Kevin Herrick Wrongful Conviction, Kevin is Next

The Innocence Project represented Kevin in post-conviction proceedings that sought to have the DNA tested from hairs recovered from the victim’s bedsheets for the specific purpose of identifying the actual assailant in this case. Hair strands that were recovered from the victim’s bedsheets were microscopically analyzed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which conclusively established that some of the hairs did not match Kevin or either victim, Cheryl Hagan or Scott Barfield. The microanalysis conclusively established that an unidentified person’s hairs were found in the victim’s bedsheets. This information was not presented to Kevin’s jury in 1990. Additionally, this information was not known to Kevin, or the courts until 2001 when Senior FDLE micro analyst, Marianne Hildreth, testified to the results of her analysis during a Federal evidentiary hearing.

Based on the facts that there are crime scene hair samples recovered from the bed sheets which do not match Kevin or either victim, and after consideration of a complete lack of any physical evidence indicative of Kevin’s guilt, as well as the complete unreliability of Scott Barfield’s fatally compromised identification, The Innocence Project decided to represent Kevin in a post-conviction motion for DNA testing of the hairs in 2006.

When the motion for post-conviction DNA testing was inexplicably denied, the Innocence Project had no option except to conclude their representation of Kevin. Remarkably, the hairs are still available for testing. However, without judicial approval, the hair cannot be tested. Kevin is being denied the opportunity to have this physical evidence DNA tested. Does this seam just and fair to you?