Robert DuBoise: thirty-seven years on a bite mark
Robert DuBoise was imprisoned for 37 years in Florida on bite-mark evidence. In February 2024 the Tampa City Council approved a $14 million settlement, paid over three years. It is the largest wrongful conviction payment in the four states this site covers.
A public record, not a client of this firm. Everything on this page comes from the court file, the government announcement or the reporting cited at the end. Usher Law Group did not represent anyone in this matter, we publish no results of our own, and nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case.
Robert DuBoise went into a Florida prison as a young man and came out thirty-seven years later. The evidence that convicted him was a bite mark. The public record we rely on for this page is the reporting of the Tampa City Council's vote, and it describes the case in those terms: 37 years, bite-mark evidence, a wrongful imprisonment.
In February 2024 the Council approved a $14 million settlement of his civil rights lawsuit, to be paid over three years. It is the largest single wrongful conviction payment among the public cases on this site in New York, New Jersey, Florida or Pennsylvania.
Florida is a state with a compensation statute, and it is a state with a cap on what a government pays on a state-law claim. Neither cap touched this number, because the claim that produced it was federal.
What the law calls it
A person convicted on evidence that officers fabricated or withheld has a federal claim. Suppressing material favorable evidence violates due process regardless of good faith (Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)); detention on fabricated evidence is a Fourth Amendment claim even after legal process begins (Manuel v. City of Joliet, 580 U.S. 357 (2017)); and a malicious prosecution claim needs only that the case ended without a conviction (Thompson v. Clark, 596 U.S. 36 (2022)). The city answers under Monell for the policies that produced the conviction. In Florida the federal claim carries a four-year limitation period.
Florida's sovereign immunity statute caps state-law claims at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, with anything more payable only by a legislative claim bill (Fla. Stat. 768.28(5)). The statute does not cap the federal claim, which is why a $14 million settlement was possible. Separately, Fla. Stat. 961.06 compensates the wrongly convicted at $50,000 per year up to $2,000,000; a 2025 amendment removed the "clean hands" bar and lengthened the filing window to two years.
What it cost
Robert DuBoise
37 years imprisoned on bite-mark evidence. Approved by the Tampa City Council in February 2024.
Source: WUSF. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
What it means for you
If a Florida conviction has been vacated, there are two routes and they run at the same time: the statute under Fla. Stat. 961.06, capped at $2,000,000 and now open for two years after exoneration, and the federal civil rights lawsuit, uncapped, with four years. Our wrongful conviction compensation page compares the four states, and what Florida pays explains the cap and why the federal claim carries the value.
The evidence in a case like this is the whole criminal file and the forensic record: what the state had, what it disclosed, and what it relied on. Our wrongful conviction page explains the claims, and Florida lists each clock.
The pages this story points to
Wrongful conviction
Brady, Manuel, Thompson, and the city under Monell.
Read →What Florida pays
The $200,000 and $300,000 caps, the claim bill, and the uncapped federal claim.
Read →Compensation statutes
Florida's $50,000 a year, the $2,000,000 cap, and the 2025 amendment.
Read →Sources. WUSF, "Robert DuBoise, wrongfully imprisoned 37 years, to receive $14 million from the City of Tampa" (February 15, 2024); Fla. Stat. 961.06 and ch. 2025-194 (flsenate.gov); Fla. Stat. 768.28(5); Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963); Manuel v. City of Joliet, 580 U.S. 357 (2017); Thompson v. Clark, 596 U.S. 36 (2022).
Common questions
Does Florida compensate the wrongly convicted by statute?
Yes, but with a cap: Fla. Stat. 961.06 pays $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, prorated, up to $2,000,000, plus a tuition waiver, reimbursement of fines and costs, and expungement. A 2025 amendment removed the "clean hands" bar, lengthened the filing window from 90 days to two years, and reopened claims that had been barred. The civil rights lawsuit against the city is separate and is not capped.
Why was the settlement paid over three years?
The public record says the $14 million is paid over three years; the reason is not stated in the source we rely on, and we do not guess. A city can structure a settlement payment, and the agreement governs.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.