Dixon Appeal Has Three Possible Outcomes

With former Vanderbilt student athlete recruit Marcus Dixon's appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court now complete, all that's left is the waiting.

According to Rick Biguette, Assistant to the Court's Clerk, the court must issue its decision within six months of the case being filed on the docket — meaning, a decision must be announced by the end of May, 2004. "The justices meet twice a month, and render decisions at that time," said Biguette in an exclusive interview with Mike Rapp of VandySports.com.

"This will be handled as any other appeal," said Biguette. "When decisions are announced, summaries are sent out to the media." Biguette notes that while a decision can come at any time, will come with no notice, it is likely the decison will be announced around the end of March or the first of April. "There is a lot for the justices to do, even after they have rendered a decision," notes Biguette. "They have to deliberate among themselves, and then write their decision for the record. That takes time."

According to Biguette, the attornies can ask the court to expedite their decision, but neither defense attorney David Balser nor prosecuting attorney Robert McClellan asked for such a move of the court.

It appears there are three ways this can go for Dixon:

• First, the court could decide that the initial conviction and sentence should stand — which would mean Dixon would have to serve a mandatory 10 year prison sentence without parole.

• Second, the court could decide that the conviction was acceptable, but the sentence was cruel and unusual punishment. If that is the verdict, Dixon would almost certainly be released with time served. However, that would mean he would have a felony conviction for child molestation on his record, which would probably make it impossible for Vanderbilt or most any other D1 school to recruit him (though in the SEC anything is possible).

• Thirdly, the court could decide that the law under which Dixon was convicted was poorly written, and was therefore wrongly applied in his case. Dixon's conviction would then be overturned, and his records would be cleared of the child molestation conviction. Dixon's time served would already far exceed the maximum possible sentence for statuatory rape, which is almost never accompanied by even one day of jail time — let alone hard core state pen prison time. If that is the case, there is little doubt that dozens of D1 programs would attempt to re-recruit Dixon, including most of the SEC. Under those circumstances, one of those possible suitors could be Vanderbilt.

The media attention surrounding this case is not entirely unusual for the Georgia Supreme Court — but the amount of national interest is unprecedented. "We have cases that garner a lot of publicity," said Biguette from his office in the Supreme Court's building in Atlanta. "But this one got an incredible amount of national coverage because of the Gumbel piece. We made the New York Times today," he said with a surprised chuckle, "so I guess we're on the map!"

Biguette noted that this case brought what amounted to a "perfect storm" of unique aspects. Dixon, who is black, was legally adopted by a white couple when the courts determined he had been legally abandoned by his birth parents. Additionally, Dixon was a very popular blue chip athlete in Rome, Georgia, and was an excellent high school student. He signed a National Letter of Intent with Vanderbilt University, which is the only private university in the 12-member Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt is renowned for its high academic standards, and annually finishes at or near the top of the NCAA's list for graduation rates.

Biguette also observed that the defense brought an interesting defense for Dixon's appeal, claiming not that the conviction itself was wrong, but that the law under which he was convicted was unconstitutional. Balser also said that crimes the state calls "the seven deadly sins" contain very long prison sentences that were never intended to be applied to individuals in Dixon's situation. "This is the perfect case for the Supreme Court, because it involves a conflict between two laws that were at the time properly instituted," says Biguette. "The justices will make their decision based on the law, not on emotion."

VandySports.com has been in touch with Vanderbilt University to keep them abreast of the developments in this case. Vanderbilt has been extremely open and aware of the situation, and has asked VandySports.com to contact them as soon as there is a decision. Vanderbilt's Vice President of Public Relations, Michael Schoenfeld, indicated that they have been talking internally about Vanderbilt's position in the event that Dixon is acquitted, and they will be ready to speak to the media when the decision is announced.

There are countless ironies surrounding this case as it relates to Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt, which was the first SEC school to sign an african american to an athletics scholarship (Perry Wallace), could once again be at center stage in what has undoubtedly become the most publicized racially-centered news story of the year. What began as a serious black eye for Coach Johnson could conceivably become the single greatest media victory in the history of the school. Virtually every national news outlet in the nation will report the verdict, and if Dixon is acquitted, there is little doubt that his schedule would be filled with media interviews. Should Dixon's appeal be granted, Vanderbilt University — which has been prominently mentioned in every story filed on this case — could find itself on the largest possible media stage imaginable.

Of course, that could be good news...or bad. All will depend on which course of action Vanderbilt chooses to take, based on the outcome of the hearing.

We would be wise to remember that nothing has yet happened, and that Vanderbilt University has many things to consider in this case. There are considerable ramifications for every possible outcome and resulting reaction from VU. That said, the most important aspect of this case is, and will always be, Marcus Dixon and Ken and Peri Jones. And, as always, VandySports.com will remain in close contact with all parties to keep you abreast of any developments.