Website by MADEO. Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. In many wrongful convictions, such as DuBoises, these benefits provided in exchange for their testimony are never disclosed. DuBoise was greeted outside the prison by his mother, Myra, his sister, Harriet, and Innocence Project lawyer, Susan Friedman. Ms. Friedman said that she along with Mr. DuBoises mother and sister planned to meet Mr. DuBoise after he is released from prison on Thursday. At a 2008 hearing, the Court Clerk testified that all the evidence admitted at DuBoises trial, which included the victims rape kit, were destroyed in 1990, just five years after his conviction. The CRUs audit is the first systematic review of bite mark cases that has been initiated by a prosecutors office. If you tell me that is the guy that did it, I will go into Court and say that is the guy that did it, Souviron said during a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, according to the complaint. DuBoise was re-sentenced to life for the murder and 15 years for the attempted sexual battery to run consecutively. DuBoise is represented by the Innocence Project, who worked collaboratively with the Conviction Review Unit at the Office of the State Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa. The family of the victim deserves to have the truth, and this new evidence helps reveal the truth for all of us., Mr. Warren said he had apologized to Mr. DuBoise on behalf of the entire criminal justice system., The only person who benefits from wrongful conviction is the actual perpetrator, Mr. Warren said. The DNA profile was entered into CODIS and matched to an individual who had no connection to DuBoise. Detectives sought out the opinion of a second odontologist, Dr. Richard Souviron, who advised police to start collecting bite mark impressions from potential suspects. On August 19, 1983, a young womans body was found behind a dental office in Tampa, Florida. No one else has been arrested for her murder. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Robert A. Dubois of Port Charlotte, Florida, who passed away on June 6, 2022, at the age of 80, leaving to mourn family and friends. Robert DuBoise is pictured on his bed at his new home in Tampa. They have also lived in Indialantic, FL and Fort Myers, FL. The inmate claimed that DuBoise had confessed to raping and murdering Grams alongside two other men, Teresa Hall,supervising attorney for the Conviction Review Unit, saidin a. I cant get back the decades that I lost, but Im going to try to rebuild my life with my family. He concluded that the original bite mark conclusions are unsupported by science and, most critically, found that although two experts at trial concluded that the pattern injury was a bite mark, the injury in this case was in fact not a bite mark. Wrongful convictions are contrary to the very fiber of our system, Warren said at a news conference following the courts action. On Sept. 10, 2020, the Innocence Project filed a Motion for Post-Conviction Relief and Vacate Judgment and Sentence based on newly discovered evidence. Keep up the good work Innocence Project! The exculpatory DNA evidence freed Robert DuBoise of his wrongful conviction and made him Floridas 30th person exonerated after being sentenced to death. A Florida man exonerated of a 1983 rape and murder after 37 years in prison is suing over his wrongful conviction, and initial sentence to death, in which a disproven bite mark was crucial evidence. A free man for the first time since he was a teenager, Mr DuBoise must now put his life back together after almost 40 years in prison, the lawsuit says. According to the lawsuit, investigators initially focused on him after an attendant at a gas station across the street from where Grams was found told police three boys named Robert, Bo and Ray had been causing trouble. Yes, positively identified by DNA, Contributing Causes: Faulty Forensic Science, and Jailhouse Informant Testimony. (August 27, 2020 Tampa, Florida) Today, Robert DuBoise walked free after spending almost 37 years in prison for a 1983 rape and murder in Tampa, Florida, he did not commit. Find Robert Dubois's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. Locatepeople.org is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and the information After testifying in court against DuBoise and once a death sentence was secured, the informant received a further sentence reduction to time served and he was immediately released. The only physical evidence implicating Mr DuBoise was fabricated bitemark evidence that supposedly matched Mr DuBoise to an injury on the victims body. In the decades since, however, forensic experts have largely abandoned using bitemarks to identify suspects. I am grateful to be here, now with a chance to move forward, but I know there are more innocent people like me still behind bars, said DuBoise. 14 connections. Right; Robert outside his home in Tampa, Florida, in October 2020. Robert Dubois was wrongly convicted for a 1983 rape and murder. The DNA test results further discredited the informant because the results did not match Mr. DuBoise, his brother or his friend, whom the informant had implicated in the crime, Mr. Warren said. I am just so grateful that my voice was heard and the truth is out there, said DuBoise. He served three years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court vacated his death sentence. Alabama still allows trial judges to impose the death penalty based upon a jurys 10-2 or 11-1 vote for death. DuBoise will be the 171st documented death-row exoneration in the U.S. since 1973. In brief remarks during the hearing, DuBoise, who was 18 at the time of the crime, said he had a lot of roadblocks thrown in my path. For 37 years, weve had an innocent man locked up in prisonwhile the real perpetrator was never held accountable for this heinous crime. Copyright 2023 LocatePeople.org. Warren said that his office was preparing court papers to complete the exoneration process. Twitter:@PeterSchorschFL Until 2016, Florida permitted trial judges to impose death sentences despite jury recommendations for life or based on non-unanimous jury votes for death. Fraud Alert:We have heard