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Attorneys for Seminole County man freed from death row petition for wrongful conviction funding

Sanford, Fla. — Attorneys for a man who spent 14 years in prison before he was released after new evidence was revealed are working to get him money for his time spent behind bars.

Clemente Aguirre was released in November and now attorneys have filed a petition to grant him status as a wrongfully incarcerated person so that he is eligible to receive money through the "Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act."

Aguirre would get $50,000 for each year he wrongfully spent in prison, totaling more than $700,000.

The State Attorney's Office has received the petition. A response has not yet been submitted.

Aguirre’s nightmare began in June of 2004.

He was an undocumented immigrant from Honduras and working as a prep-chef in Heathrow.

Aguirre told investigators he had been drinking the night he walked into his Altamonte Springs neighbors’ home looking for a beer.

Instead, he found wheelchair-bound Carol Bareis and her daughter Cheryl Williams stabbed to death.

Aguirre said he ran out and did not call 911 because he was afraid of being deported.

Aguirre was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

The Innocence Project got involved in his case and helped clear him with DNA and new evidence that pointed to another possible suspect: Samantha Williams, the daughter and granddaughter, of the victims.

Williams has not been charged in the case.

Aguirre’s conviction was overturned and before a new trial could begin, prosecutors dropped the charges.

"I thank you for it from the bottom of my heart," Aguirre said after the November hearing.

In a statement, Aguirre’s attorney Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer said: "Mr. Aguirre experienced a living nightmare by spending 14+ years incarcerated for crimes that he did not commit. No one can give him back those 5,264 lost days and no amount of money can replace the moments that he lost with his family and friends, or cover over the horrors that he endured on death row. But the Florida Legislature has recognized that those who have been wrongfully incarcerated should be financially compensated. Mr. Aguirre is entitled to compensation under that statute, and his petition is just the next step on the path toward rebuilding his life."

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