COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus man sentenced to prison for murder in a 1995 shooting is being released after two eyewitnesses recanted their testimony.
According to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, Marvell Dixon was convicted of aggravated murder and felonious assault with a firearm specification for the killing of Douglas Harvey and injuring Ervin Nixon.
Court records show the shooting happened in July 1995 at the intersection of Ohio and Livingston Avenue where Harvey and Nixon were victims of a drive-by shooting. Harvey was hit twice in the head.
Nixon and another eyewitness, Joe Robinson, testified Dixon was the shooter. In 1998, Dixon was sentenced to 20 years to life on the aggravated murder count.
In 2016, Dixon filed a motion for a new trial after learning that Nixon was recanting his testimony.
At a hearing, Nixon testified under oath that Dixon was not the shooter. Nixon pleaded guilty to perjury.
The trial judge issued a decision denying a new trial for Dixon because Robinson’s testimony remained.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Dixon later filed another motion that included an affidavit from Robinson recanting his prior testimony.
Robinson testified under oath at a hearing on March 23 that he lied at trial and Dixon was not the shooter. Robinson pleaded guilty to perjury as well.
The prosecutor’s office reviewed the case to determine whether to move forward with a new trial. With both eyewitnesses having recanted their testimonies and no other evidence linking Dixon to the shooting, the case was dismissed.
According to his office, Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack took no part in the decision to dismiss the case because he served as a judge on the Tenth District Court of Appeals and heard two prior appeals filed by Dixon.
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