Woman freed after 8 years in prison
She was convicted in death of 1-year-old; pardon sought
Amanda Brumfield, who was convicted but maintained her innocence in the 2008 death of her best friend’s1-year-old toddler, has been released early from her 20-year prison sentence after a deal with prosecutors, according to the Innocence Project of Florida.
The nonprofit, which seeks to exonerate wrongly convicted people, had recently asked the state Board of Executive Clemency to pardon Brumfield or commute her sentence, arguing she was wrongfully convicted of a crime disproven by medical and scientific evidence.
Brumfield, who is the estranged daughter of Hollywood actor Billy Bob Thornton, was released Thursday from prison after serving 8½ years in state prison.
Her release wasn’t thanks to the clemency board. Ahead of a hearing planned for next week on a motion seeking a new trial, under the argument that her lawyers failed to investigate experts’ claims at Brumfield’s 2011 trial, state prosecutors offered her a deal.
An judge signed an order Thursday that resentenced her to 10 years instead of 20 — resulting in her immediate release, records show. In exchange, Brumfield agreed to stop pursuing her innocence claim in the courts, said Seth Miller, the executive di
rector of the Innocence Project of Florida.
“It’s a tough choice for anyone,” Miller said, noting the growing threat of coronavirus in the state prison system. “Given the ability to go home and seek safety and freedom and restart her life, ... we understand and it’s totally reasonable.”
He said the nonprofit will amend her application for clemency given this development, but continue pushing for her pardon.
“She maintains her innocence, the evidence is what it is,” Miller said.
Orange-Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala said her office decided to present the deal “in the interest of justice” to give the family of the victim some closure.
“This resolution with the defendant brings finality to this matter but does not absolve Ms. Brumfield of this crime,” Ayala wrote in a statement Friday.
Brumfield was convicted at trial in 2011 in the death of Olivia Madison Garcia.
Olivia’s mother and Brumfield had taken their children to get Chick-Fil-A and ice cream Oct. 3, 2008, just hours before the girl’s death. When they returned to Brumfield’s home, Olivia’s mom set up a portable playpen and left her daughter sleeping in it around 11 p.m.
About 40 minutes later, Brumfield said she saw Olivia straddling the playpen before falling onto the floor. She said the girl at first seemed fine, other than a cut on her tongue, but became unresponsive hours later.
Brumfield’s husband called 911 about 20 minutes later and coached her through CPR until police came. Paramedics took her to the hospital, where Olivia was pronounced dead at 2:48 a.m., according to the Innocence Project’s application for clemency.
Brumfield was arrested on first-degree murder and other charges, after then-Orange-Osceola Chief Medical Examiner Jan Garavaglia determined Olivia’s death was a homicide. An autopsy found a three-and-ahalf inch fracture on the girl’s skull and bleeding and swelling in her brain.
At trial, Garavaglia and another expert witness testified the skull fracture was consistent with serious trauma, like from a car accident or being slammed against the wall, while a pediatrician told jurors that it was impossible for Olivia to have climbed out of the playpen.
The Innocence Project says that’s junk science.
“It’s important that we get the science and the medical [information] right on the front end, ... and not run someone through the criminal process wrongfully,” Miller said. “... Not only does it cause wrongful conviction when we bring this incorrect medical opinion into court, it can also give a false sense [of protection] to parents.”
His nonprofit has cited studies that have found falls of similar height can “cause serious injury and death” and have led the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to warn about the potential lethal danger of short-distance falls from shopping carts, child seats and high chairs.
Miller called this a “tragic death” that should not have been treated as a crime. He said it unfortunately happens frequently, pointing to the case from Pinellas County of former day care owner Stephanie Spurgeon, who was also released from prison this summer after official reviewed new medical testimony in her case.
“This course of events follows a pattern when women — babysitters, day care workers, and even mothers — have a child die in their care,” the Innocence Project of Florida wrote in a post on Facebook about Brumfield’s case. “Despite contrary evidence, the authorities assume abuse and pin that abuse on the woman who is always the last person to have been with the child before his or her demise.”