During the re-investigation, Dr. Adam Freeman, a forensic odontologist, reviewed the bite mark evidence and testimony in this case. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media. In 2020, despite previous assurances that all the biological evidence from the rape kit was destroyed, slides from the victims autopsy were also found at the Medical Examiner for Hillsborough County. 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. Prosecutors and Mr. DuBoises lawyer said they would then begin the lengthier process of asking the court to reverse his conviction and exonerate him. Unlike other areas of forensic analysis, bite mark analysis lacks validated rules, regulations or processes for accreditation that would establish standards for the expert testimony. In 2018, the Innocence Project began to review DuBoises case. Souviron, whose practice is in Coral Gables, did not immediately return a telephone message Saturday seeking comment. His sentence was reduced in 1988 to life in prison until his exoneration and release last year. While the state is constitutionally obligated to provide the defense with key information related to the credibility of jailhouse informants, such as the benefits provided for their testimony, in many wrongful convictions this evidence is never disclosed. Based on a comparison of the impression and mold, Dr. Souviron determined DuBoise was a match to the mark left on the body and he was arrested immediately. I never lost faith that today would come. Robert S Dubois, 93. Robert DuBoise, exonerated of 1983 murder, sues Tampa over imprisonment, Raymond Odierno, Army general who commanded in Iraq, dies of cancer at age 67, Justin McNeil appointed as new Jefferson County Supervisor of Elections, Antisemitic message distributor faces consequences in Palm Beach County court, Rick Scott says Democrats should be worried if Joe Biden is 2024 nominee, Last Call for 3.1.23 A prime-time read of whats going down in Florida politics, Jason Brodeur wants pay-to-play blog posts about elected officials reported with the state, Kamala Harris to speak at Miami Beach climate innovation summit. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, against former Tampa police Detectives Phillip Saladino and K.E. Website by MADEO. 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. Im not sure it can get any worse other than all the men that came before him and were executed. Susan Friedman, an Innocence Project lawyer who represents Mr. DuBoise, said she told him on Monday that he had been cleared by DNA testing and was going to be set free. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Lack of finances leads to lack of proper representation as we all know. Dr. Souviron concluded that it was a match and detectives immediately arrested DuBoise who, at the time, was only 18 years old. was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a woman walked free Thursday after 37 years behind bars. Dr. Richard Souviron, a forensic odontologist, advised detectives to obtain bite mark impressions from potential suspects. He has been living in a Tampa center for people wrongfully imprisoned and has said he must learn the ways of modern life, from shopping at Walmart to using an iPhone. Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. I have been waiting for this day for nearly 37 years. Thank you for visiting us. The jury recommended a life sentence, but the judge overrode the recommendation and sentenced DuBoise to death. Robert DuBoise following his exoneration after 37 years on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Tampa, Florida. The Innocent project did their job. Press "Enter" or click on the arrow to show results. 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.. He has always maintained his innocence, but any hope of reversing his conviction seemed to evaporate in 1990 when the evidence from his trial was destroyed as part of a routine procedure. Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from the Innocence Project: The CRU announced their collaboration with the Innocence Project to audit prior cases involving bite mark evidence. 2023 Innocence Project. The family of the victim deserves to have the truth, as painful as it may be. In fact, the victims injury was not a human bitemark at all, Daniel Marshall, an attorney for the Human Rights Defense Center, wrote in the lawsuit. He concluded that the original bite mark conclusions are unsupported by science and, most critically, found that although three experts at trial concluded that the mark on the victims cheek was a bite mark, the injury in this case was in fact not a bite mark. In the federal lawsuit filed this week, DuBoises attorneys name as defendants the city of Tampa, four police investigators and a forensic dentist who testified a bite mark on Grams cheek was from DuBoise based on a faulty beeswax mold made of his teeth. A Florida man who was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a woman walked free Thursday after 37 years behind bars. Susan Friedman, the Innocence Project lawyer representing DuBoise, said he maintained his innocence on Death Row and often in solitary confinement in six Florida prisons. Have a tip or story idea? They deserve the truth, not false closure based on a false story. The only physical evidence implicating Mr DuBoise was fabricated bitemark evidence that supposedly matched Mr DuBoise to an injury on the victims body. The Innocence Project of Florida served as local counsel on the case. Robert Dubois in Florida. In a hearing two years later, the Court Clerk testified that all of the evidence admitted into his original trial was destroyed in 1990. During the reinvestigation, Dr. Adam Freeman, a forensic odontologist, reviewed the bite mark evidence and testimony in this case. Thursday morning, the courtmoved to reduce DuBoises sentence to the exact amount of time he has already spent behind bars. Convicted of murder and sentenced to death, his sentence was reduced in 1988 to life in prison until his exoneration and release last year. Earlier this month, however, a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Fla., made