TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet, in a final act of contrition for the 24 years Alan Crotzer spent in prison for a crime he didn't commit, voted to forgive and expunge Crotzer's record of two other crimes.
Sitting as the Florida Board of Executive Clemency, the four statewide elected leaders unanimously ordered the state to wipe away a 1979 robbery conviction and a 1991 drug conviction, suggesting that the state's miscarriage of justice was worse than Crotzer's transgressions.
"I think it's important when somebody, obviously, has changed their life, that you recognize that and you give them a second chance," Crist said during a break. "I'm very proud of Alan Crotzer."
Earlier this year, the Legislature awarded Crotzer, 47, $1.25-million in restitution for the 24 years he spent in prison for a Hillsborough County double rape he did not commit. In 2006, DNA evidence exonerated Crotzer, formerly of St. Petersburg, and a judge vacated his sentence.
It wasn't clear Tuesday if the clemency board had the authority to expunge Crotzer's record. An attorney for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told the board that authority rested with the courts, citing a 2004 Florida Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
But Crist — along with Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Bronson — was willing to take the gamble.
"We have a couple of new members over there," Crist said, referring to the two new justices he just appointed to the state Supreme Court. "The law is whatever those judges say it is on any given day. We can, if we want, choose to send them a test."
In the 1979 robbery charge, Crotzer said Tuesday that he had just turned 18 and was with some friends who shoplifted a couple of cases of Busch Light from a convenience store. He called it a youthful indiscretion.
That crime was a reason why he was targeted later for the double rape, as it showed he had a prior felony conviction. Crotzer has spent the last few months counseling young people against similar youthful offenses.
While in jail for the crime he didn't commit, Crotzer was convicted of introducing contraband in a state facility.
Crotzer said a prison guard asked him to buy $100 of marijuana from him. Crotzer said he felt compelled to buy the drug, because he didn't want to offend or aggravate a guard while he continued to serve his 100-plus-year sentence.
"All I'm asking is for an opportunity for a brand new life. I'm not the monster they set me up to be," Crotzer said to the clemency board.
Crotzer also talked about how the criminal record has cast a shadow over his life, such as during a pair of recent vehicle stops on Sept. 19 in Levy County. He said deputies asked to search his car and suggested they'd keep pulling him over if he didn't agree. Crotzer said a deputy told him he was being targeted because of his past convictions.
"I figured the best thing to do is to let them search my car," Crotzer said. "I let them do it just to get on and hope that it stopped, because the sheriff told me I had 30 more miles to get out of the county."
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