MTIP client Joseph Jefferson-Dust will be spending his first holiday season home with family as a free individual, since his exoneration this past June.
Joe was wrongfully convicted of Criminal Endangerment in 2017 following a false accusation.
Since his exoneration, Joe has begun navigating his healing journey and rebuilding his life.
“Now that I’m fully free, it feels comforting to know that I can enjoy things again, ” Joe said. “There was a part of me that I had to shut off for a while, but now I’m feeling like myself again and it feels good.”
Joe reflected on his time in jail, expressing that the holiday season was a particularly difficult time.
“It wasn’t all bad, but you definitely miss your family everyday,” Joe said. “On holidays especially it was a hard time to get through. You can’t help but think of home…it just made me feel sad.”
While on probation, Joe was also faced with many restrictions that continued to loom over the joy of the holidays.
“When I was on probation, I wasn’t allowed to go to Crow Fair, which didn’t make any sense to me,” Joe said. “Even though I got to have Christmas and Thanksgiving, I was still always having the weight of my probation and the uncertainty of the future held over me.”
Joe is an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe, and this past August he was able to attend the Crow Fair with family. This year, Joe is looking forward to carrying on traditions at his family’s holiday celebrations.
“We will probably go down to Crow at my mom’s house for the holidays, where we always have a big dinner,” Joe said. “If I can go out with my cousins this year and get an elk for the family that would be awesome. That’s what we used to always do together so we could have meat for the holidays.”
Growing up, Joe spent most of his holidays out in the Montana countryside playing on haystacks, running around in the hills, or riding dirt bikes with his cousins.
“When I think about the holidays, I think about those times, and I really want to go out and do something like that again,” Joe said.
Joe is looking forward to spending time with family and strengthening his relationships.
National Park this summer.
“Just being with family, especially now, I get to appreciate it so much more because I missed out on some of the family stuff,” Joe said. “I don’t have any kids, but I have tons of nephews and nieces, so I am really trying to get to know each of them, by playing sports with them, and teaching them what I can.”
In addition to spending time with family, Joe has also begun moving forward with pursuing his passions.
“Before, I was afraid to commit to anything or make any goals because I didn’t know what the future was going to be like. Now that this is over with, I’ve started to make plans for myself.”
Since his release from jail, Joe has enjoyed engaging in new hobbies like boxing, riding his motorcycle, and playing on a softball team with his family. Joe also currently works at an auto detailing and design shop in Billings, where he is able to pursue his love for art and work towards learning new skills to hopefully open his own shop one day.
Joe wanted to express his gratitude to those who have followed along with his story over the years, and supported him through this journey.
“It lets you know that society hasn’t forgotten about you…I want to say thank you for not giving up on me, and for remembering that I am a person with feelings.”
Together we have the ability to reunite innocent Montanans with their families and communities, and give them a chance to rebuild their lives. Please consider making a gift today to help bring wrongfully convicted people like Joe, one step closer to home.
From all of us at the Montana Innocence Project, happy holidays!