a startling discovery: The county medical examiners office had preserved rape kit samples in the case that were not used in Mr. DuBoises trial. It was DuBoises trial prosecutor who filed a Motion to Mitigate the jailhouse informants sentence citing his total cooperation with the State in DuBoises trial. The Innocence Project also discovered significant inconsistencies in the jailhouse informants testimony, and his sentence was reduced after he cooperated with investigators, Mr. Warrens office said. There was no other evidence connecting DuBoise to the crime until he was transported to Hillsborough County Jail where a jailhouse informant falsely alleged that DuBoise made statements implicating himself in the crime. The states theory at trial was that DuBoise, his brother Victor DuBoise and friend Raymond Garcia sexually assaulted and killed the victim, though only DuBoise was arrested and prosecuted for these crimes. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. Wrongful convictions tear at the very foundation of our system and everything that prosecutors stand for: public safety, fairness and justice. Floridas last death-row exoneration was in the case of Clifford Williams, Jr., who was freed in March 2019 after serving 42 years for a murder he did not commit. . Activity Our building permit records indicate that Robert E Dubois has worked on at least 35 projects over the past 3 years. On Sept. 11, 2020, the State filed its response asking that the Court find DuBoise innocent of the charges against him and to signify the Courts ruling as an exoneration of Mr. Robert DuBoise. The CRU also issued a Summary Fact Finding Report that stated that if Mr. DuBoise would be retried today, there would be clear and convincing evidence that he is innocent of the charges against him.. 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. 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. 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. I hope that my story helps others to keep fighting to prove their innocence. They punish the innocent while allowing the actual perpetrator to go free. In fact, the victims injury was not a human bitemark at all, Daniel Marshall, an attorney for the Human Rights Defense Center, wrote in the lawsuit. Robert is a very patient person, Ms. Friedman said. Robert Dubois in Miami, FL 12 results - Robert Dubois may also have lived outside of Miami, such as Saint Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale and 2 other cities in Florida. Through observation and autopsy, authorities concluded the woman was raped and beaten to death. DuBoise was released from the Hardee Correctional Institution in Bowling Green, Florida, August 27, 2020, one day after Hillsborough prosecutors and lawyers from the national Innocence Project and the Innocence Project of Florida presented Circuit Judge Christopher Nash with evidence of his innocence. DuBoise was released after new DNA testing of the crime scene evidence that was thought to have been destroyed excluded him as the assailant. Mr. Robert E Dubois has a BuildZoom score of 90, which places them above 47% of 191,428 contractors in Florida. The lawsuit claims beeswax was not an accepted method of identifying teeth marks in murder cases and was used only because another officer in the Tampa police department operated a honey business on the side. The jury unanimously recommended that DuBoise be sentenced to life, but his trial judge, Henry Lee Coe III, overrode their recommendation and sentenced DuBoise to be executed in Floridas electric chair. Resides in Fort Walton Beach, FL . The Judge overseeing this case is DRAPER, CAROL E. Mr DuBoise has been deprived of all the basic pleasures of human experience, which all free people enjoy as a matter of right., Florida man cleared of rape and murder convictions after 37 years in prison, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Finally, the Conviction Review Unit discoveredthat Gramsrape kit hadnt been destroyed after all. He was just 18 years old. Find Robert Dubois's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. The American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) has revised its standards and guidelines, and now explicitly states that an ABFO Diplomate shall not express conclusions unconditionally linking a bite mark to a dentition.. At the time, the inmate, who was facing a life sentence, claimed hed received no promises in exchange for testimony. The best result we found for your search is Robert G Dubois age 60s in Naples, FL in the Palm River neighborhood. Knowing that such an egregious mistake could happen here is gut-wrenching.. In the federal lawsuit filed this week, DuBoises attorneys name as defendants the city of Tampa, four police investigators and a forensic dentist who testified a bite mark on Grams cheek was from DuBoise based on a faulty beeswax mold. Mr. DuBoises father died while he was incarcerated, she said. 14 connections. Very little pointed to 18-year-old Robert DuBoise as the man responsible for the vicious rape and murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams, who wasfound bludgeoned to deathin August 1983. Far right Republicans wanted him executed years ago. (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. Todays exoneration finally removes the shackles from Robert DuBoise. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Alabama still allows trial judges to impose the death penalty based upon a jurys 10-2 or 11-1 vote for death. Resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He served three years on death row before the Florida Supreme Court vacated his death sentence. Grams in August 1983 was forcibly raped and beaten to death while walking home from work. DuBoise, 55, was convicted in the 1983 murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams, who was raped and beaten while walking home from her job at a Tampa mall. The informant was facing multiple life sentences for kidnapping, armed robbery and battery of a law enforcement officer. 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