A Dallas man who was convicted of burglary and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child in 1982 has been exonerated.
The Innocence Project can chalk up another win for justice as a hearing is set for Thursday to declare that a convicted Dallas County sex offender is actually innocent.
75-year old Marion Vernon Nicholson was convicted in a 1982 trial and sentenced to 55-years in prison for the burglary and sexual assault. He spent 21-years in prison.
Nicholson was paroled in 2003 and has spent the last 19-years as a registered sex offender. Now the Dallas County District Attorney's office says he didn't do it.
The case caught the attention of the Innocence Project. Cory Session with the Innocence Project says Nicholson had a defense and nobody paid attention to it.
Session says Nicholson had an alibi for where he was at the time the Dallas assault happened. He was in Waxahachie at his wife's funeral.
The Dallas County District Attorney's office has dismissed the case. The man now suspected of committing the assault was killed in a gunfight.
Nicholson will be eligible for special payments from the state of Texas for wrongful convictions. Because of his 21-years behind bars and 19-years on parole he is eligible for more than $2.1 million.
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