>>> WELCOME BACK ON A FRIDAY MORNING.
MORNING. IMAGINE SPENDING NEARLY THREE
DECADES BEHIND BARS FOR A CRIME
YOU DID NOT COMMIT.
>> OUR NEXT GUEST DOESN’T HAVE
TO IMAGINE IT.
HE LIVED IT.
VALENTINO DIXON SPENT 27 YEARS
IN PRISON AFTER BEING WRONGLY
CONVICTED OF MURDER.
>> HE WAS FINALLY EXONERATED AND
RELEASED THIS WEEK, THANKS IN
LARGE PART TO A REMARKABLE SKILL
AND SOME COLORED PENCILS.
WE’LL TALK TO HIM IN JUST A
MOMENT.
MOMENT. FIRST, HIS ASTONISHING STORY.
THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE A
FRESH START.
FRESH START. JUST ASK VALENTINO DIXON.
NEARLY THREE DECADES AFTER BEING
FOUND GUILTY FOR A MURDER HE DID
NOT COMMIT, HE’S FREE, FINALLY
EXONERATED.
EXONERATED. >> IT’S INDESCRIBABLE.
AND WE’VE BEEN WAITING 27 YEARS
FOR THIS MOMENT.
>> Reporter: THE BULK OF DIXON’S
SENTENCE, SERVED AT THE ATTICA
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY IN
NEW YORK.
NEW YORK. FROM HIS TINY CELL, THE GIFTED
ARTIST PUT PENCIL TO PAPER TO
PASS THE GAME.
A WARDEN NOTICED AND GAVE DIXON
A PHOTO OF A FAMOUS GOLF HOLE TO
DRAW FOR HIM.
HE SAID HE WAS HOOKED.
SPRAWLING FAIRWAYS, IMMACULATE
GREENS, LUSH NATURE.
HUNDREDS OF WORKS OF ART FROM A
MAN WHO NEVER STEPPED FOOD ON A
GOLF COURSE.
GOLF COURSE. HE ALSO DISCOVERED "GOLF DIGEST"
MAGAZINE.
MAGAZINE. ONE DAY, ADLER RECEIVED A LETTER
FROM DIXON.
FROM DIXON. >> I’M GLAD THAT RESONATED WITH
HIM, WITH WHAT HE WAS FEELING.
AND THAT HE HAD THE AUDACITY TO
REACH OUT TO ME.
I’M SO THANKFUL I GOT THAT
LETTER.
LETTER. >> Reporter: ADLER WOUND UP
INVESTIGATING THE COMPLEX MURDER
CASE, CORERESPONDING WITH DIXON
AND VISITING HIM AT KAATTICA.
HE PUT HIS CASE IN THE NATIONAL
SPOTLIGHT.
SPOTLIGHT. THAT SPURRED STUDENTS AT
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, TO
UNCOVER EVIDENCE AS PART OF
PRISON REFORM.
PRISON REFORM. IT LED TO A STORY ON GOLF
CHANNEL, AND A SITDOWN WITH
LAMAR SCOTT, WHO PREVIOUSLY
ADMITTED TO THE KILLING.
>> VALENTINO DIXON WAS ACCUSED
OF MURDERING TORRIANO JACKSON.
DID HE COMMIT THAT CRIME?
>> NO.
>> NO. >> WHO DID?
>> I DID.
>> I DID. >> Reporter: NOW, DIXON IS FREE
AND MOVING FORWARD.
>> HE IS SUCH A STRONG GUY TO
ENDURE 27 YEARS AND TO BE ABLE
TO WALK OUT THERE WITH HIS MIND
AND HIS BODY INTACT AND NOT TO
LET THIS BREAK HIM.
>> VALENTINO DIXON IS WITH US
EXCLUSIVELY THIS MORNING.
VALENTINO, GOOD MORNING.
>> GOOD MORNING.
>> IT’S BEEN ABOUT 48 HOURS.
48 HOURS OF FREEDOM.
TELL US HOW IT’S FELT FOR YOU
THE LAST TWO DAYS.
>> IT’S BEEN EMOTIONAL.
YOU KNOW, IT’S SO STRANGE.
I’M ADJUSTING SLOWLY.
AND IT’S CRAZY BECAUSE I WAS
JUST EATING SOME WATERMELON AND
CANTALOUPE AND SOME PEELED
ORANGES.
ORANGES. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> AND MY STOMACH WAS LIKE, I’M
NOT USED TO THIS.
LIKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?
YOU’VE BEEN PUTTING JUNK IN ME
FOR 27 YEARS.
BUT IT’S INDESCRIBABLE.
I’M SO GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT
AND THE LOVE.
YOU KNOW, I NEVER KNEW THAT I
HAD THIS MUCH SUPPORT.
WHEN I WALK OUT OF THAT
COURTROOM AND EVERYBODY WAS
THERE, I HAD SOME SUPPORT.
BUT I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS THIS
HUGE.
HUGE. >> WOW.
>> WOW. >> VALENTINO, NOT MANY OF US
WILL EVER BE ABLE TO IMAGINE
WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH.
BUT WHAT IS IT LIKE SITTING IN A
PRISON CELL FOR 27 YEARS,
KNOWING, IN YOUR HEART, KNOWING
FOR A FACT, YOU DIDN’T COMMIT
THE CRIME?
THE CRIME? >> PRISON IS DESIGNED, YOU KNOW,
IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE FOR
PUNISHMENT.
PUNISHMENT. BUT WHEN YOU’RE INNOCENT, AND
THE EVIDENCE IS THERE, BUT
NOBODY’S LISTENING, OR EVEN
PAYING ATTENTION AND DON’T WANT
TO REVIEW THE EVIDENCE, YOU
KNOW, I FELT LIKE I WAS IN THE
WORST NIGHTMARE THAT YOU COULD
EVER IMAGINE.
