Exonerated man, subject of Times series, shares his story in Tampa

TAMPA — Almost 40 years ago, a Tampa jury found Robert DuBoise guilty of a murder he did not commit, and a judge condemned him to die in the electric chair.

On Friday morning, he stood, alive and smiling, before a crowd of about 50 in a downtown Tampa coffee shop, answering questions about what’s it’s like to be wrongfully convicted and exonerated.

Beside him stood Andrew Warren, the ousted state attorney who was one of the people who helped free him from prison.

“This is a story that needs to be told,” Warren told reporters afterward. “It’s a story about doing the right thing.”

DuBoise and Warren were the featured speakers Friday at Café Con Tampa, a weekly community gathering at the Portico Café. It was the first time the pair have appeared together publicly since immediately after DuBoise’s exoneration in 2020.

Warren recounted the story of DuBoise’s case, the nearly 37 years he spent in prison and the unlikely circumstances that led to his release in 2020. The Hillsborough state attorney’s office conviction review unit, which Warren established to examine cases of defendants who claimed to be innocent, was instrumental in identifying DNA evidence that proved DuBoise was not guilty.

DuBoise’s story was the subject of The Marked Man, a Tampa Bay Times narrative published this spring.

Although Warren is in the midst of a closely-watched political campaign against Suzy Lopez, the longtime prosecutor that Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed after suspending Warren two years ago, Warren avoided discussion of the race Friday.

Still, there came a few political questions. Among them: If he wins, how likely is it that the governor would suspend him again? Warren didn’t dwell on the question, but he asserted that DeSantis’ move broke the law.

“You’ll have to ask the governor whether he intends to respect the rule of law, respect free speech, respect our democracy,” he said.

Another question concerned people in the community who doubt DuBoise’s innocence, a nod to Lopez and Mark Ober, the former state attorney who as a young prosecutor secured DuBoise’s conviction, and some in law enforcement.

“They’re wrong,” Warren said. “The evidence is beyond conclusive.”

He noted that a judge immediately released DuBoise after a court hearing in 2020, that the Florida Legislature voted almost unanimously to award DuBoise close to $2 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction, that one of the two men alleged to be the true killers has since pleaded guilty.

“There is no evidence tying Robert to that crime,” Warren said. “And the only people who still believe he’s (guilty) are those who are either too afraid or too blinded by their own pride to actually see the facts and see the truth.”

Asked to respond to Warren’s comments Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for Lopez referred to her prior statements about the case, saying the office had “nothing new to add.” Lopez previously took issue with the way Warren handled DuBoise’s case, criticizing him for not personally speaking to Ober and the case’s original detectives.

DuBoise was 18 when he was arrested for the murder of Barbara Grams. The young woman was attacked, raped and beaten as she walked home one night in August 1983 from her job at the Tampa Bay Center mall.

The key evidence against DuBoise was a bite mark on the victim’s cheek, which a dentist opined was a match to him. A jailhouse informant also claimed DuBoise had confessed. Sent to death row, his sentence was later reduced to life in prison.

Scientific studies have since demonstrated that bite mark analysis is highly unreliable. Jailhouse informant testimony is also a frequent factor in wrongful convictions.

DuBoise obtained the help of the Innocence Project, the New York legal organization. They submitted a petition to the conviction review unit. The unit’s attorney, Teresa Hall, located samples of DNA from a rape exam taken from Grams. When tested, the results showed no match to DuBoise.

The DNA did link to two other men, with whom he had no connection, who were in prison for a different murder that occurred in 1983. Amos Robinson and Abron Scott were later charged with Grams’s murder, along with the long-unsolved slaying of Linda Lansen, who was killed about a month before Grams. Scott later pleaded guilty. Robinson awaits trial.

The jailhouse informant in DuBoise’s case later testified that he’d lied about DuBoise confessing to the crime, saying he felt pressured by police and prosecutors.

DuBoise was asked about the first things he did when released four years ago, how he managed to adapt to life after prison. He spoke about his time at the Sunny Center, an organization that provides housing to exonerees, and learning to adapt to freedom in a new era, much the same way he had to adapt to prison life.

He spoke about learning to use a cell phone, staying up late figuring out how to answer a call.

Someone asked how the experience affected their opinions of the death penalty.

“That’s kind of a sore subject with me,” DuBoise said, drawing laughter. He mentioned the cases of two men he knew on death row whom he believed were wrongfully executed.

Someone asked what society can do to make him whole again. His response drew applause.

“There’s really nothing you can do to help,” DuBoise said. “I don’t really accept help very well, because I don’t feel like I need it. I’m more focused on doing stuff for other people. So there’s really nothing that anybody can do, except just be honest and kind to each other. That’s all I hope for.”