Jules Letemps was exonerated on October 14, 2016 after serving 27 years in prison as an innocent man. He had been convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison.
Jules Letemps was exonerated on October 14, 2016 after serving 27 years in prison as an innocent man. He had been convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison.
On May 29, 1989, in the early morning hours between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., a woman was waiting for the bus in Orlando, Florida, when a man approached her, holding a metal object to her neck. The object was conceivably a knife. The victim followed the perpetrator behind a building, where he sexually assaulted her multiple times. When the victim found the opportunity to escape, she ran away, unclothed, knocking on doors until a nearby resident opened his door, offered her his robe, and called police. The victim refused an examination, instead opting to go home. She showered and returned to the scene of the crime alongside her cousin to locate the perpetrator.
Letemps was walking to work at a Toyota dealership when he was arrested at around 7am the same morning. The victim identified him as the attacker and called police. Letemps was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnapping. Letemps’ partner, who resided with him, confirmed his alibi that he was home at the time of the attack. An in-house friend living with them corroborated this story as well. Although Letemps denied involvement in the crime, he was convicted and sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison.
Fluent only in Creole, Letemps could not read or write English and relied on assistance from fellow inmates to file numerous unsuccessful post-conviction motions. He applied for assistance through the Innocence Project of Florida in 2003. At the time, IPF only accepted cases where DNA testing was available. Upon discovery that all DNA evidence had been destroyed in the case, the Innocence Project of Florida halted further investigation. In 2010, Centurion Ministries re-investigated the case and brought into question the type of testing and identification methods used by the forensic analyst. Centurion retained multiple experts to review the conclusions of the forensic analyst, and found that the semen evidence did in fact exclude Letemps as the perpetrator.
Centurion Ministries then enlisted the help of IPF Executive Director Seth Miller as co-counsel on the case. The organizations filed a motion for post-conviction relief in Orange County Circuit Court claiming actual innocence and ineffective assistance of counsel. Both this court and the appellate court denied the motion. Centurion Ministries appointed counsel Paul Casteleiro then filed a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and in 2015 U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell granted the writ and ordered a new trial.
Two days before trial was set to begin in October of 2016, the State dismissed the case against Letemps. However, instead of returning to society after the prosecution dismissed the charges, Letemps remained in custody and was transferred to immigration detention for a drug conviction that occurred over 30 years prior. Letemps was facing deportation back to Haiti, a country he was forced to flee at just 17 on “humanitarian parole”, which granted temporary status for individuals fleeing humanitarian crises in other countries. Nearly two years after his exoneration, on April 16, 2018, Letemps’ case against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ended when Judge James King dismissed the case without prejudice.
Letemps now resides near family and friends in Miami, Florida.
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