On December 23, 1990, a 21-year-old woman reported that a Black man accosted her with a .38-caliber pistol at about 3:30 p.m. on Orange Street in Irvington, New Jersey. She said the man forced her into a vacant lot where he raped her and forced her to perform oral sex. He took $60 from her pants pocket and fled.
On December 26, 1990, the victim viewed a police book of mugshots and identified 27-year-old John Dixon as her attacker.
On January 4, 1991, the victim viewed a photographic lineup containing five photographs. She identified a photo of Dixon as her assailant. On January 18, 1991, Dixon was arrested and charged with rape, kidnapping, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
On July 17, 1991, Dixon pleaded guilty to the charges in Essex County Superior Court. Essex County Superior Court Judge Leonard Ronco sentenced Dixon to 45 years in prison.
In September 1991, Dixon wrote a letter to Judge Ronco. Dixon said that he was innocent but had pled guilty because he was afraid of a harsher sentence if he went to trial. He said that he had told his attorney he was innocent and asked for DNA testing. But he was ignored, he said.
Dixon asked that Judge Ronco approve DNA testing, maintaining that it would prove his innocence.
At a hearing on November 12, 1991, Judge Ronco asked, “It’s not even relevant to this case, is it? DNA?”
The prosecutor, Michael Penders, replied: “Judge, I doubt it at this juncture, quite frankly. It may be relevant only to the extent that the state’s never moved to have Mr. Dixon examined.”
Judge Ronco declined to allow the testing.
In October 1993, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division affirmed Dixon’s conviction.
In 1995, Dixon asked for help from the Innocence Project. In July 1996, a student working on the case learned that the rape kit prepared at the time of the crime had been preserved.
In May 1997, the Innocence Project filed a motion seeking release of the evidence for DNA testing. The testing was finally authorized in September 2000. In January 2001, the rape kit was sent to an independent laboratory that was under contract with the New Jersey State Police.
On September 25, 2001, the laboratory reported that Dixon was excluded as the source of the semen in the rape kit.
On November 28, 2001, Essex County Superior Court Judge Harold Fullilove vacated Dixon’s convictions. On December 4, 2001, the prosecution dismissed the charges, and Dixon was released.
Dixon sought compensation from the state of New Jersey and in 2005, he was awarded $183,342 and $91,657 in attorney’s fees.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 01-28-2026
