Clemency

we need your support.

As conditions in prisons across the country degrade further as a result of the coronavirus crisis, thousands of prisoners here in Florida are at risk of losing their lives and action must be taken. In July 2020, the Innocence Project of Florida filed Applications for Clemency for five innocent clients, known as the Florida Five.

While the Innocence Project of Florida represents dozens of individuals wrongfully convicted throughout Florida, the Florida Five all have significant evidence of their factual innocence, have completed substantial litigation, and have had their efforts to find vindication in the courts slowed and frustrated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For this reason, we are advocating for the Florida Board of Executive Clemency to review these cases. Despite our collective efforts to urge that these be considered as soon as possible, none of the Florida Five were on the September hearing agenda, and rely on the substantial evidence of innocence as a basis to rectify their wrongful convictions by granting them each a pardon.

The next, and last, Clemency meeting of the year is in December. Help us make sure these individuals’ pleas of innocence and applications for clemency are heard at the next meeting on December 9th, 2020.

Time is of the essence. We must advocate and act to urge our elected officials to address the toll the pandemic is and will have on individuals in prison. How can you help? Sign the petition below and then share it!

Once you've signed for yourself - there's a few other ways you can help the #FloridaFive be heard! Sign, share, send an email, and keep posting!

Can you help us get the word out?

FREE THE FLORIDA FIVE

amanda

Amanda Brumfield was convicted in 2009 of manslaughter for the death of a child in her care, where definitive medical and scientific evidence demonstrates that while the death of this child was tragic, it was not the result of a crime.

BRUMFIELD

Ms. Brumfield already has been imprisoned for more than a decade for the accidental death of this child. During this time, she also has been separated from and unable to care for her own children. In light of the risks the pandemic poses in prisons, Ms. Brumfield should be able to return home and into a safer environment where she can continue her life alongside her children.

Clemency App. PDF

Leo

Leo Schofield was convicted for the murder of his wife, despite the detailed confession of the actual perpetrator, himself a convicted murderer, whose confession is corroborated by evidence of his fingerprint at the crime scene.

SCHOFIELD

Mr. Schofield is a 54-year-old man who has been imprisoned for more than 33 of those years. He is innocent and should come home safely to his wife and daughter. The longer he remains imprisoned, the more at-risk his life becomes. Mr. Schofield should be freed.

Clemency App. PDF

Dustin

Dustin Duty was sentenced to 20 years for the armed robbery of a woman who was unduly persuaded to identify him as the perpetrator, even though Mr. Duty’s boss provided an alibi that he was at work during the time of the robbery.

DUTY

He has served a significant portion the sentence he was given and should be freed not only because of the increased risk the virus poses in in prison, but because he is not responsible for committing this crime. Mr. Duty is innocent.

Clemency App. PDF

Randy

Randy Seal was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Tscharna Hampton when she died in a fire that at the time state investigators say was intentionally set. There is no evidence that the fire was intentionally set, and in fact, the State’s experts now agree with that assessment.

Seal

Despite this, Mr. Seal remains imprisoned serving a life sentence. Mr. Seal’s claim of innocence is supported by experts on both sides by evidence the fire that resulted in Tscharna’s death was not intentionally set. He has been imprisoned for more than 16 years for a crime that did not occur.

Clemency App. PDF

thomas

Thomas Gilbert was 20 years old when he was convicted for the 1973 murder of William Willits based solely on eyewitness identification. He received a life sentence.

gilbert

Despite a 1977 reinvestigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department that confirmed another individual’s confession to the crime, he remains incarcerated. There is no physical evidence tying him to the crime, only a questionably valid witness identification. Mr. Gilbert is innocent, and at 67 years old, he is particularly vulnerable to grave illness or death if he contracted the virus.

Clemency App. PDF