New Hope for Wrongfully Convicted People
If you appeal your conviction and the court overturns it on appeal, you feel like you have won the grand prize. Even more thrilling are the rare situations where the state realizes its own mistake and owns up to it on its own initiative. Going home to your family and friends after serving a prison sentence for a crime you did not commit is a bigger relief than most of us have ever felt, but the story does not end there. You are back in the troubled circumstances that led to your arrest in the first place; even if your chances of escaping poverty were low if the state had dismissed your case before the trial were low, you would be in a better financial situation than you are in now, having spent so many years excluded from the workforce. In other words, letting you out of prison after an exoneration is better than continuing to incarcerate you for a crime you did not commit, but it does not give you back the time you lost. Florida has a program where wrongfully convicted people can seek compensation from the state after exoneration, but there are many barriers to getting the money, so most exonerated people struggle financially for the rest of their lives. Here, our Miami criminal defense lawyer explains the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act and its recent amendment, which makes it easier for exonerees to recover compensation for the time they spent in prison.
Robert’s Story: Barred From Compensation Because of an Unrelated Juvenile Offense
In the early 1980s, Robert DuBoise was a troubled teen. When he was 17, he was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to a nonviolent felony, receiving a probation sentence. In 1985, he was accused of rape and murder; he pleaded not guilty, because he did not commit the crime. The jury convicted him, based on poorly analyzed bite mark evidence.
In 2020, DuBoise was exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project; he went home with his mother and sister, who had always known that he was innocent and had never given up hope that one day he would be free. After his release from prison, he requested compensation pursuant to the Victims of Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act. Since this law entitles exonerated people $50,000 for each year they were wrongfully incarcerated, DuBoise would have received more than $1 million in compensation. The court refused his request, though, arguing that his felony conviction at age 17 made him ineligible. DuBoise eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the Tampa Police Department and received a $14 million damages award.
Clemente’s Story: Compensation for Wrongful Conviction Falls Through the Cracks in Retrial Limbo
Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin was wrongfully convicted of murder in the early 2000s. He was released from prison in 2016 after the court ordered a retrial. He requested compensation under the Victims of Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act, but the court refused because his retrial was pending. The court formally dismissed his charges in 2018, at which point he applied for compensation again. This time the court rejected his request because, at that time, the deadline to request compensation, 90 days after exoneration, had passed.
SB 130 Removes Obstacles to Compensation for Exonerated Defendants
Since the Victims of Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act went into effect, only five people have successfully recovered compensation as a result of it. This represents less than ten percent of the people exonerated in Florida during that timeframe. The short deadline and the eligibility exclusions made it almost impossible for exonerated defendants to get compensation.
This year, SB 130, which amends the Victims of Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act, went into effect at the beginning of July. Under the new version of the law, convictions unrelated to the wrongful one do not exclude you from eligibility for compensation, unless you have been convicted of two or more violent felonies unrelated to the wrongful conviction. Likewise, the new statute of limitations for requesting compensation is two years after the date of exoneration, instead of 90 days. People wrongfully convicted before 2025 who previously unsuccessfully sought compensation after their exoneration may reapply before July 1, 2027.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you seek justice if you were convicted of a crime that you did not commit and were later exonerated, and your previous efforts to get compensation for your wrongful incarceration were unsuccessful. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Sources:
innocenceproject.org/news/floridas-restrictive-compensation-law-fails-the-innocent-people-for-whom-it-was-intended/
flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/130
