Florida: A man received a compensation of 14 million dollars for being wrongly jailed for a 1983 rape and murder in the city of Tampa of Florida.
The man identified as Robert DuBoise, as 18 when the crime occurred, was initially sentenced to death for the killing of 19-year-old Barbara Grams.
Reportedly, Robert DuBoise’s sentence was later reduced to life in prison in 2018- with help from the Innocence Project organisation. During the early 1980s, DNA testing was not available. Later, in 2020, DuBoise was dismissed in 2020 after he was proved innocent in the case.
Following the dismissal of DuBoise, he initiated legal action against the city of Tampa, the police officers involved in the investigation, and a forensic dentist who had attested that his dental impressions matched a purported bite mark on the victim.
The lawsuit was settled on January 11. Later, the Tampa City granted $14 million to DuBoise. Chicago-based civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy represented Robert DuBoise’s case.
“The settlement is not only an acknowledgement of the harm that Mr. DuBoise suffered, but also an opportunity for him to move on with his life,” the law firm Loevy & Loevy said in a statement.
As per the city documents, DuBoise and his law firm will get $9 million this year, $3 million next year, and $2 million in 2026.
In August 1983, Barbara Grams was on her way to home from work at a Tampa restaurant when she was sexually assaulted and fatally beaten. A bite mark found on her cheek led investigators to collect bite samples from several individuals, including DuBoise. It’s worth mentioning here that the impression of the wound was obtained using beeswax.
Robert DuBoise released from a Florida prison in August 2020. Following his release, he said, “I prayed to God every day and hoped for it.”
Ms Kalinga