Florida man serving life sentence for murder, rape cleared by DNA evidence over 30 years later

A Tampa man who was serving a life sentence after being accused of committing a murder and rape he wasn’t guilty of has been cleared by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project and the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.

Robert DuBoise spent 37 years in Florida State Prison for the death of Barbara Grams, a 19-year-old Tampa woman people found beaten to death behind a dental practice in 1983, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.

Articles from the time reported that hair, saliva, and blood samples from the scene were inclusive.

However, a jury convicted DuBoise based on reconstructed bite marks that the prosecution argued matched his teeth, and the testimony of another state inmate.

The jury recommended a life sentence, but the judge, Harry Coe, overruled and gave Duboise the death penalty.

A few years later, DuBoise appealed and his sentence was reduced back to life in prison.

DNA evidence that was thought to be “lost” was found during an 11 month review of DuBoise’s case. It found that he was not a match for forensic evidence collected from the murder investigation, according to a spokesperson from the state attorney’s office.

The Innocence Project is representing DuBoise and is trying to get him released from the Hardee Correctional Institution as soon as possible.

Source: NBC News, Staff, August 27, 2020

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