Thanks to the Innocence Project, Mallory Nicholson is a free man today.

On Thursday, a Texas judge granted the Dallas County district attorney’s motion to exonerate Nicholson, 75. He was convicted in 1982 of burglary and 2 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

He served over 20 years of a 55-year prison sentence before his release in 2003 on sex-offender parole.

There was no physical evidence that connected Nicholson to the crime. He had an iron-clad alibi. And he has maintained his innocence for forty years.

Innocence Project in-action

The Innocence Project presented Nicholson’s alibi evidence. He had in-fact been surrounded by his family at his wife’s funeral. And the funeral was 45 minutes outside of Dallas, which made it impossible to have committed the crimes.

However, the only reason the case was reopened is new evidence was discovered. The state had withheld in the original trial. The re-discovered evidence pointed to another person committing the crime. And the conviction was vacated.

“I’ve said it before, there’s no time limit on seeking justice,” the statement of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said.

 “We owe it to Mr. Nicholson to clear his name fully and completely. Our job at the district attorney’s office is not just to seek convictions but to ensure that justice is done. I am proud to say that today justice has, in fact, been done in the case of Mallory Nicholson – who is an innocent man.”

Innocence Project cases

According to the innocence Project website, “Wrongful convictions devastate lives and families all over Texas — and fighting a wrongful conviction can be nearly impossible. Innocence Project of Texas provides free, first-class investigative and legal services to indigent prisoners serving time for crimes they did not commit.”

And it also said that “The rate of wrongful convictions is estimated between 2 and 6% meaning that between 3,000 and 9,000 Texans are incarcerated today for crimes they did not commit.  IPTX investigates claims of innocence and provides those wrongfully convicted with legal counsel at no cost.” 

Since the doors opened in 2007, the Project has exonerated or freed 25 men and women who were wrongfully convicted.