The Broward State Attorney's Office is working to drop charges against a man convicted of robbing a South Florida drugstore 16 years ago.
Prosecutors said Thursday that they have filed paperwork that would vacate the conviction against Leonard Cure.
Cure, now 51, was released from prison in April after the state attorney's office Conviction Review Unit asked a judge for his release.
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Cure was accused of forcing his way into a Dania Beach Walgreens in November 2003, armed with a hand gun. The victims, an employee and a manager, disagreed on how certain they were that Cure was the suspect. A Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, who has since died, testified that she saw Cure in the area that day, walking a child to school.
A jury in 2004 deadlocked on the charges. but a second jury found Cure guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison because he was a habitual offender, with previous convictions of robbery, cocaine possession and grand theft auto.
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But prosecutors said Cure is most likely innocent, noting that there were a number of issues with the case, including how Cure was identified, the reliability of the eyewitnesses and an alibi that jurors never heard.
Cure’s case is the first exoneration initiated by the Conviction Review Unit, which was formed last year.
A judge is expected to give a final ruling on the exoneration.