that there are people who fraudulently represent themselves as working for the Innocence Project of Florida, promising legal representation in exchange for money. Its been amazing. His innocence was proven after a review of the case by the Hillsborough county state attorneys office and the Innocence Project, which works nationwide. Have a tip or story idea? The case against DuBoise was weak from the start. Case Summary. . Robert Alan Dubois, 58 Resides in Glendale, AZ Lived In Scottsdale AZ, Fort Lauderdale FL, Phoenix AZ, Oak View CA Related To Keith Dubois, Jordan Dubois, Rhonda Dubois, K Dubois Also known as Robert A Duborj Includes Address (9) Phone (4) See Results Robert E Dubois, 63 Resides in Valparaiso, FL Lived In Niceville FL, York PA, Wrightsville PA Robert DuBoise, 56, was freed in August last year after long-shelved untested DNA evidence from a rape kit proved he was innocent of the rape and murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams in Tampa . A jailhouse informant also testified that Mr. DuBoise had confessed to killing and raping Ms. Grams along with his brother and friend. 2. All Filters. Fraud Alert:We have heard that there are people who fraudulently represent themselves as working for the Innocence Project of Florida, promising legal representation in exchange for money. This bitemark evidence was knowingly fabricated by Defendant Souviron, a forensic odontologist, in conspiracy with Detectives K.E. In August 2006, DuBoise filed a motion for post-conviction DNA testing. However, evidence on the case was presumed destroyedin 1990, apparently aspart of a routine process, Grayson Kamm, communications officer for the Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit, said in a phone interview with Oxygen.com. As a result, the judge denied his request to test the other biological evidence and agreed on the States theory that excluding Robert from the evidence would still not prove his innocence. When investigators began to identify suspects, they also came across a local resident who referred to Robert DuBoise as someone who caused problems at a hangout place in the area. Find Robert Dubois's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. DNA testing showed that DNA from two males was present and excluded DuBoise, Victor DuBoise and Raymond Garcia. However, evidence on the case was presumed destroyedin 1990, apparently aspart of a routine process, Grayson Kamm, communications officer for the Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit, said in a phone interview with Oxygen.com. Based on the junk science of bite mark evidence and the unreliable testimony of a jailhouse informant, DuBoise was convicted and sentenced to death. Robert DuBoise A man in Florida who was exonerated after spending 37 years in prison for a 1983 rape and murder filed a lawsuit against police officials and the forensic dentist who testified against him, claiming they "knowingly fabricated" evidence used to convict him. In addition, the lawsuit contends that investigators conspired with jailhouse informants to falsely implicate DuBoise and were guilty of misconduct. If a judge approves the motion on Thursday, Mr. DuBoise could walk out of Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, Fla., on Thursday afternoon, after 37 years behind bars. The Innocence Project of Florida served as local counsel on the case. Yet this was six months before Grams was slain. Join to connect PR. After 37 years in prison for wrongful conviction, Robert DuBoise completes path to freedom at Buccaneers-Rams game. Robert C Dubois, Age 91 Open report >> Lives: Sarasota, FL, in zip codes 34237 and 34235; Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from the Innocence Project: DNA testing excludes DuBoise in a case that rested on unreliable bite mark evidence and jailhouse informant testimony. In 2006, DuBoise sought post-conviction DNA testing, but an evidence search at the time revealed that all evidence admitted at trial, which included evidence collected as part of the rape kit, was destroyed in 1990. Robert Ray Dubois, 73 Resides in Davenport, FL Lived In Kissimmee FL, Sevierville TN, Pigeon Forge TN, Bradford OH Related To William Dubois, Connie Dubois, Evelyn Dubois, Lisa Dubois, Diane Dubois Also known as Robert R Du Bois Includes Address (9) Phone (10) Email (2) See Results Robert Duane Dubois, 47 Resides in Daytona Beach, FL (Page 2) These people do not work for the Innocence Project of Florida. Thursday morning, the courtmoved to reduce DuBoises sentence to the exact amount of time he has already spent behind bars. Jailhouse informant testimony plays a leading role in 17% of the 375 DNA-based exoneration cases. Major problems in the case quickly emerged. DuBoise, who had never been convicted of a violent crime, fully cooperated with police and allowed them to take a mold of his teeth. The Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Robert Dubois in Fort Lauderdale, FL 13 results - Robert Dubois may also have lived outside of Fort Lauderdale, such as Fort Walton Beach, Hollywood and 2 other cities in Florida. Photo of Robert DuBois hugging his mother by Martha Asencio-Rhine, Tampa BayTimes. Souviron also allegedly said that If the detectives say he did it, I am going to go in there and say he did it., Souviron created a mold of DuBoises teeth using beeswax, which the complaint says was scientifically unreliable and only used because another officer in the Tampa Police Department operated a honey business on the side.. 2023 Innocence Project. One violent felony or more than one nonviolent felony will disqualify a person from Floridas Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act which grants $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment by the State. We knew that Roberts conviction rested on two leading causes of wrongful convictions jailhouse informant testimony and faulty forensicsand today, there is indisputable scientific evidence that proves his innocence. In 2018, the Innocence Project began to review DuBoises case. DuBoise is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. That process has since been abolished, Kamm said. 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