Melissa Lee Chase

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Charge:	Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)
Sentence:	"15 years in prison, serving 10 years behind bars and 5 years on probation"
Years Imprisoned:	1.83
Year Crime:	2006
Year Convicted:	2007
Year Cleared:	2009
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Georgia
County or Region of Crime:	Columbia
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Melissa Lee Chase was wrongly convicted in the fall of 2007 of having sex in November 2006 with a 16-year-old girl that had been a student of hers the previous year at Harlem High School, in Harlem, Georgia. Melissa Lee Chase was 28 when arrested, and during her bench trial the student testified she was the aggressor encouraging the close relationship that lasted from August to November 2006. The judge found Chase guilty of violating Georgia's law against a teacher having sex with a student enrolled in school, after ruling the girl's consent was irrelevant because the girl was a student. Chase was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 5 years probation. On June 15, 2009 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a student of legal age can engage in a consensual relationship with a teacher, and overturned Chase's conviction. Chase was released on July 31, 2009, 22 months after her imprisonment on October 10, 2007."
Conviction Caused By:	Trial judges erroneous interpretation of Georgia's law prohibiting sex between a teacher and a student.
Innocence Proved By:	"On June 15, 2009 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a student of legal age can engage in a consensual relationship with a teacher, and overturned Chase's conviction. She was released on July 31, 2009 after 22 months imprisonment."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Chase v. The State of Georgia, No. S09G0139 (GA Sup Ct., 06-15-2009)"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"Teacher sex case reversed over consent defense, By Sandy Hodson (staff writer), The Augusta Chronicle, June 16, 2009"
Information Location 2:	http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/06/16/met_527756.shtml
Information Source 3:	"Teacher's sex conviction overturned in Georgia, UPI.com, June 15, 2009"
Information Location 3:	http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/15/Teachers-sex-conviction-overturned-in-Ga/UPI-30291245085159/
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Information Location 5:
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Melissa Lee Chase

Charge:

Sexual Assault (includes aggravated)

Sentence:

"15 years in prison, serving 10 years behind bars and 5 years on probation"

Years Imprisoned:

1.83

Year Crime:

2006

Year Convicted:

2007

Year Cleared:

2009

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Georgia

County or Region of Crime:

Columbia

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Trial judges erroneous interpretation of Georgia's law prohibiting sex between a teacher and a student.

Innocence Proved By:

"On June 15, 2009 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a student of legal age can engage in a consensual relationship with a teacher, and overturned Chase's conviction. She was released on July 31, 2009 after 22 months imprisonment."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Chase v. The State of Georgia, No. S09G0139 (GA Sup Ct., 06-15-2009)"

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"Teacher sex case reversed over consent defense, By Sandy Hodson (staff writer), The Augusta Chronicle, June 16, 2009"

Information Location 2:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/06/16/met_527756.shtml

Information Source 3:

"Teacher's sex conviction overturned in Georgia, UPI.com, June 15, 2009"

Information Location 3:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/15/Teachers-sex-conviction-overturned-in-Ga/UPI-30291245085159/

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: