Speaker at Kalamazoo meeting asks city to help clear 2008 conviction, alleges delayed DNA submission

During public comment, Sam Dixon asked the city to help clear his name after a 2008 conviction related to an incident at a Best Western hotel room he described as room 307. Dixon alleged that police delayed submitting DNA evidence for 18 months, which he said led the prosecutor to tell a jury there was no evidence and resulted in a conviction.

"They waited 18 months to submit the DNA for the crime scene," Dixon said, and described serving nine-and-a-half years in prison followed by two years on parole. He told commissioners the person he said committed the offense later died by suicide and that he now wears a tracking device. Dixon offered paperwork to the clerk and asked the city to consider helping him pursue clearing his record; Mayor Anderson and staff directed him to submit documentation to the clerk and noted there is another public-comment period at the regular meeting.

The commission did not take any formal action on the matter during the Committee of the Whole. The transcript records the allegation and Dixon's request for assistance; the city did not provide any legal determination or statement in response during the meeting.