John Dixon celebrates six years of freedom

Today marks the sixth anniversary of

John Dixon’s

exoneration. He was wrongfully convicted of rape, kidnapping and burglary in New Jersey in 1991 and sentenced to 45 years. He spent 10 years behind bars before DNA testing proved his innocence and led to his exoneration on November 29, 2001.

Dixon was misidentified by the rape victim in two photo arrays conducted in the weeks after the attack. Misidentification was a major factor in Dixon’s wrongful conviction and has played a part in 77 percent of wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing to date. Since Dixon’s exoneration in 2001, New Jersey has adopted eyewitness identification reform policies aimed proven to prevent wrongful convictions.

Learn about New Jersey’s reforms and those in other states in our interactive map

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Hear an audio interview with Dixon about his first six years of freedom on the New York Times website

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Other exoneration anniversaries this week:

Friday:

Dale and Ronnie Mahan

, Alabama (Served 11.5 years, Exonerated 11/30/1998)