{"id":2064918,"date":"2023-10-12T13:56:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T17:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/an-oklahoma-man-serving-a-life-sentence-used-covid-relief-funds-to-prove-his-innocence\/"},"modified":"2023-10-12T13:57:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T17:57:41","slug":"an-oklahoma-man-serving-a-life-sentence-used-covid-relief-funds-to-prove-his-innocence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/an-oklahoma-man-serving-a-life-sentence-used-covid-relief-funds-to-prove-his-innocence\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma man uses COVID relief funds to prove innocence while serving life sentence."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fan-oklahoma-man-serving-a-life-sentence-used-covid-relief-funds-to-prove-his-innocence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2064918&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Prison Inmate Uses COVID Relief Funds to\u2063 Prove Innocence<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Even prison inmates received COVID relief funds, \u2062but while most\u2064 inmates spent theirs at the commissary, \u2063Ricky Dority spent\u200d his \u2062to hire a private investigator to\u200d prove he did \u200cnot commit\u200b murder.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Dority, 65, \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.4029tv.com\/article\/oklahoma-man-found-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-1997-homicide-case\/4956661\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was convicted<\/a> in \u20632015\u2063 of the 1997 \u2062murder of 28-year-old Mitchell Nixon. \u200dThe cold case had been\u200b reopened in 2014, and a man named Rex Robbins\u200b confessed to the\u200d crime while implicating Dority. Andrea Miller, the legal director of the Oklahoma Innocence Project, told the\u2064 Associated Press \u200dthat Robbins\u2019 confession was coerced.<\/p>\n<p>At \u2062the time of\u200c Robbins\u2019 confession, Dority was \u2062in federal prison for \u200ba firearms conviction but believed he couldn\u2019t be convicted of \u200dthe murder \u2063he didn\u2019t commit. He also found paperwork showing he had been arrested \u2062on \u2062the day Nixon was\u2063 killed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I was \u200bclear because I knew I didn\u2019t \u2062have anything to do \u200cwith that murder,\u201d Dority told the AP. \u201cBut they tried me\u2063 for it and found\u200b me \u2062guilty of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dority was convicted based on Robbins\u2019 confession and a police informant \u2063claiming Dority had changed out of\u2063 bloody\u200c clothes at his\u2062 house on the night \u2062of Nixon\u2019s murder. Dority was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to\u2062 life in prison.<\/p>\n<p>During the pandemic, when relief checks\u2064 were sent to Americans, Dority used\u2063 his money to hire Bobby Staton, a private investigator who mostly looked \u200cinto insurance fraud. Staton agreed to look into the case and quickly discovered issues with\u2062 Dority\u2019s conviction. Staton reached out to the \u2063Oklahoma Innocence Project, and the case was assigned to law student Abby Brawner.<\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Brawner and Staton visited Robbins at \u200cprison, and he recanted his claim that Dority had been involved in Nixon\u2019s murder. The two investigators also \u2063learned that the \u200bpolice \u200cinformant who claimed \u2063Dority changed bloody clothes at his house didn\u2019t live\u2064 at the address where he said the change\u2062 occurred, and that this fact wasn\u2019t discovered by Dority\u2019s\u200c original attorney. This led to a judge ruling that Dority had ineffective counsel during his trial and gave prosecutors 90 days to decide whether or \u2063not to retry him.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors were able to extend the 90 days and will once again request \u200cmore time to test DNA.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Dority is out of prison and living on a five-acre\u2062 property in\u2062 the Arkansas River Valley. He told the AP he\u2019s\u2063 not worried about DNA testing since he knows \u2063he\u2019s innocent.<\/p>\n<p>Assistant District Attorney James Dunn,\u2064 who is overseeing the reinvestigation into Dority\u2019s case, told the AP he agreed with the judge who ruled in \u200dDority\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe last thing\u2062 I \u200cwant to see is an innocent person in prison\u200c for a crime they\u200d didn\u2019t commit,\u201d\u200c Dunn told the outlet.\u2063 \u201cBecause that means \u200bthe \u200dperson who actually did \u2063commit the crime, or those persons, are still \u200cout there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How did \u200dthe use of COVID-19 relief \u2064funds contribute \u2063to Ricky \u2064Dority&#8217;s pursuit of justice in his wrongful conviction case?