Man wrongly accused of rape and murder released after 37 years in prison
- IndiaGlitz, [Wednesday,September 16 2020]
In a heartbreaking yet positive incident reported in the United States, a man from Florida was released last month after 37 years in prison when he was cleared of a 1983 rape and murder.
DNA evidence has proved that he did not commit the crime he was accused of. The man, identified as Robert DuBoise, was reportedly convicted at a trial that relied on a testimony from an unreliable jailhouse informant and faulty bite-mark analysis. Removing the 55-year-old man from the state sex offender registry, Hillsborough county judge Christopher Nash pronounced an order wiping away his convictions and life sentence. This court has failed you for 37 years. Today, it has finally succeeded, the judge said during the hearing. DuBoise was convicted in the murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams, who was raped and murdered while going back home from work at Tampa mall in Florida in 1983. DuBoise was initially sentenced to death but was later re-sentenced to life.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, teaming up with the Innocence project, had helped DuBoise's release from prison. In efforts to provide justice to men who have been wrongfully convicted, Warren has been working with the Innocence Project to review any cases that relied on bite mark analyses that have since been discredited. This won't be easy, but it will be worth it. Wrongful convictions deprive victims and their families of justice; they deserve the truth — not false closure based on a false story. Beyond that, wrongful convictions threaten public safety, putting an innocent person behind bars, while the actual person who committed the crime goes free, Warren reportedly stated.
Thanking everyone who helped him get justice, Robert DuBoise stated, There are really true-hearted people in these offices now. It's been amazing. I'm just very grateful to all of you. Everything is brand new to me. You might as well say I just came from another planet.