The Innocence Project of Florida Announces the Release of Randy Seal: Wrongful Conviction From Faulty Fire Forensics

On August 12, 2024, the Innocence Project of Florida (IPF) succeeded in having Randy Seal released after he served over 20 years in prison for what IPF believes was a wrongful conviction for arson murder. In 2007, Seal was convicted of first-degree murder and arson in the 2004 death of his girlfriend, who died in a fire in Seal's home.

The IPF's attorneys argued that no crime had been committed. They presented evidence that a confidential informant admitted that his trial testimony incriminating Seal was not truthful. More importantly, his conviction rested in part on scientific evidence presented by the State indicating that items taken from the fire scene contained gasoline. It was later determined that the fire debris analysis methodology used to determine the presence of gasoline was scientifically unreliable.

Seal was released after he entered a no-contest plea whereby the State agreed to vacate his conviction and life sentence, instead sentencing him to time served. This plea deal allowed Seal to maintain his innocence. Seal explained that he decided to take the plea deal and be released from prison rather than risking another jury trial that could again result in a conviction and life sentence for a crime he did not commit.

For more information, here is a link to the IPF's website summary of the Randy Seal case: https://www.floridainnocence.org/randyseal.

This Palatka Daily News story has more detail: https://www.palatkadailynews.com/local-news/man-gets-reduced-sentence-2004-murder.