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Feb 27, 2008 6:59 am US/Central
Wrongly Convicted Dallas Man's Charge Dismissed
DALLAS (AP) ―
A Dallas man who spent 27 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit saw the aggravated rape charge against him officially dismissed.
"It's just a relief," Charles Chatman, 47, said Tuesday after his court appearance. "I don't have to worry about court no more."
Chatman, 47, won his freedom Jan. 3 after new DNA testing excluded him as the rapist in a 1981 sexual assault. He is the 15th inmate from Dallas County since 2001 to be freed by DNA testing, and he served more time than any of the others.
Dallas has freed more inmates after DNA testing than any other county nationwide, according to statistics from the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions. Texas leads the country in prisoners freed by DNA testing, with at least 30 since 2001.
Chatman was 20 when the rape victim picked him from a lineup. She identified him in court as the attacker, and serology tests showed that the type of blood found at the crime scene matched that of Chatman, along with 40 percent of black males.
Chatman's alibi was that he was working at the time of the assault, a claim supported by his sister, who was also his employer. Nevertheless, he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault in 1981 and sentenced to 99 years in prison.
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