Wrongfully Convicted Man Fights for Freedom

0:00It's April 29, I'm Cory with the story. This is Tampa Bay News today, driven by AI. Kevin Herrick, a 59-year-old from Largo, Florida, has spent nearly four decades behind bars on a life sentence for a 1989, burglary, and sexual battery. His legal team just filed a motion for post-conviction relief, arguing he was wrongfully convicted with zero-solid evidence tying him to the crime. Back in 1989, police rushed to a triplex after a woman reported a midnight intruder trying to assault her. Her boyfriend got stabbed intervening, but when cops searched next door where Herrick lived, they claimed bloody clothes and a knife turns out that. Was all a mix-up, just dirt, no blood anywhere near him. Attorney Michael Cupp, a former prosecutor, judge, and defender, got wind of this in 2022 while clearing Herrick's old prison roommate on. Another wrongful case. Cupp insists Herrick's innocent caught in the wrong spot with a prior unrelated burglary on his record that made him an easy target.

1:01No fingerprints from the scene matched. No DNA linked up, and the attacker left clear traces without masks or gloves. Cupp slams the original trial as a shamits transcripts shorter than some DUI cases, failing every basic check. Now the motion's in, pushing the state to reopen it. But these reviews drag on for years before a judge might grant a new trial. Cupp hopes Herrick walks free soon to hug his mom one last time.