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Robert DuBoise following his exoneration after 37 years on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Tampa, Florida. (Image: Casey Brooke Lawson/The Innocence Project)
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Robert DuBoise Officially Exonerated After Nearly 37 Years
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Robert DuBoise was arrested in October 1983 for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Tampa, Florida. He was convicted based solely on the pseudo-science of bite mark analysis and an unreliable jailhouse informant’s testimony. But new DNA testing on evidence from the victim’s rape kit, previously thought to have been destroyed, excluded him as the assailant. This month, after spending 37 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Robert was finally exonerated. Read more about his story and then share the news.
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Joshua Maxton. (Image: Courtesy of Joshua Maxton)
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Innocence Project Reaches Landmark Civil Rights Settlement with City of Cincinnati
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Joshua Maxton, a 25-year-old Black man, was arrested for murder in the North Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati in 2015. In the middle of Joshua’s trial, defense attorneys discovered that the Cincinnati Police Department had been notified seven months earlier that key DNA evidence from the crime scene had been matched to a different person. But the prosecution and police never disclosed this information, even though it would have exonerated and freed Joshua. Instead, he sat in jail for a full year before his innocence came to light. Now, as part of a settlement of Joshua’s civil rights claims, Cincinnati has agreed to an unprecedented audit of its police department’s DNA-based homicide cases. Read more about this historic settlement and what it could mean for the people of Cincinnati.
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Christina Swarns, Innocence Project's new executive director visiting the office in September 2020. She's holding up one of her favorite books, "Devil in the Grove," by Gilbert King. (Image: Sameer Abdel-Khalek/Innocence Project)
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The Innocence Project’s New Executive Director Christina Swarns Is Ready to Dismantle Systems That Devalue Black Life
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This month, we welcomed Christina Swarns into her new role as executive director of the Innocence Project following a phenomenal 27-year career in criminal and capital defense. She shares our commitment to speaking truth to power and fighting for the innocent. Read more about what Christina brings to the Innocence Project and share the news on social media.
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Exonerations Around the U.S.
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Northern California Innocence Project client Arturo Jimenez was exonerated after almost 26 years; Oregon Innocence Project client Frederick "Earl" Bain was exonerated after six years; Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project client Troy Burner was exonerated after 26 years; Boston College Innocence Program client Ronnie Qualls was exonerated after 27 years; The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Center on Wrongful Convictions client Ernestine “Tina” Jimerson was exonerated after 27 years; Innocence Project client Robert DuBoise was exonerated on Sept. 14, after nearly 37 years; Taiwan Innocence Project client Chih-Hung Hsieh was exonerated after 19 years.
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