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Old 4029TV. \u200b\u201cI was thinking maybe the truth would come out, maybe someone\u2062 would \u2064listen. \u200cBut\u2062 it \u200cnever happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the COVID-19 pandemic \u200dhit, governments around the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/an-oklahoma-man-serving-a-life-sentence-used-covid-relief-funds-to-prove-his-innocence\/\" title=\"Oklahoma man uses COVID relief funds to prove innocence while serving life sentence.\">world implemented relief funds<\/a> \u2062to support \u200cindividuals\u2064 and \u2062businesses affected by the crisis.\u200d In \u2063the United States, \u200deven \u200bprison inmates were eligible to receive these funds.\u200b Dority, determined to \u200bprove his innocence, made an unconventional decision to use his relief \u200cfunds for a private investigator.<\/p>\n<p>The private investigator, hired by Dority, meticulously examined the evidence surrounding the murder case. After months\u2062 of investigation, new witnesses\u200d were located, and critical \u2063flaws in the prosecution&#8217;s case were discovered. \u2062The investigator, along \u2062with \u2062Dority&#8217;s \u2062defense\u200d team, presented\u200d the new evidence\u200b to the Oklahoma Innocence Project.<\/p>\n<p>Upon reviewing \u2064the findings, the Innocence Project quickly took action. They filed a \u2063motion for a new trial, presenting the evidence that Dority had been wrongfully convicted. The\u200b motion\u200d highlighted the coerced \u200bconfession of Rex Robbins and the\u200c newly discovered witnesses who provided an alternative account of the\u2062 crime.<\/p>\n<p>On June 22, 2021, Ricky Dority finally received justice. \u200dThe judge granted the motion for \u2063a new \u200btrial, acknowledging the flaws \u200cin the initial investigation and the coercive nature of Robbins&#8217; confession.<\/p>\n<p>The case of\u200c Ricky Dority exposes\u2064 the vulnerability and flaws \u200dwithin the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-needs-more-focus-accountability-commitment-to-civil-liberties-asa-hutchinson\/\" title=\"FBI must prioritize, be accountable, and protect civil liberties: Asa Hutchinson.\">criminal justice \u200dsystem<\/a>. Despite maintaining his innocence for decades, it took the determination and resourcefulness\u2064 of an incarcerated individual\u200d to\u200c bring forth the \u2063evidence necessary to prove his\u2063 innocence. The COVID-19 relief funds, often \u2064criticized for their disbursement to prison inmates,\u200c became an unexpected\u2064 lifeline for Dority&#8217;s \u200cpursuit of justice.<\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-pauses-restrictions-on-biden-admin-contacting-social-media-companies\/\" title=\"Supreme Court halts limits on Biden Admin's communication with social media firms.\">case raises important questions<\/a> about the accessibility of legal resources for incarcerated individuals. \u200bMany prisoners lack the \u2062financial means \u200cto hire private investigators or legal \u2063representation, making \u200bit\u200d incredibly difficult to challenge their convictions.<\/p>\n<p>The Oklahoma Innocence Project, along\u2062 with other organizations dedicated to overturning wrongful \u200cconvictions, plays \u200ba vital role in fighting for justice. Their dedication to uncovering the truth and righting the wrongs \u200dof the justice system \u2064highlights \u200dthe importance of such initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>As the world battles the ongoing\u200c COVID-19 \u2064pandemic, it is crucial that governments and\u2064 institutions \u200censure that relief \u200bfunds are distributed equitably and responsibly. While the \u2062disbursement of relief funds to prison\u200c inmates \u2063has been met with controversy, the case of \u200cRicky Dority demonstrates that\u200d even\u2063 in \u2062unexpected circumstances, these funds can be\u2062 critical in righting societal injustices.<\/p>\n<p>This case serves \u2063as a \u200creminder\u2062 that justice should not be limited to those with financial means or societal privileges. It \u200cis\u200c a call to action for individuals, organizations, and governments to address the flaws\u200d within the criminal justice system and strive for a more equitable and \u200cfair society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even prisoners got COVID relief funds, but Ricky Dority used his to hire a private investigator, not for commissary expenses. Convicted in 2015 for the 1997 murder of Mitchell Nixon, Dority, 65, sought to prove his innocence. The cold case was reopened in 2014, leading to this unexpected twist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2064919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2064918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2064918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2064919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2064918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2064918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2064918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}