Innocent man wrongly convicted of murder urges voters to focus on local elections

Robert DuBoise, a Tampa man who spent 37 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, has a message for anyone who wants to help him.

“If people want to do something….the most important thing is not to focus on the president right now but to focus on local officials,” DuBoise, 59, told WMNF WaveMakers with Janet & Tom. “Find out what they’ve done with their careers. These people have an immediate impact on your life.”

That particularly includes the State Attorney, DuBoise said.

DuBoise was exonerated four years ago because of the work of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren’s conviction review unit did on his case. DuBoise was represented by the Innocence Project, which prodded Warren’s office to find missing DNA that proved he didn’t murder 19-year-old Barbara Gram in 1983. Instead, the DNA matched two men already in prison for a different murder.

Those men, Amos Robinson and Abron Scott, were later indicted for Gram’s rape and murder. As a grand jury indicted them. Warren was notified that he had been suspend by Gov. Ron DeSantis for speaking out about abortion restrictions.

Suzy Lopez, appointed by DeSantis as interim state attorney and now running for the job, has cast doubt on Duboise’ innocence, DuBoise says. If she had been state attorney instead of Warren, “I would say I would probably be dying there,” DuBoise said. “Even though they found the people who really did it she still sticks to her guns.”

The police detectives who tried to pin the murder on him continue to question his innocence, too, DuBoise said. He sued them both and won a $14 million settlement from the city of Tampa. DuBoise says he pities the detectives. “They’re living with their own guilt,” he says. “They can’t admit remorse.”

DuBoise was joined on WaveMakers by Christopher Spata and Dan Sullivan, the Tampa Bay Times reporters who chronicled his journey in a series titled The Marked Man. Sullivan said he was surprised how many people within the criminal justice system  continued to question DuBoise’s innocence despite the flimsy evidence used to convict him and the DNA and recanted testimony that exonerated him. “That that was very surprising to me,” Sullivan said.

Spata said the most surprising thing he found in his reporting “is the amount of grace Robert extends to all the people who put himself in this situation. He’s not personally angry at them. That was amazing to see that with robert. He’s so calm.”

Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.