The prosecutor admitted the case had been tainted from the beginning
Delbert Tibbs (Photo: Mary Hanlon)
Delbert Lee Tibbs was convicted in 1974 of the
murder of a 27-year-old man near Fort Myers, Florida, and the rape of the
man's 17-year-old female companion. Tibbs was sentence to death for the
murder and life for the rape.
The victims were hitchhiking when, according to the young woman, they
were picked up by an African American man who shot her boyfriend to death,
raped her, and left her bleeding and unconscious beside a secluded road.
A few days later, Tibbs was hitchhiking 220 miles north of Fort Myers
when he was stopped by police, questioned about the crime, and photographed.
Because he did not fit the eyewitness's description, he was released.
Nonetheless, the photo was sent to Fort Myers, where the female victim
identified him. A warrant was issued, and Tibbs was arrested two weeks later
in Mississippi.
Tibbs waived extradition to Florida, where he was indicted even though he
did not match the original description the female victim had provided and he
had a solid alibi. At trial, in addition to the young woman's dubious
testimony, the prosecution sponsored the testimony of a jailhouse informant
who claimed Tibbs had admitted the crime. An all-white jury convicted Tibbs
of both the murder and rape, the victims of which were white. After the
trial, the jailhouse informant acknowledged that he had fabricated his
testimony against Tibbs in the hope of receiving leniency in his own case, a
rape for which he was facing a life sentence.
In 1976, by a four-three vote, the Florida Supreme Court reversed and
remanded the case, holding that the evidence did not support the verdict.
Tibbs was released in January 1977, although he faced a possible retrial.
Finally, in 1982, Lee County State Attorney Joseph D'Allesandro dismissed
all charges against Tibbs and D'Allesandro's predecessor, James S. Long, who
had handled the original prosecution, declared that the case had been
"tainted from the beginning and the investigators knew it." If Tibbs had
been retried, Long said he gladly would have testified as a defense witness
for Tibbs. --- Rob Warden
Case Chronology
February 3, 1974 — Terry Robert Milroy, a twenty-seven-year-old
white man, is murdered and Cynthia Nadeau, his seventeen-year-old white
girlfriend, is raped near Fort Myers, in Lee County, Florida. Nadeau
describes the killer-rapist as a black man with a dark complexion and
pock-marked skin.
February 6, 1974 — Tibbs, a thirty-four-year-old African American
hitchhiker from Chicago with light skin and a clear complexion, is stopped
near Ocala, Florida, some 220 miles north of Fort Myers, questioned about
the crime, photographed, and released.
February 12, 1974 — Despite the discrepancy between Tibbs’s appearance
and her initial description of the killer-rapist, Nadeau identifies Tibbs
from the photographs taken six days earlier. A warrant is issued for his
arrest.
March 15, 1974 — Tibbs is arrested near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and
waives extradition to Florida.
March 16, 1974 — Tibbs arrives in Fort Meyers and is identified by Nadeau
from a live lineup that includes three other African American men.
March 27, 1974 — A Lee County grand jury indicts Tibbs for the murder of
Milroy and the rape of Nadeau.
December 11, 1974 — Tibbs’s trial opens before Judge Thomas Sands and an
all-white jury. State Attorney James R. Long is the prosecutor. Tibbs is
defended by Chicago lawyer George Howard.
December 14, 1974 — The jury returns a verdict of guilty, recommending a
death sentence for the murder.
March 24, 1975 — Judge Sands sentences Tibbs to death in the Florida
electric chair for the murder and life in prison for the rape.
July 28, 1976 — Florida Supreme Court reverses the conviction and remands
the case for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence. Tibbs v.
State, 337 So. 2d 788 (1976).
Late 1976 — Judge Jack Shoonover holds that a retrial is barred by the
double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment.
January 8, 1977 — Tibbs is released on $90,000 bond.
April 9, 1981 — Florida Supreme Court holds that because the verdict was
overturned on the weight of the evidence — as opposed to the sufficiency of
the evidence — that Tibbs may be retired. Tibbs v. Florida, 397 So.
2d 1120 (1981).
June 7, 1982 — U.S. Supreme Court affirms Florida Supreme Court’s
double-jeopardy holding. Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (1982).
July 7, 1982 — State Attorney Long’s successor, Joseph D’Allesandro,
drops all charges against Tibbs.
Case Data
Date of crime: February 3, 1974
Place of crime: Lee County, Florida
Type of crime: Murder of one victim, rape of another
Sentence: Death for murder, life in prison for rape
Defendant’s age at time of crime: 34
Defendant’s gender: Male
Defendant’s race: Black
Defendant’s prior adult or juvenile conviction record: None
Victims: Terry Robert Milroy (murder), Cynthia Nadeau (rape)
Victims’ gender: Male (Milroy), Female (Nadeau)
Victims’ race: Both white
Victims’ ages at time of crime: Milroy 27, Nadeau 17
How defendant initially became a suspect: Identified from photographs by
Nadeau
Date of arrest: March 15, 1974
Type of proceeding resulting in conviction: Jury trial
Racial makeup of jury: All-white
Date of conviction: December 14, 1974
Principal evidence presented at trial purporting to establish guilt:
Eyewitness testimony by victim (Nadeau), testimony of jailhouse informant
(Sylvester Gibbs)
Was conviction ever affirmed on appeal? No
Date of release:January 8, 1977
Total days incarcerated: 1,067
How case was resolved:Dismissal of charges following reversal of
conviction
Date of resolution: On July 7, 1982
Factors leading to resolution: Recantation of Sylvester Gibbs,
unreliability of identification by Nadeau
Individual(s) responsible for bringing miscarriage to light: Original
defense lawyer (George Howard), privately retained appellate counsel (Jerry
Paul), brother of defendant (Roy Tibbs, a Cook County, Illinois, deputy
sheriff), recanting witness (Gibbs)
Did defendant receive compensation for the wrongful conviction? No
After exoneration, was defendant charged with or convicted of another
crime? No (as of September 2, 2006)
Case Bibliography
Michael L. Radelet, et al., In Spite of Innocence, 1992.
Studs Terkel, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, 2001.
Tibbs v. State, 337 So. 2d 788 (1976).
Tibbs v. Florida, 432 F. Supp. 1045 (1977).
Tibbs v. Florida, 397 So. 2d 1120 (1981).
Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (1982).
Barbara Frye, “Death Row Black Poet Gets Retrial, Florida Times-Union
(UPI), July 29, 1976.
Lee Melsek, “Ex-prosecutor Has Doubts that Tibbs is the Guilty Man,” Fort
Myers News-Press, June 28, 1978, p. 1.
John Arnold, “Court Allows Retrial for Man Once Freed,” Miami Herald,
June 8, 1982
Frances D. Williams, “189 on Death Row Exhaust Legalities, Lawmen’s
Patience,” Fort Myers News-Press, Sept. 6, 1982, p. 1.
Frances D. Williams, “Tibbs Getting Used to Bitter Freedom,” Fort
Myers News-Press, November 7, 1982, p. 1
Robert McClory, “Justice for Mr. Tibbs,” Chicago Reader, Feb 11,
1983, p 1.
Dean Schott, “Given New Life, He Fights Executions,” Chicago
Sun-Times, Aug. 29, 1985.
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