Kevin Herrick Wrongful Conviction, Kevin is Next

The integrity of this criminal investigation was profoundly undermined by a series of questionable police actions and significant evidentiary inconsistencies.

Here's how these issues impacted the investigation:

Hasty and Biased Conclusion:

• The Largo Police Department "solved" the case in a remarkably short time—three hours and forty-five minutes—taking Kevin into custody based primarily on his past criminal history and perception as "an escape risk and dangerous," rather than definitive physical evidence.
• It is suggested that Kevin's criminal history might have been shared with John Doe to persuade him to name Kevin as the assailant, with these claims then "supported" by fabricated fingerprint results and alleged blood evidence that never existed.

Deliberate Misinformation and Fabrication of Evidence Claims: 

• The Largo Police Department provided victims with false and misleading information about fingerprints, "bloody clothes," and a "blood-stained knife".
• Both victims testified that police told them a knife and bloody clothes were recovered from Kevin's bedroom, a claim later disproven by forensic test results
• Police falsely claimed to have matched fingerprint evidence from the apartment to Kevin Herrick, a claim that was not factual. Even the state prosecuting attorney's later affirmation that all prints matched victims was incorrect, as remaining viable prints were unidentified.

Failure to Pursue Contradictory or Exculpatory Evidence:

• Police did not reopen their investigation when evidence testing contradicted their initial theories
• Despite the State Prosecutor's ethical obligation, charges were not dropped even when anticipated evidence test results contradicted the investigation, introducing unidentified fingerprints and hair samples that did not match the defendant or victims.
• Crucial information, such as the license number and description of a getaway vehicle John Doe provided, is reportedly absent from police reports, and apparently no BOLO (Be On The Lookout) was issued.
• Unidentified fingerprints from the crime scene were not evaluated or tested, despite not matching the victims or the defendant.
• Three hair samples from the bed sheets did not match Kevin, John Doe, or Jane Doe according to FDLE analysis, yet this physical evidence was not discussed at trial. A motion for post-conviction DNA testing of these hairs to identify the actual assailant was inexplicably denied.

Significant Evidentiary Inconsistencies and Contradictions:

• Initial "blood-stained evidence" was inaccurate: stains on Kevin’s jeans, reported to "have blood on them," were actually from construction adhesives, and forensic tests contradicted claims of blood evidence from Kevin's bedroom
• The case offered no explanation for how the suspect could be in two places at the same time
• The K-9 unit was unable to pick up any tracks to substantiate John Doe's revised claim of the assailant's escape
• No dirty wet socks were found, collected, or reported, despite Kevin allegedly running away from John Doe
• The belt buckle found did not match victim testimony.

Questionable Police Observations:

• Officer Crosby's police report claimed he could tell Kevin "had a rapid heartbeat" through his shirt because he "acted very nervous," an "extraordinary assessment" questioned for its impossibility and described as implying "x-ray vision like superman"

These actions and inconsistencies collectively suggest that the investigation lacked impartiality, relied on false premises, and failed to adequately pursue or acknowledge evidence that contradicted its initial conclusion, severely compromising its overall integrity and leading to a "miscarriage of justice"