‘It’s a movie, but it’s my life’: Exonerated man receives free dental work
Jermaine Dickerson was only 18 when he was convicted and sentenced to a county jail in northern California for a sexual assault he did not commit.
The worst part was being considered a registered sex offender for 23 years, a designation that ruined his chances for entering college and jobs he applied for, even rendering him homeless and at times living in cardboard boxes on streets in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“I’m building a place on the ground just to lay my head because I can’t go stay with my family members because I got to register as a sex offender just to live in their house and they don’t want that stigma with the household,” he said.
But after years of determination to clear his name, he was ultimately exonerated and his conviction eliminated as of 2021 after the woman who accused him of sexual assault admitted she fabricated her story to police in El Cerrito, Calif.
Dickerson, now a 43-year-old Las Vegas resident and father of six, related his life story on Saturday while waiting for another piece of good fortune, as he was selected for the second year in a row for free dental work as part of Smile Generation Service Day.
The annual event involves dentists from throughout the country who provide free dental care for people in communities that would otherwise not be able to afford it. The event has served more than 24,000 patients since it started in 2011, according to Ellen Driscoll of Smile Generation, an online dental referral service.
Smile Generation and its network of dentists have partnered since 2018 with After Innocence, a nonprofit organization that brings attention to people exonerated after being wrongly convicted of crimes, Driscoll said.
Dickerson’s dentist, Dr. Zarina Sicat, owner of the Diamond Dental Group at 4380 Blue Diamond Road, chose him again this year for free service after being moved by the story of his false conviction and his life struggles from it.
“Even prior to my dental career I just grew up in a household where you just give back whenever and wherever you can,” Sicat said.
Dickerson was prepped for receiving a crown on one of his teeth, normally an expensive proposition. Sicat pointed out that new dental technology, including the “printing” of porcelain crowns on a 3D printer, can be done on-site and in as little as an hour.
Dickerson, who supported himself for years recording and selling CDs of his work as a rapper, also learned how to produce other people’s music from the experience. Since being exonerated, he’s been able to find a better paying job driving for Uber and is able to provide for his family, he said.
“It’s a movie, but it’s my life,” he said.
Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow @JeffBurbank2 on X.