EVER IMAGINE. IT WAS JUST HORRIFIC.
YOU KNOW?
YOU KNOW? BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON, GOD
KEPT SENDING ME SIGNS.
AND I WASN’T A STRONG BELIEVER
IN GOD BEFORE THAT.
BUT HE KEPT SENDING ME SIGNS.
AND EACH SIGN THAT HE SENT WAS
LIKE, HOLD ON.
AND THEN, APPEAL WOULD GET
DENIED.
DENIED. A HEN
A HEN AND HE WOULD SEND ME ANOTHER
SIGN TO HOLD ON LONGER.
AND ANOTHER APPEAL WOULD GET
DENIED AND HE WOULD SEND ME
SOMEBODY ELSE.
SOMEBODY ELSE. AND IT TOLD ME THAT, YOU KNOW, I
GOT TO HANG IN THERE.
YOU KNOW?
YOU KNOW? AND "SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION," ONE
OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES, ANDY, THE
MAIN CHARACTER.
MAIN CHARACTER. HE WAS GIVEN TWO CHOICES.
THEY NARRATED IT IN THE MOVIE.
HE HAD TWO CHOICES, GET BUSY
LIVING OR GET BUSY DYING.
YOU KNOW?
YOU KNOW? IT WAS THINGS LIKE THAT THAT
RESONATED IN ME AND KEPT MY
SPIRIT STRONG.
SPIRIT STRONG. >> YOU MADE IT THROUGH 27
CHRISTMASES, 27 BIRTHDAYS.
NOW, YOU’RE OUT.
AND WHEN I LOOK AT THE SKETCHES,
YOU THINK THAT THE KEY THAT
UNLOCKED IT WAS YOU AND YOUR
LOVE OF ART, REALLY.
AND YOU’VE LOVED THIS SINCE YOU
WERE A LITTLE BOY?
>> SINCE I WAS ABOUT 3 YEARS
OLD.
OLD. >> HAS IT RESONATED TO YOU THAT
BECAUSE YOU HAD THAT TALENT, YOU
CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF
SOMEBODY WHO CAPTURED THE
ATTENTION OF SOMEBODY THAT LED
TO THIS DAY.
>> THIS IS THE POWER OF GOD.
YOU NEVER KNOW HOW IT’S GOING TO
HAPPEN.
HAPPEN. YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP THE FAITH.
YOU HAVE TO HANG IN THERE AND
KEEP THE FAITH.
>> A GROUP OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AT GEORGETOWN
UNIVERSITY, WHO SAW THE STORY IN
"GOLF DIGEST," TOOK UP THE CAUSE
AND HELPED EXONERATE YOU.
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THEM THIS
MORNING?
MORNING? >> THOSE ARE MY STUDENTS.
WHEREVER THEY ARE OUT, THEY’RE
FROM LONDON PARISH.
WHATEVER THEY’RE AT, I’LL BE
THERE FOR THEM.
YOU CAN CALL ME UP, IF YOU NEED
ME FOR ANYTHING.
THIS IS A LIFELONG RELATIONSHIP.
>> WERE YOU UPSET, WHEN YOU SAW
THAT GUY CONFESS, DID YOU THINK
TO YOURSELF, WHY DIDN’T YOU DO
THAT 20-PLUS YEARS AGO?
>> THE PROBLEM IS, HE DID.
27 YEARS AGO, HE CONFESSED TWO
DAYS AFTER THEY ARRESTED ME.
BUT THEY DISREGARDED HIM.
YOU KNOW, HOW THE SYSTEM IS, WE
ARE ALL HUMAN.
EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES.
YOU KNOW?
YOU KNOW? YOU HAVE TO OWN IT WHEN YOU
REALIZE THAT YOU’VE MADE A
MISTAKE.
MISTAKE. THIS IS THE PROBLEM HERE, WITH
SOME PROSECUTORS.
SOME PROSECUTORS. >> ARE YOU MAD AT ANYBODY?
>> NO.
>> NO. I HAD MY MOMENTS WHEN I WAS
BITTER, ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED.
BUT I’M NOT UPSET WITH ANYBODY
RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW. THE PEOPLE THAT PUT ME HERE, I
WOULD GIVE THEM A HUG RIGHT NOW.
I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A LOVING
PERSON.
PERSON. GOD WOULDN’T ALLOW MY HEART TO
TURN.
TURN. AND I WANTED TO TURN.
I WANTED TO BE BITTER AND ANGRY.
BUT GOD WOULDN’T ALLOW IT.
>> WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NOW?
>> THE NEXT STEP IS TO HELP
FIGHT FOR -- NEW YORK STATE HAS
SOME OF THE HARSHEST SENTENCING
LAWS IN THE COUNTRY AND THE
WORLD.
WORLD. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO APPEAL TO
THE GOVERNOR AND SAY, YOU KNOW,
LOOK AT -- AND COMPARE IT TO
OTHER STATES.
OTHER STATES. IF I WAS IN FLORIDA OR
CALIFORNIA OR EVEN THE STATE OF
NEVADA, I WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT
MAYBE 15 YEARS AGO.
YOU KNOW.
YOU KNOW. AND THE WRONGFUL CONVICTION, IT
WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN THAT PAINFUL
AS IT IS RIGHT NOW.
>> VALENTINO, WE’RE HAPPY YOU’RE
HERE.
HERE. WE’RE HAPPY YOU’RE FREE.
WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU DO
WITH YOUR LIFE.
THANK YOU FOR COMING TO VISIT
US.
US. >> THANK YOU, TOO.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> THAT GOLF HOLE HE DREW WAS AT
AUGUSTA NATIONAL.
AUGUSTA NATIONAL. WE THINK YOU SHOULD BE AT THE