Posted on 01/03/2008 1:15:07 PM PST by cougar_mccxxi
DALLAS — A man convicted of raping a woman in 1981 and sentenced to life in prison has been cleared by DNA evidence and will be released, according to attorneys who have helped free 14 other wrongfully convicted inmates in Dallas County.
Charles Chatman, 47, is expected to be released Thursday after spending more than 26 years behind bars, said Natalie Roetzel of the Innocence Project of Texas.
"I never lost hope," Chatman told The Associated Press. "I always believed I would get out. I didn't know when or how, but I kept believing."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Juries do not hear enough of the following phrase; REASONABLE DOUBT.
He’ll be getting a check from the state...rest assured.
How do you put a price on 26 years?
The liberal democrat DA has made it his mission to set aside as many convictions as he can.
Innocent people should be stuck in jail?
Actually I doubt it.... "Oops, we did the best we could with what we had, not our fault!!" will be the ruling....
"Charles Chatman, right, listens as Judge John Creuzot released him and recommended that his rape conviction be overturned after new DNA testing that lawyers say proves his innocence, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, in Dallas. Chatman, who had been imprisoned for 26 years, is accompanied by defense attorney Jeff Blackburn." (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)
Also, the victim identified him from a lineup. I wonder if he can sue her for damages.
A similar wrongful conviction was overturned recently in GA. The victim also wrongly identified the rapist.
I’ve sat on a few juries and wonder how I could refute the sobbing testimony of a victim who identifies her rapist.
And in other obvious news 54,275 guilty felons are still behind bars.
If the evidence - the DNA science - which exonerates a person of a crime, it’s hard to see where the political leanings of the DA are relevant. Do any of us want to see an unjustly convicted person languish in prison?
As usual, you miss the point completely.
Since he was already in jail for burglary, he is no innocent, but I’m glad he’ll be exonerated of charges he didn’t commit!
If it is a conviction that *should* be turned over, due to what seems to be some pretty conclusive evidence in this case, I don't have a problem with that at all...no matter what the motivation of the DA is.
“The liberal democrat DA has made it his mission to set aside as many convictions as he can.”
What, do you think he altered the DNA evidence?
If you had a defense attorney who believed that defendants belonged in jail, would you accept evidence from those trials at face value?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1946830/posts
In England, the wrongly accused rapist would have to pay room and board.
Victim of false rape claim must pay £12,500 for bed and board in jail
A man wrongly jailed when a woman cried rape has failed to prevent being charged £12,500 for his “board and lodging” while in prison.
I am guessing from this statement that a DNA sample can only be compared against another sample and be judged a match or a mismatch? Do we not have the ability to "record" the DNA, sort of like a photo-copy, so it would be available for as many tests as needed? Any scientific Freepers know more, or know if we might eventually be able to do this someday?
I'm sure she honestly believed he was the perp (likely the police also strongly suggested who she should pick.)
That's what juries don't understand - a truthful, honest victim can make an incorrect ID of their assailant.
There’s already precedent out there for him to get a check...the question is...how much?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_37_18/ai_92589576
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