Prosecutor Threatens Death Sentence for an Innocent Man

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Photo by Tampa Bay Times, DANIEL WALLACE

A few months ago, serial killer Jeremy Scott confessed to the murder of Michelle Schofield, ten years after fingerprint evidence placed him at the crime scene.

Leo Schofield, now 51, was wrongfully convicted of Michelle Schofield’s (his wife) murder and has subsequently been locked in prison for 29 years serving a life sentence.

Elated with the news that the real murderer was identified and confessed to multiple officers of the court, Leo could practically taste freedom. That is, of course, until Assistant State Attorney Victoria Avalon began using legal loopholes to prevent the new evidence of Jeremy Scott’s confession from being presented in court to free Leo. In one of the many motions her office has filed in the case, Avalon writes:

“Should Defendant be awarded a trial de novo [new trial] as a result of this litigation, the undersigned does not have the authority to rule out the possibility that the State may attempt to seek the ultimate penalty again…”

Not only is Victoria Avalon trying to keep an innocent man in prison for life by blocking his ability to present the new exculpatory evidence, but she is also threatening to seek the death penalty should Schofield receive a new trial.