Exoneree Dies Months after Being Released From Prison

Bobby Ray Dixon spent more than 30 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. Dixon was convicted in 1979 along with two other men who were eventually exonerated. The Innocence Project New Orleans worked on Dixon's case. His guilty plea was finally set aside on September 16th, 2010.

Sadly, Dixon passed away this week after battling lung and brain cancer. He was 53. Dixon's younger brother, Jerry, said that he was happy his older brother lived to see his name cleared. Emily Maw, director of the Innocence Project New Orleans said, "I think there are times when the wheels of justice grind slowly in a lot of cases. The fact that they did so slowly in this case is particularly sad."

Dixon was exonerated after DNA was tested in the case. The DNA matched Andrew Harris, a man already in prison for rape. IPNO is also working to exonerate another man convicted in the case, Larry Ruffin, who died while in prison.


Byrd, Sheila. "Man dies weeks after being cleared in 1979 killing." November 9, 2010.