On August 19, 1983, a 19-year-old woman was found raped and beaten to death in Tampa, FL. Police focused on 18-year-old Robert DuBoise who allegedly “caused problems” in the area. Dr. Richard Souviron, a forensic odontologist, matched Robert’s teeth to a supposed bite mark on the victim’s cheek using bite mark analysis techniques that have since been discredited. Based on the supposed dental match, Robert was ultimately sentenced to death.

Gilbert King is the writer and host of the Lava For Good podcast, Bone Valley. He is also a New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book Devil in the Grove. Gilbert has written about race, civil rights, and the death penalty for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Marshall Project.

While in Florida working on the Lava for Good podcast Bone Valley, Gilbert learned of Robert’s exoneration, which moved and inspired Gilbert to continue the fight for other innocent individuals. Robert and Leo Schofield, the subject of Bone Valley, were incarcerated together in the same Florida facility. In this episode, Gilbert and Robert connect over their ties to the Tampa area and the Florida criminal justice system.

To learn more about the junk science of bite mark evidence, visit: 

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/145-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-bite-mark-evidence/

To learn more and get involved, visit: 

https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/help-fix-floridas-compensation-law/

This episode is part of a special series in our Wrongful Conviction podcast feed of 15 episodes focused on individual cases of wrongful incarceration, guest hosted by formerly incarcerated returning citizens and leading criminal justice advocates, award-winning journalists and progressive influencers.

Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.