Sentencing errors, ineffective counsel & police misconduct

As a result of police misconduct, ineffective legal counsel, and sentencing errors, Kevin Richard Herrick, at the age of 24, was sentenced to an undeserved life sentence of incarceration without the possibility of parole on January 4, 1991, for armed burglary and sexual battery along with a concurrent 15-year sentence for aggravated battery. 

Kevin has maintained his innocence since day one and even turned down a plea deal which would have released him in 1993, but instead Kevin believed in the court system for justice and that the truth would prevail. 

Due to the questionable police investigation in which physical evidence and eyewitness testimony was ignored, the Largo Police improperly suggested information to the victims which eventually led to their “identifying” Kevin as the assailant. The police further misled the victims in claiming that they had discovered the blood-covered weapon and bloody clothing in Kevin’s room among other untruths and opinions. Each victim provide a physical description that does not match Kevin or each other. Furthermore, according to the witness reports at the time, Kevin was standing outside when the male victim returned after chasing down the assailant. In fact, both victims and Kevin (among others) were discussing what had just happened outside of the apartment as they all waited for the arrival of the police. 

Kevin’s defense attorney failed him in many ways during trial and would later be revealed to be a drug-addicted alcoholic who was not capable of providing and did not provide the defense Kevin deserved. The procedural mistakes of Kevin’s defense attorney failed to address the police misconduct and failed to demonstrate that Kevin could not be in two places at once by simply introducing witnesses who were with Kevin at the very time the male victim was chasing the lone assailant. These witnesses would have confirmed this if asked during trial—but they were never asked. The defense attorney additionally failed to introduce the physical evidence of hair samples collected from the scene, which do not match Kevin. The defense attorney barely presented a defense. And if that wasn’t enough, the defense attorney failed to properly identify and challenge sentencing calculation errors which would have prevented the life sentence from ever being imposed.

The sentencing court erred and imposed too many points, leading to a life sentence. The sentencing court did not use the proper scoresheet and erroneously double-counted certain points, but because the attorney did not object, nor timely appealed the issue, it could not be corrected by the appellate court. Kevin’s attorney missed multiple procedural deadlines for many merit-worthy issues that could have otherwise been addressed by the appellate courts to correct this injustice. Instead, Kevin’s legal remedies were squandered and exhausted.

Kevin did not receive a fair trial, did not receive effective assistance of counsel, and was subjected to improper police conduct that led to his being charged with and convicted of crimes he did not commit. He was subsequently improperly sentenced to life imprisonment and has ultimately been dealt a huge miscarriage of justice. He has exhausted his district, state and federal appeals and appears to no longer have any opportunities for relief available. Kevin has already served over three decades in prison and even if he had committed the crimes for which he was convicted, a life sentence is a punishment that does not fit the crimes.