Attorneys file lawsuit against Seminole Co. claiming "tunnel vision" led to innocent man's conviction

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - Attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Seminole County and some individual investigators, claiming their actions put an innocent man behind bars for 14 years.

Clemente Aguirre became a free man in 2018 after prosecutors dropped the murder charges against him.

He had previously been convicted in a double-homicide.

“Tunnel vision from the start and an utter break down on the part of law enforcement,” Aguirre’s attorney, Josh Dubin, said about the investigation.

The crime happened in 2004.

Cheryl Williams and her mom, Carol Bareis, were found murdered in their Seminole County trailer home.

According to the recently filed complaint, at the time, Aguirre, who was an illegal immigrant from Honduras, told deputies he found them dead but didn’t call 911 because he was scared of being deported.

“They assumed he committed the crime and went based on that false assumption and ignored glaring evidence that someone else committed the crime,” Dubin said.

Aguirre spent 10 years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court granted him a new trial in 2016.

In 2018, prosecutors dropped the charges against him.

“I know whatever amount we end up asking a jury for, it’s not gonna be enough,” Dubin said. “The amount of suffering he went through… it’s difficult to put a number on it.”

He says they will likely pursue tens of millions of dollars.

FOX 35 News reached out to the agencies named in the suit.

Seminole County told us "no comment." 

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said its legal team had not reviewed the complaint.