Man who served over 16 years for armed robbery exonerated, first for Broward’s review unit
Leonard Cure, who served more than 16 years in prison for an armed robbery, was officially exonerated Monday after a judge signed an agreed order vacating his conviction and life sentence.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office also dropped all charges.
The exoneration is the first initiated by the Broward State Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Review Unit, an independent review unit established in 2019 to provide additional oversight for those who say they are innocent.
In April, Cure was released while a complete investigation was completed.
Cure, 51, who was considered a habitual offender, was sentenced to life after being found guilty of robbing a Dania Beach Walgreens in November 2003. He was also found guilty of aggravated assault, and was sentenced to 10 years, which would be served concurrently. The robber, who had a gun, stole about $1,700 in cash from two store employees.
He began serving his sentence Jan. 27, 2005. The case was affirmed on appeal four times.
In 2019, the State Attorney’s Office formalized the practice of reviewing cases by creating the review unit, which Broward State Attorney Mike Satz and Assistant State Attorney Arielle Demby Berger oversee.
In 2019, Cure filed a petition with the unit. Berger, who led the review of Cure’s case, reached out to the Innocence Project of Florida to assist Cure, while she completed her investigation. In a news release, Berger said it was “troublesome” how Cure became a suspect in the first place because there was no physical evidence or any witnesses.
Cure’s case was then presented to an Independent Review Panel made up of local attorneys.
“That panel voted to recommend the case against Cure ... [giving] rise to a reasonable doubt as to his culpability, and that he is most likely innocent,” the office said in a news release. “The decision to recommend Cure’s exoneration was made by Satz, following that process.”
Berger said in a news release “that it is in the best interest of justice that Leonard Cure’s conviction should be overturned.”
“These cases are rare and take a lot of time,” Berger said. “This is exactly why conviction review units and the opportunity for an exoneration are so crucial to ensuring justice.”
Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy III signed the order.
