Valentino Dixon Walks Free After 27 Years — Transcript

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1. 0:01You know, God tests us all of us in that
2. 0:05you never know what the test is going to
3. 0:06be or how long that the test is going to
4. 0:09last. You just got to hang in there.
5. 0:11After 27 years locked up for a crime
6. 0:14someone else admitted to, Valentino
7. 0:17Dixon is a free man tonight. Good
8. 0:19evening, I'm Mary Alice Demler.
9. 0:21And hello everyone, I'm Scott Levin. A 2
10. 0:22On Your Side original brought this story
11. 0:25back into the spotlight this year. And
12. 0:27today, another man pleaded guilty to the
13. 0:29killing and Mr. Dixon walked free.
14. 0:32Our Claudine Ewing story led to this
15. 0:34happening and she was in court today to
16. 0:37see the conclusion.
17. 0:39This is the moment.
18. 0:4227 years behind bars for murder and now
19. 0:45it's clear Valentino Dixon did not do
20. 0:48the crime.
21. 0:49This is the greatest feeling in the
22. 0:50world. It's indescribable.
23. 0:52And we've been waiting 27 years for this
24. 0:54moment.
25. 0:55This is how it all unfolded in court
26. 0:57this morning. The man who prosecutors
27. 0:59say confessed at least 10 times,
28. 1:01including twice on camera to Channel 2,
29. 1:03pled guilty to manslaughter and assault
30. 1:06in connection with the death of Toriano
31. 1:07Jackson and wounding others, including
32. 1:10Jackson's brother Aaron. No audio could
33. 1:12be recorded in the courtroom. Scott said
34. 1:14he intended to shoot people, adding, "I
35. 1:16pulled the trigger and all the bullets
36. 1:18came out. Unfortunately, Toriano died."
37. 1:21Within the hour, Valentino Dixon went
38. 1:23before the judge and in court we learned
39. 1:25that the original prosecutors never
40. 1:27revealed to Dixon's defense team that
41. 1:29tests for gun residue on Dixon's hands
42. 1:32came back negative.
43. 1:33The results of the polygraph test show
44. 1:35that um he passed in the sense that he
45. 1:39was telling the truth when he says when
46. 1:42he said that he did not shoot
47. 1:44Toriano Jackson.
48. 1:46Outside the courtroom, his daughter.
49. 1:48You were 4 months old when he went to
50. 1:49prison. What is it going to be like to
51. 1:51see your dad a free man?
52. 1:54Um it's going to give us the opportunity
53. 1:56to have a new life.
54. 1:58And once he was able to walk out of the
55. 1:59courthouse a free man, his mother
56. 2:02I'm just overwhelmed.
57. 2:04Less than an hour after his release, we
58. 2:05got to talk about this case and his new
59. 2:07freedom.
60. 2:08We had three DAs that, you know, looked
61. 2:11into this case and it didn't go
62. 2:12anywhere. You know, John Flynn actually
63. 2:14put some effort into trying to, you
64. 2:16know, ascertain the truth and it made
65. 2:18all the difference in the world.
66. 2:20Describe that feeling standing before
67. 2:21before the judge and the judge
68. 2:23exonerated you.
69. 2:24Well,
70. 2:25I have to be grateful.
71. 2:26No offense to us about it. You know, I'm
72. 2:28going to write John Flynn a letter and
73. 2:30thank him because, you know, not all
74. 2:32DAs, judges, or prosecutors have the
75. 2:35integrity or the honor to fix a
76. 2:37situation that's wrong.
77. 2:39Dixon says words are cheap, but action
78. 2:41is everything. Now he will reconnect
79. 2:43with family.
80. 2:46Now as for Lamar Scott, he's been in
81. 2:47prison since 1993 for an unrelated crime
82. 2:50and his sentence for the death of
83. 2:52Toriano Jackson will run concurrently.
84. 2:54Georgetown University students also
85. 2:56played a big role in working on wrongful
86. 2:58convictions. Their uncovering of facts
87. 3:00were very helpful in this push for
88. 3:02freedom for Valentino Dixon.
89. 3:04It's amazing, Claudine. We don't see
90. 3:06these exonerations very often. And what
91. 3:08are Mr. Dixon's plans now?
92. 3:10You know, on a lighter note, he says
93. 3:12today he's going to be celebrating with
94. 3:13family. They're going to go to Red
95. 3:14Lobster. He has a 90-year-old
96. 3:16grandmother he plans on making breakfast
97. 3:18for her tomorrow. But more importantly,
98. 3:20he says he's going to be fighting for
99. 3:21some causes, especially when it comes to
100. 3:23prison reform and sentencing. And we're
101. 3:25going to have more on that coming up at
102. 3:266:00.
103. 3:27Look forward to hearing that. Thank you,
104. 3:29Claudine.
105. 3:30Local defense attorney Paul Cambria
106. 3:32joins us in studio. Paul, first things
107. 3:34first, how rare is something like this?
108. 3:38Well, if you think about it, I think the
109. 3:39last one was about two or three years
110. 3:41ago in our county. Across the country
111. 3:44there have been a few from the Innocence
112. 3:47Project and so on where they have DNA
113. 3:49results. We've seen a few, but it's
114. 3:51pretty rare.
115. 3:52Uh Dixon spent uh almost three decades
116. 3:55behind bars. Uh
117. 3:56will there be a civil suit? What rights
118. 3:58does he have to He can't get that time
119. 3:59back, obviously.
120. 4:00No. No. And And I think there absolutely
121. 4:03will be a suit, especially in a
122. 4:05situation like this where the accusation
123. 4:07is that the prosecution withheld the
124. 4:11exculpatory evidence, the evidence of no
125. 4:13gunpowder and so on on his hands. So, I
126. 4:16think for sure he'll be looking for
127. 4:18compensation.
128. 4:19Let's talk about that that that
129. 4:20information that was withheld. That does
130. 4:23not look good for that office, does it?
131. 4:25Well, that office That happened a long
132. 4:28time ago. That office now is Flynn, and
133. 4:32that's a whole different crew. And the
134. 4:34prosecutor who was responsible for
135. 4:36withholding that evidence is long gone.
136. 4:39He's retired years ago.
137. 4:41Why would any prosecutor withhold
138. 4:42evidence like that? Just to win a
139. 4:45conviction?
140. 4:46They want to win, and some are
141. 4:49unethical, and that's That would be a
142. 4:52situation where if you intentionally
143. 4:54withheld it, that's an unethical act.
144. 4:56Local defense attorney Paul Cambria.
145. 4:58Paul, thanks for coming today.
146. 4:59Appreciate your time.