When Robert DuBoise went to prison, Ronald Reagan was US President. Now the 55-year-old is free again. A court also declared the life sentence invalid on Monday. His name will also be removed from the register for sex offenders, as the British “Guardian” reports.
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“This court did them 37 years injustice,” said Judge Christopher Nash of Hillsborough County, Florida court to the former inmate: “Today it is finally fixed.”
In 1983, DuBoise was found guilty of the rape and murder of a 19-year-old. This had left a mall in Tampa, Florida, and was then attacked.
In the 1980s trial, the prosecution linked a beeswax cast from DuBoise’s teeth to a bite mark on the victim’s cheek. In addition, statements by an informant in a prison had led to the verdict, which should not have been admitted as reliable. A DNA test finally provided the certainty: DuBoise had not committed the crime against the young woman.
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The perpetrators remain unknown for the time being
In a brief statement, DuBoise stated that he “had to overcome a lot of obstacles” in his life. At the time of the murder, he was only 18 years old. According to his defense lawyers, DuBoise had repeatedly protested his innocence in solitary confinement and in the meantime on death row.
He now lives in a center for innocent convicted people in Tampa – and according to his mother and sister has yet to get used to the life in freedom and the developments in almost four decades.
DNA analysis showed that two people were involved in the murder. The real perpetrators remain unknown for the time being.
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