Center on Wrongful Convictions
The Florida Exonerated: Robert Earl Hayes

Gresham’s Law in reverse:
Good science drives out bad

Robert Earl Hayes was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 32-year-old woman who worked with him at a horse racetrack in Broward County, Florida.

The conviction rested in substantial part on the testimony of a witness who claimed to have seen Hayes with the victim and heard her reject his advances shortly before the murder.

In addition, the prosecution presented a DNA analysis purporting to link Hayes to the crime. However, the defense attacked the forensic analysis as sloppy and established that several light-colored hairs had been found in the victim’s hands. These could not have come from Hayes, because he was African American.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial on direct appeal in 1995, holding the allegedly incriminating DNA unreliable.

New DNA testing was conducted with proper controls. It exonerated Hayes, but the prosecution refused to drop the charges. Hayes was acquitted upon retrial in 1997.

Case Data

Jurisdiction: Broward County, Florida

Date of crime: February 20, 1990

Date of arrest: February 21, 1990

Charge: First-degree murder

Sentence: Death

Release date: July 16, 1997

Months wrongfully incarcerated: 89

Date of birth: 1964

Age at time of arrest: 26

Defendant race: African American

Race of victim(s): Caucasian

Defendant prior felony record: None

Known factors leading to wrongful conviction: Junk science, prosecutorial misconduct

Did an appellate court ever affirm conviction? No

Exonerated by: DNA

Compensation for wrongful imprisonment: None as of December 2002

The foregoing summary was prepared by Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Permission is granted to reprint, quote, or post on other web sites with appropriate attribution.

Last Modified: February 14, 2003

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