A Life Sentence. An Acquittal. 0.7 Grams of Marijuana: IPF Seeks to Correct a Decades-Long Injustice

3 hours ago

4 min read

Charles with our staff and interns after his release

For more than two decades, we have worked to find and free innocent people incarcerated across our state. But sometimes, the call to pursue justice comes in a different form.

The Conviction Review Unit of the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit reached out to IPF for assistance in the case of Charles K. Moore, who had spent almost 30 years incarcerated under a life-without-parole sentence. While Charles’ case is not an exoneration case, after reviewing the extraordinary circumstances surrounding his sentence, IPF agreed to step in and help address what our attorneys argued was a manifest injustice. IPF Legal Director Brandon Scheck took on Charles’ case and filed the motion seeking relief on his behalf, detailing the extraordinary circumstances that left Charles serving life-without-parole even after a jury acquitted him of the robbery underlying his probation violation, and the alleged victim later testified that Charles had not robbed him. We are grateful to the Conviction Review Unit for bringing Charles’ case to our attention and helping create the opportunity for our team to join the effort to bring him home.

In 1996, Moore faced two separate robbery cases. On the day those cases were scheduled for trial, neither alleged victim appeared, and in one case, an independent eyewitness told the prosecution and defense that Moore had not committed the robbery. Rather than proceeding to trial, Moore accepted a plea agreement that included 364 days in county jail and seven years of probation as a habitual felony offender.

Less than a year later, Moore was accused of violating that probation. Four violations were alleged, including a robbery and possession of 0.7 grams of marijuana. The court ultimately found that the robbery and marijuana possession constituted violations, revoked his probation, and sentenced him to life in prison without parole as a habitual offender.

Then came an extraordinary turn: two months after receiving a life sentence based in part on the alleged armed robbery, Moore went to trial for that very robbery, and a jury acquitted him. Years later, the alleged robbery victim went even further, testifying that Moore had not robbed him and that his earlier testimony saying otherwise was incorrect.

That leaves a remarkable reality at the center of our motion: the only reliable evidence remaining to support Moore's probation violation and life-without-parole sentence is his possession of 0.7 grams of marijuana, a mere misdemeanor offense. The circumstances also invite reflection on how severely marijuana possession has historically been criminalized and how dramatically the broader public and legal conversation around marijuana has changed.

Whatever one's perspective on marijuana policy today, the disparity at the center of this case is striking: possession of less than one gram remains the only legal foundation underlying a life-without-parole sentence that has kept a man incarcerated for almost three decades.

Charles with his god-sister, Vanessa, at Lester's Diner after his release

This Is Not the First Time We've Answered This Call

In 2020, we worked with the Broward State Attorney's Office to help address another group of sentences that prosecutors believed were lawful but no longer equitable. The collaboration ultimately helped secure reduced sentences for 23 people serving lengthy prison terms for prescription-drug trafficking offenses, including people serving 15-, 25-, and 30-year sentences.

The effort came after Florida changed its drug laws, including raising the threshold for what constituted trafficking of certain prescription pills like hydrocodone and lowering the associated minimum mandatory sentences, but did not make those changes retroactive. Broward prosecutors saw a fundamental question of fairness: people sentenced under the old law remained incarcerated for 25 years or more for conduct that would carry a fraction of the prison sentence under the newer statute.

IPF helped bridge that gap, working with prosecutors and defense attorneys to facilitate the review of those cases and the release of the individuals affected. Six years later, we have again been asked to help address a sentence that raises profound questions about justice and proportionality.

Standing in the Breach

On September 18, 2026, Charles Moore walked free after spending almost 30 years incarcerated in this case. His release marks the end of an extraordinary chapter, one in which a life-without-parole sentence remained in place even after he was acquitted of the robbery that helped lead to that sentence.

And as with every person we help welcome home, our work does not end at the prison gate. Before Moore's release, IPF's Transition Services team worked to ensure he would have housing and support as he begins navigating life outside prison after almost three decades. A number of IPF staff and interns were there to celebrate his freedom and welcome him home. Afterward, Stephanie Spurgeon, an IPF paralegal and freed person herself, and Amber Bardsley, an IPF staff attorney, drove Moore to Tampa, where he will settle into his new home and begin the next chapter of his life.

For IPF, this case reminds us that the pursuit of justice does not always fit neatly into one category. Our primary mission remains finding and freeing innocent people. But our history has also taught us that there are moments when prosecutors, defense attorneys, and advocates can recognize that the system has produced an unjust result and work together to rectify it.

When we are called upon to stand in the breach for someone facing a profound injustice, and we can help, we want to be there. And when that person walks free, we want to be there for what comes next, too.