Reader’s guide · Florida
Robert DuBoise: a 1988 appeal is not the end of the record
Place DuBoise’s 1988 appeal beside the later official record of his exoneration, without treating the old opinion as the final account.
- Record
- DuBoise v. State, 520 So. 2d 260
- Issued by
- Supreme Court of Florida
- Date
- February 4, 1988
- Document
- Court opinion and later legislative record
Reading the record
In 1988, the Florida Supreme Court upheld Robert DuBoise’s murder conviction but vacated the death sentence, directing that a life sentence be imposed. The sentencing ruling addressed the trial judge’s override of the jury’s recommendation.
That opinion predates the evidence that led to DuBoise’s exoneration. The enrolled 2023 Florida relief bill records the September 2020 conviction-review findings, the court’s order vacating his judgment and sentence, and the state’s decision not to proceed with a retrial.
Read these as records from different stages. The older opinion shows the arguments and evidence considered on the original appeal; it cannot answer questions about later testing or establish guilt after the conviction was vacated.
Questions to take to the source
- Why could the court uphold the conviction while changing the sentence?
- What later events appear in the relief bill’s preamble?
- Which source supports an account of the 1988 appeal, and which supports an account of the exoneration?
Follow the evidence
Open the source record
These links open the cited documents on their hosts. No account or email is needed to read this guide.
- DuBoise v. State — 1988 opinion
Court opinion reproduced in Justia’s case-law archive.
- Florida SB 62 — enrolled 2023 relief bill, pages 2–3
Official legislative PDF; the preamble records the later court and prosecutorial actions.
Companion reading for True Crime Florida: The Tampa Bay Files. This guide addresses the dated records above; later proceedings may have their own decisions.