An Innocent Man Finally Freed After Spending 14 Years in Prison For A Crime He Did Not Commit

November 20, 2018

DRC assisted Aguirre's retrial team with trial strategy, jury selection, and demonstrative aids. DRC's Josh Dubin acted as one of the lead trial lawyers, and both DRC and Josh Dubin contributed their services pro-bono.

In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously overturned Aguirre's conviction and death sentence based on new evidence of innocence that his original jury never heard. The new evidence included DNA testing of multiple pieces of crime scene evidence that exculpated Aguirre and implicated another suspect-the victims' daughter and granddaughter, Samantha Williams. The state Supreme Court also learned of evidence that, in the years after Aguirre's trial, Samantha Williams confessed that she committed the murders to numerous friends and acquaintances who had no connection to Aguirre. Despite the new evidence, however, State Attorney Phil Archer had announced that the state would not only retry Aguirre, but also seek the death penalty a second time. The decision by prosecutors not to proceed came after additional evidence undermining Williams' alibi and further implicating her emerged in recent pretrial proceedings. The Orlando Sentinel reported about DRC's Josh Dubin's cross-examination of Williams: "[S]he responded indignantly to questions from [Dubin], often looking at her phone and at one point removing a wad of chewing tobacco from her mouth. She admitted to having blacked out from moments of explosive rage in the past and repeatedly claimed to not remember specific incidents when asked about them."

"I just want to [expletive] go home," she said at one point. "I miss my baby. I hate this [expletive]. I want it to be over."

"Do you know who wants it to be over too?" asked Dubin, pointing toward Aguirre-Jarquin. "This man."

"Then let it be over," Williams said. "I don't give a [expletive] anymore."

At the end of the day, Dubin directly asked Williams whether she killed her mother and grandmother:

"How can you be so certain that you would be able to remember [the killings] when you told me earlier that you don't know what you don't remember?"

"Guess I can't be then, can I?" Williams said.

The Court took the unusual step of advising Williams of her constitutional privilege against self-incrimination in the midst of the examination.

Boult Cummings LLP, Marie Parmer of the Samuels Parmer Law Firm, and DRC's Josh Dubin.

Aguirre's retrial team included an array of dedicated counsel, many of whomdonated their time pro bono to secure his exoneration. These included Joshua Dubin of DRC, who also serves as the Innocence Ambassador Advisor to the Innocence Project; Lindsey Boney, Dylan Black and Brooks Proctor of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Birmingham, AL; Marie Parmer, Esq. of the Samuels Parmer Law Firm in Tampa; and Jeffrey Horowitz of Arnold & Porter LLP in New York. Numerous other attorneys and paralegals on the staffs of the above offices also worked on the case, and Frank Bankowitz of Bankowitz PA served as local counsel. Additionally, for two years leading up to Aguirre's anticipated retrial, Michael Banks, David Dziengowski, Alison Tanchyk and Michael DiGiovanni of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP worked with the trial team on an exhaustive reinvestigation of the case and preparation for trial. During the post-conviction proceedings and appeal following his 2006 death sentence, Maria DeLiberato of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-Middle and Lindsey Boney of the Bradley firm served as lead counsel, with Boney arguing the appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. Nina Morrison, Senior Staff Attorney at the Innocence Project which is affiliated with the Cardozo School of Law; Marie Parmer of the Samuels-Parmer firm; Ashley Burkett, now with Arnold & Porter LLP; and Julissa Fontan of CCRC-Middle all served as co-counsel for Aguirre, with DeLiberato and Morrison continuing to actively consult with and assist the trial team before Aguirre's exoneration.