Lauderhill man’s conviction thrown out after serving over 34 years of 400-year armed robbery sentence

Sidney Holmes went to prison when he was 23 years old based on one faulty eyewitness identification.

Now, at 57 years old, Holmes will be free. After more than 34 years in prison, his orange inmate jumpsuit and shackles will come off.

Then he’s going to get something to eat, Holmes’ mother, Mary Holmes, said outside of a Broward County courtroom Monday afternoon.

Sidney Holmes, 57, cries after he was exonerated in a Broward County courtroom on Monday, March 13, 2023. Holmes served more than 34 years of a 400-year sentence for a 1988 armed robbery. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

The Broward State Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit, in conjunction with the Innocence Project of Florida, re-investigated the 1988 armed robbery case against Holmes after he contacted the review unit in November 2020. The review determined there was reasonable doubt of Holmes’ guilt and that he would not be charged if his case were presented today, the State Attorney’s Office said.

Judge Edward Merrigan signed an order Monday vacating the judgment and sentence.

“I can’t apologize for the past wrongs,” State Attorney Harold Pryor said after the hearing. “All I can do is what I can control going forward, and that is to right a wrong.”

No one was hurt in the armed robbery at a convenience store on Father’s Day 1988.

Holmes was at a celebration for the holiday with his family that day, and his family consistently backed up his alibi, Innocence Project of Florida Executive Director Seth Miller told reporters. Yet Holmes became the only suspect in the case.

“Unfortunately, no one believed him,” Miller said.

Vincent Wright and Anissia Johnson stopped at a convenience store west of Fort Lauderdale about 6:30 p.m. to fill up a tire when two men approached and demanded money. A third person in a brown car pulled up behind Johnson’s car. That was purportedly Holmes.

Wright’s brother, who was not at the scene of the crime that day, launched a “civilian investigation” that led deputies to Holmes, the memo said. The brown car the perpetrator in the robbery arrived in had some similarities to Holmes’ Oldsmobile, but discrepancies were evident.

The brown car used in the robbery had a hole in the trunk from a broken lock. Holmes’ car did not, the Conviction Review Unit’s memo said.

Miller said the description of the color of the car in the robbery also differed from Holmes’ car. Still, Wright’s brother saw Holmes’ car around town and reported the license plate to law enforcement.

“He is identified in this case because not of a police investigation but a private citizen investigation,” Miller said.

Sidney Holmes, 57, cries after he was exonerated in a Broward County courtroom on Monday, March 13, 2023. Holmes served more than 34 years of a 400-year sentence for a 1988 armed robbery. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Law enforcement continued pursuing Holmes as their suspect then, the memo said, “because he (a young black man) generally fit the description of the perpetrators and his car generally fit the description of the brown car.” Holmes also had prior armed robbery convictions.

Wright identified Holmes from a photo lineup the second time it was presented to him, the memo said. Holmes was the only one included in both the first and second lineups.

“It is possible that Wright identified Holmes from the second photo lineup because he was familiar with Holmes from seeing him in the first photo lineup, rather than because Holmes committed the crime,” the memo said.

A jury convicted Holmes in April 1989 of being the driver for two unidentified men who robbed the two victims at gunpoint.

Prosecutors were seeking 825 years those decades ago, Innocence Project of Florida Staff Attorney Brandon Scheck said. The judge sentenced him to 400 years instead.

In the courtroom Monday afternoon, Holmes hung his head, overwhelmed with emotion, holding onto tissues with in his cuffed hands as his tearful mother, sister, aunt and uncle, god sister and cousins watched the quick proceeding.

Holmes’ mother said neither the family nor her son’s faith wavered over the decades.

“I wouldn’t allow him to lose hope,” Holmes’ sister Nicole Mitchell said. “It was never an option to give up.”

Nicole Mitchell, sister and Mary Holmes, mother of Sidney Holmes, 57, wait for Holmes to be exonerated in a Broward County courtroom on Monday, March 13, 2023. Holmes served more than 34 years of a 400-year sentence for a 1988 armed robbery. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Pryor has arranged for OIC of South Florida, a nonprofit, to help Holmes as he reintegrates into life outside of prison, the State Attorney’s Office said.

“This is the reason why I wanted to be State Attorney, to reform our criminal justice system, to give people a second chance who deserve a second chance,” Pryor said after the hearing. “No longer is the wrong man confined to a Florida state prison.”

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Sun Sentinel Staff Writer Rafael Olmeda contributed to this report.

Angie DiMichele can be reached at [email protected], 754-971-0194 and on Twitter @angdimi.