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May 9, 2008 8:54 pm US/Central
Exonerated Dallas Man Sues DPD Over Lost Years
Reporting
Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
DNA evidence has cleared 17 Dallas County inmates who were wrongly convicted. That is the highest total for any county in the nation. One of those men is Charles Chatman, released in January 2008 after spending nearly three decades behind bars.
Chatman needs help from his 8-year-old niece to explore the internet. He relies on his truck's GPS when he drives around. And he still has some unfinished business from the past. Chatman is now seeking justice for his lost years.
He has filed a federal lawsuit against the Dallas Police Department and Officer Donald Ortega, the officer who investigated the case, claiming that they violated his civil rights and maliciously prosecuted him for a rape that he did not commit back in 1981. Chatman wants the legal system to understand that what they did was a great injustice.
"I hope this will bring some closure to the situation," Chatman said to CBS 11 News. "But I know it won't return the 27 years I stayed incarcerated."
In the lawsuit, Chatman accuses Ortega and the DPD of conspiracy by manipulating identification evidence such as the police line-up, and failing to investigate his alibi. Chatman explained, "I gave him the names of people I worked with, my sister for instance. To this day, they never approached her about the situation."
Although he walked out of court a free man, Chatman still cannot find a job because his criminal record has not been cleared. "I still feel like I'm being punished for a crime I didn't commit," he said.
Family has been a blessing in the past few months, but Chatman said that he cannot help but wonder about the life he could have had. "I'm 47 years old," he said. "If I died today, I wouldn't have anyone to carry on my name."
CBS 11 News spoke with Officer Donald Ortega, now retired and living near Atlanta. Both he and the DPD declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Under federal law, Chatman cannot sue Dallas County prosecutors, but he hopes to change that law.
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