ROCHESTER, NY – An incarcerated man was sentenced to state prison in 2015 for an armed robbery, but now, after more than six years in prison, he convinced an appellate court that he was wrongfully convicted.
According to the Democrat & Chronicle, state Court of Claims Judge Scott Odorisi ruled Anthony Miller provided at trial significant proof of innocence on what likely were “unreliable instances of eyewitness identification.”
“The Court cannot underscore the gravity of (Miller’s) lost liberty owing to a crime he did not commit,” Odorisi wrote, awarding Miller more than $3 million based on damages for Miller’s mental health struggles and time wrongly imprisoned.
In 2013, the Democrat & Chronicle reported, a man on Genesee Street was robbed of his cellphone, cigarettes, keys, and $10 in less than 45 seconds, and described the robber as a Black man in a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans and noted another man on a bicycle nearby, whom he suspected was also involved.
Minutes after the robbery, a Rochester police officer encountered Miller and another man standing in the driveway of a nearby house. Although Miller was wearing a red sweatshirt and sweatpants, he was the first Black man the officer saw following the victim’s 911 call, said Democrat & Chronicle.
The victim also identified the two as the individuals involved in the robbery. This identification led to Miller’s arrest, although police found no incriminating evidence on him or the second man.
According to the Democrat & Chronicle, Miller’s attorney, Elliot Shields, presented a timed reenactment challenging the police account. Shields argued it was not reasonable for Miller to have sprinted a half mile from the crime scene, changed clothes, and returned outside without showing signs of fatigue.
“That’s why we made that demonstrative video to show it was impossible that he did this.” Shields added, “What dumb criminal just commits a robbery and then hangs out outside after a swift change of clothes?”
Despite no physical evidence linking Miller to the crime, Democrat & Chronicle wrote, his conviction largely relied on eyewitness identification, which Judge Odorisi highlighted as unreliable in his decision.
Before his successful appeal, Miller reached out to the Monroe County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which investigates potential wrongful convictions, hoping it would examine his case.
Shields, said Democrat & Chronicle, recounted Miller’s reaction upon learning about the unit, saying, “He cried when he first learned of the unit in the DA’s office because he thought it could secure his freedom… He again cried when the unit rejected his claims of innocence.”
Shields criticized the unit’s handling of Miller’s case, stating, “The decision that we got from Judge Odorisi shows that the conviction integrity unit didn’t fairly weigh the evidence in this case.”
According to the Democrat & Chronicle, in response to questions about the office’s failure to act, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley stated in 2021, “At the time this case came in, we believed there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Miller was guilty of the allegations, and a trial jury agreed with us.”
Doorley explained that, after Miller’s conviction, her office began re-evaluating the case when new claims of actual innocence emerged. However, she noted that once the appellate court dismissed the indictment, “the investigation into Mr. Miller’s innocence became unnecessary, as he was now a free man.”
Shields contested this, revealing that internal memos from the DA’s office indicated it intended to close Miller’s case before the appellate ruling was issued.
“They had already decided Miller was guilty by the time of the appellate ruling and did not seriously reconsider,” Shields said, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Years later, a regional appellate court reversed Miller’s conviction, citing “considerable objective evidence supporting (Miller’s) innocence.” The decision ultimately led to Miller’s release in 2020.
After his release, Miller faced considerable personal challenges, struggling with anxiety and depression. Democrat & Chronicle revealed that he was later charged with assaulting a police officer and had arrests for drunk driving, reported the Democrat & Chronicle.
Forensic psychologist Trica Peterson testified to the significant psychological damage Miller endured from his time in prison, describing how his experiences led to post-traumatic stress and alcohol misuse.
Peterson confirmed Miller’s diagnoses, which included “anger management, occupational retention problems, nightmares, and reckless behavior in the form of drinking and gambling,” according to Odorisi’s ruling.
In a 2021 interview with the Democrat & Chronicle, Miller expressed a desire for accountability within the justice system to prevent similar wrongful convictions. “Without accountability, the system will remain unjust,” he stated.
