Jacksonville, FL — In a dramatic legal turn, a Florida inmate has filed an explosive federal petition alleging he is actually innocent, was never charged with an actual crime, and is currently imprisoned based on what he calls “non-criminal conduct” and catastrophic failures by prosecutors, defense attorneys, and state courts.
The filing — a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus submitted in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida — comes from Adam Murray Costello, a man serving a 10.5-year sentence for allegedly leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Costello says not only did he not cause the death, but overwhelming evidence shows he wasn’t even involved in the crash at all.
The petition reads like a legal thriller — one that challenges nearly every stage of the case, from the original police investigation to the performance of his lawyers, and even the validity of the charges themselves.
A Stunning Claim: “No Crime Was Ever Charged.”
Costello’s most shocking allegation is simple:
He was convicted of a crime that was never actually charged.
In his petition, Costello argues that the Fourth Amended Information — the formal charging document — left out multiple essential elements of the crime of “Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Death.” According to him, the document:
- Misstated the law,
- Omitted required elements, and
- Failed to allege “willfulness”, which Florida law requires.
He claims that without these key elements, the document does not allege a crime at all — a flaw so serious that Florida courts consider it jurisdictional, meaning the trial court had no legal authority to convict him.
“This is non-criminal conduct,” the petition argues bluntly.
“Even after four amendments, the State never charged me with an actual crime.”
What Really Happened That Night? A Tale of Two Trucks
The petition paints a dramatically different picture of the deadly crash.
Eyewitnesses: “It was a Dodge Ram with a camper top.”
Three eyewitnesses — whose sworn statements are included — consistently described the vehicle involved in the fatal crash as:
- A Dodge Ram 1500/2500,
- Equipped with a camper top,
- Traveling at high speed and leaving behind a chaotic scene of debris, ripped-out signs, and catastrophic impacts.
Costello, however, drove a Toyota Tundra — and the petition says the State’s own expert concluded there was zero paint transfer between his truck and the victim’s motorcycle.
FDLE Expert: “No transfer. None.”
An FDLE forensic analyst determined:
- The supposed “blue paint transfer” the detective relied on was not paint transfer at all,
- But pigment inside Costello’s factory clear-coat,
- And the only actual transferred material was grey plastic — a substance not found anywhere on the motorcycle.
In short:
No physical evidence linked Costello’s truck to the crash.
Phone Data: He Was Going the Opposite Direction
A separate FDLE phone-ping analyst mapped Costello’s cellphone at the time of the crash:
- He was traveling west on Colonial Blvd,
- While the hit-and-run truck was witnessed traveling south on McGregor Blvd,
- And moments later Costello was home, where his phone remained.
The petition says this proves Costello could not have been the driver eyewitnesses saw.
Hidden Witness? Missing Evidence?
One eyewitness, Joshua Swartwout, reportedly gave a sworn statement describing the crash and direction of travel — but his sworn statement was never provided to the defense, never entered into evidence, and appears to have vanished from the discovery file.
The petition calls this suppression of exculpatory evidence, one of the most serious accusations in criminal law.
Trial Attorney Later Became a Judge — and “Failed Catastrophically”
Costello’s petition accuses his trial attorney — now a sitting judge — of:
- Failing to challenge the defective charging document,
- Failing to present exculpatory expert evidence,
- Failing to challenge false statements in the probable-cause affidavit,
- Advising him to take a plea despite no evidence his vehicle ever struck the motorcycle.
Costello’s post-conviction attorney is also accused of “gross ineffectiveness,” including filing a legally impossible motion and failing to raise obvious, stronger claims.
These failures, Costello argues, triggered the Martinez v. Ryan exception allowing federal courts to hear his claims despite procedural delays.
A Second Huge Claim: The State Never Proved — or Even Claimed — He Caused the Death
Florida’s sentencing rules only allow “victim injury points” — which dramatically raise prison time — when the State alleges and proves that the defendant caused the death.
But according to Costello:
- The charging document never alleged he caused the death,
- No evidence at all of causation was ever entered,
- And the sentencing judge later admitted she never found that he caused the death.
The Second District Court of Appeal agreed, stating:
“The record contains no information regarding the victim’s cause of death.”
If the cause of death was unknown, Costello argues, then he cannot be punished for it.
The Heart of the Petition: “I Am Actually Innocent.”
Habeas petitions rarely make “actual innocence” claims because the legal standard is astonishingly high. But Costello says he can meet it.
He points to:
- Eyewitness statements identifying a completely different truck,
- Forensic evidence eliminating his vehicle,
- Phone-ping data contradicting the State’s theory,
- Missing witness testimony,
- State expert findings never shown to the jury, and
- Zero evidence he was involved in the crash at all.
“No reasonable juror,” he argues, “could possibly find me guilty.”
A Federal Court Now Holds the Case
The petition requests that the Jacksonville Division of the federal court intervene to prevent what Costello calls a “miscarriage of justice,” citing the court’s previous ruling in Pringle, where a similar defect in the charging language resulted in habeas relief.
If granted, Costello could see:
- His conviction vacated,
- His charges dismissed, or
- A new trial — one where, he says, the evidence would show he had nothing to do with the fatal crash.
What Happens Next?
The federal court will decide whether Costello’s petition merits a hearing. Given the serious allegations — defective charges, missing evidence, expert contradictions, and claims of innocence — legal observers will likely be watching closely.
For now, a man convicted of a fatal hit-and-run is telling the federal judiciary:
“You convicted me of a crime that never happened — and I can prove it.”