Charges dropped against misidentified Winter Park kidnapping, robbery suspect, officials say

WINTER PARK, Fla. — A man charged with kidnapping two Rollins College students and breaking into two homes has been released and charges dropped after his attorney presented evidence showing he could not be responsible.

Matthew Moody was arrested on April 4, on 17 charges, including kidnapping and burglary.

He was accused of going to a home in Winter Park, realizing he’d gone to the wrong address and then forcing the two college students at gunpoint to take him next door, police said.

The gunman was wearing a bandana covering his face but the victims said he had the same height, weight and body structure as Moody.

One of the victims picked Moody’s picture out of a photo lineup six days after the incident, officials said.

After her client spent three weeks in jail, Moody’s attorney was able to prove he had not been in the state at the time of the crime.

Bank records filed in court showed that Moody had rented a home in Texas.

He was released from jail on April 28, and all charges against him were dropped on Friday.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said eyewitness testimony in a case like this can sometimes result in the wrong person being arrested and charged.

“Oftentimes, eyewitness identification testimony can be the most unreliable and can have disastrous results for the innocent,” Sheaffer said.

Winter Park Police Department spokeswoman Capt. Pam Marcum released the following statement on Moody's release:

This is still an ongoing investigation, so I am not able to provide many additional details. As you mentioned in this case, one witness indicated that the perpetrator resembled the suspect and a different witness identified him from a photographic line up. A warrant was obtained for his arrest, and a judge found probable cause existed.  

After his arrest, Detectives went to interview the suspect. The suspect provided some additional information which the suspect believed was exculpatory. We forwarded that information to the State Attorney’s office as soon as we received it. Additionally, we followed up on the provided version of events, so the prosecutor would have all information from both sides.  

We are continuing to investigate this case, and have not ruled out any suspects at this time.

Unfortunately, other than what is stated above, we cannot give out any further information based on the status of the investigation.

Cox Media Group