Leo Schofield

Overview

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On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, long-time Innocence Project of Florida client LeoSchofield, Jr. walked out of Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida, after wrongfully spending more than 36 years in prison for the murder of his wife that he did not commit. 
 

The Crime

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Despite a wholly circumstantial case where the State’s timeline would not allow an opportunity for Leo to have committed the crime, Leo was nonetheless wrongfully convicted in 1989 for the 1987 murder of his wife in Polk County, Florida. Since his wrongful conviction, additional forensic testing of unknown fingerprints near blood in the victim’s abandoned car linked to a convicted first-degree murderer Jeremy Scott. Scott subsequently confessed in detail consistently with key case details, yet his confession was inexplicably rejected by the courts in 2017 and 2019. IPF’s Executive Director Seth Miller, then-Staff Attorney Melissa Montle, and private pro bono counsel Andrew Crawford represented Leo in these postconviction proceedings.
 

Post Conviction

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Leo’s wrongful conviction and incarceration, and Jeremy Scott’s continued insistence that he committed this murder were chronicled in the award-winning podcast Bone Valley, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winning author Gilbert King and produced by Kelsey Decker. The renewed focus on this miscarriage of justice has led to a groundswell of public support for Leo’s release and exoneration, including support from public officials, business and faith leaders and the public at large. The common refrains after listening to the podcast are “if they know who actually committed the crime, how come Leo is still wrongfully convicted?” and “why are prosecutors and courts so unwilling to overturn clear instances of miscarriage of justice?”