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Joyce Ann Brown, Dallas Advocate For Wrongfully Convicted, Dies Saturday

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Joyce Ann Brown, a Dallas woman who became an advocate for prisoners after she was freed following a wrongful murder conviction, died Saturday at the age of 68.

Brown spent nearly a decade in prison after being wrongfully convicted in 1980 of murder and aggravated robbery. She was released after it was revealed prosecutors failed to inform defense lawyers that a woman who claimed Brown had confessed to her was a convicted perjurer.

After Brown was released, she founded Mothers (Fathers) for the Advancement of Social Systems Inc., a nonprofit group that helps former prison inmates.

Brown suffered a massive heart attack and stroke on Tuesday and was being treated at a Dallas hospital this week.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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