and we appreciated their willingness to speak to us and provide that kind of context to us to understand from their perspective what happened.

So on March ninth, twenty twenty three, the Innocence Project of Florida and the Conviction Review Unit presented all of their findings and filed emotion for post conviction relief. And then Sidney, while you were waiting for your hearing to come up, you get some really great news from television of all places.

Yeah, what happened was ab By eleven thirty, they came and told me the judge want to see me. So I kind of baffled. Why would I judge want to see me? I knew hearings on Thursday, but they took me downstairs to see the judge. But then they say eleven third was too early because the hearing is set for two o'clock. So they took me back to the cell and I went and laid down on Then I heard the guys shower. Hey, I think I see your picture on TV. So I'm saying, why have my pictures

And so on March thirteenth, twenty twenty three, you walked out of prison a free man. What did that feel like?

Well, I don't know, I can't even know what to say. I was in tears, you know it. It was kind of a bittersweet because you know, my father wasn't there. You know, he died four years ago, so other than that, that was only a bittersweet part of it, you know, being released that he wasn't there to see this happen. No, I'm still really you know, it's only been thirty five days I've been home, so I'm still trying to grab to you know, it's still unbelievable. I am free after thirty.

Four years Brandon, as Sydney told us, he'd been working on his appeals for a long time without success before connecting with you and the cru What do you think was the magic ingredient this third time around?

Well, the magic ingredient, ironically, is the current state of the State Attorney's Office in Broward County. You have Ril Demie Berger and her staff at the Conviction Review Unit, and you have the elected State Attorney, Harold Pryor, who are truly seeking justice. I think that that is the difference. They have an open mind and they follow the evidence, and that's what they did in Sydney's case.

What's next for you, Sydney, what are your hopes and plans for the future.

Well, you know, I'm still working though things I always want, like I have culinary skills and the food truck is emin it that I you know, roughly one day that might happen. But you know, like I say, take capitally, take finance. You know, it's a process. So whatever, just try to keep brand opportunity to come.

Just take it and Brandon, I understand that under Florida law, Sydney is unfortunately not even eligible for compensation from the state because he had those prior convictions we talked about in the beginning of this episode.

That's what the state statute says. Is called the Clean Hands Provision as it it's now essentially says that if you have a prior felony conviction, you're not eligible for compensation in a subsequent wrongful conviction, matter how much time or whatever the circumstances are for that wrongful conviction. You know, the data says that if you have a prior conviction of any kind, you're fifty percent more likely to subsequently be convicted for a crime that you didn't commit in

Well, I understand that the IPF has started a go Fundme page for Sydney. We'll have a link to that on our bio page for our listeners who'd like to help Sydney get a new start. Who knows, maybe start up capital for that food truck. And now at the end of every podcast, we have what's called closing arguments, just your final thoughts, whatever you'd like to say to listeners. Brandon, why don't you start and then go to Sydney to close things out.

Wrongful convictions absolutely happen. It takes a lot of diligence to overturn them. It takes a lot of seeking the truth, seeking facts. And in Sydney's case, it was clear from the very beginning that he was innocent, what he told everyone all along, and the system got it wrong thirty four years ago. And there's no amount of effort, no amount of money, that can get him that time back with his family, with his daughter, with his mother and

Well, like I say, I can't say it enough, that fantastic job. Like I say to say that you know the new current state attorney, it's entire staff mis Bergier and also Brandon Jeth Miller and the whole staff of the Innocent Project. But a close statement is that throughout this process, I will always tell the person you can never give up hope. It's always the chance. It's always a slim hope, a chance of anything in life that we does. It was a hard fault. I was twenty two,

Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. I'm your guest host, Lauren Bright Pacheco. I'd like to thank executive producers Jason Flahm and Kevin Wardis for inviting me to be here. Special thanks also to our wonderful production team Connor Hall, Annie Chelsea, Lyla Robinson, and Jeff Cliburn. The music in this production comes from three time OSCAR nominated composer Jay Ralph.