Valentino Dixon spent 27 years in a New York prison, and on Wednesday got to walk out as a free man.
After 27 years in prison, Valentino Dixon walked free today. With an investigation Golf Digest's Max Adler helped open, an Erie County court vacated Dixon's murder conviction. Adler was there to greet Dixon as he left the courthouse.
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— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 19, 2018
Back in May 2012, Golf Digest featured a profile on Dixon, who — despite never having played himself — loved the game so much, he dedicated himself to creating beautiful, hyper-detailed golf art from colored pencils.
“The guys can’t understand,” Dixon told the magazine of his fellow inmates. “They always say I don’t need to be drawing this golf stuff. I know it makes no sense, but for some reason my spirit is attuned to this game.”
The profile ran as Dixon was serving a 39-years-to-life after being convicted of murder for the killing of Torriano Jackson.
Dixon maintained his innocence, but his appeals went nowhere.
That is, until the magazine's story caught the eye of three Georgetown University students. Deciding to take a look at his case, the students found egregious inconsistencies with witness testimonies, poor police work, a lack of physical evidence and worst of all, a video-tapped confession to the murder by another man.
Valentino Dixon was freed after 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. His case got attention when drawings he made of golf courses were featured in a magazine. Advocates looked into the evidence and finally got his conviction overturned when the real killer confessed. pic.twitter.com/jHMoN8vfdu
— AJ+ (@ajplus) September 20, 2018
All of these factors helped the case to be reopened. Dixon received support from the NBC Golf Channel, CRTV, Fox Sports and the Georgetown University Prison Reform Project. His mounting legal fees were paid in through the sale of his art online, according to a follow-up story in Golf Digest.
Finally, Dixon's conviction was overturned by an Erie County court.
Today a man was released from prison because – in part – of the work we did. In my life as a sport reporter, I could have never imagined i’d Have a chance to do something so worthy.https://t.co/kBRr0GoIX0
— Jimmy Roberts (@JimmyRobertsNBC) September 19, 2018
“Once a case crosses a certain threshold of media attention, it matters, even though it shouldn’t,” said Donald Thompson, who filed Dixon's motion pro bono. “It’s embarrassing for the legal system that for a long time the best presentation of the investigation was from a golf magazine.”
Now, what's next for Dixon? Well, this is really just the beginning. He plans to continue working on his art and to become an advocate fighting for social justice.
Now, check these out:
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