State of Florida v. Luis Diaz

Miami, Florida defendant was charged with sexually assaulting multiple women in the Bird Road Rapist between 1977 and 1970.



Defendant was arrested and charged with 8 rapes. Perpetrator would typically get the victims to stop their car by flashing his lights. He could then brandish a gun, force the victims to enter his car, force their to perform oral sex while he drove and then, in some case, rape them. The attacker was described to be Latin male about 6 feet tall and weighing 200.



One of the victims identified Diaz after seeing him in a gas station where she worked despite the fact that Dias ws 5'3 and weighed 134 pounds. The attached drove a two door vehicle and Diaz' care was a four door green Chevrolet.



Diaz was arrested in August 1970 and was identified by eight of the victims in line-up or in video lineups.



No evidence from any of the crimes was found in a search of Diaz' home. No weapon was found and no blood or seman was found in his vehicle.



At trial, the victims identified Diaz and a forensic expert wrongfully implicated Diaz.



Diaz was a cook and smelled of fried onions after work. None of the victims testified to any such smell. He also did not fit the description of the attacker

In 1993, two victims recanted their identifications of Diaz.



In 2003, the Florida Innocence Initiative and Holland & Knight filed a postconviction motion for DNA testing. Testing of the available evidence found that Diaz was not the attacker.



Diaz was released from prison on August 3, 2005 after 25 years in prison for crimes he did not commit.



Pursuant to Florida's Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act, 96.01, et seq., are entitled to $50,000 per years for each year of wrongful incarceration.



In 2012, Diaz received nearly $1.3 million in compensation from the State of Florida.