Charles Allen Chatman

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Charge:	Rape
Sentence:	99 years
Years Imprisoned:	26.94
Year Crime:	1981
Year Convicted:	1981
Year Cleared:	2008
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Texas
County or Region of Crime:	Dallas
City of Crime:	Dallas
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Charles Chatman was wrongly convicted in 1981 of raping a 50-year-old woman, based on the woman's eyewitness identification. The jury disregarded the 20-year-old Chatman's alibi of being at work, which was testified to by his employer. Charles Chatman was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Chatman had three parole board hearings, and at all of them he told the board that he hadn't committed the rape. Without admitting guilt he could not be granted parole. Chatman was released on January 3, 2008 after DNA tests of evidence excluded him as the woman's attacker. He was released after almost 27 years of wrongful imprisonment. Chatman was the 15th person released since 2001 in Dallas County based on a DNA exclusion. The charges were formally dismissed against Chatman on February 26, 2008. Chatman was awarded $2,417,845 in compensation by the State of Texas through 2012."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.
Innocence Proved By:	"Released on January 3, 2008 after DNA tests of evidence excluded him as the woman's attacker."
Defendant Aided By:	Texas Innocence Project (Jeff Blackburn)
Compensation Awarded:	"$2,160,000 lump sum payment plus $11,720.22 monthly annuity (State of Texas, 10-23-2009)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	20
Age When Released:	47
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Dallas man cleared, freed after 27 years in prison, By Steve McGonigle, The Dallas Morning News, January 4, 2008"
Information Location 1:	http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-exonerate_04met.ART.State.Edition2.3775b72.html
Information Source 2:	"15th Dallas County Inmate Since ’01 Is Freed by DNA, By Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times, January 4, 2008"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us/04dna.html
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Charles Allen Chatman

Charge:

Rape

Sentence:

99 years

Years Imprisoned:

26.94

Year Crime:

1981

Year Convicted:

1981

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Texas

County or Region of Crime:

Dallas

City of Crime:

Dallas

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification by the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

"Released on January 3, 2008 after DNA tests of evidence excluded him as the woman's attacker."

Defendant Aided By:

Texas Innocence Project (Jeff Blackburn)

Compensation Awarded:

"$2,160,000 lump sum payment plus $11,720.22 monthly annuity (State of Texas, 10-23-2009)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

20

Age When Released:

47

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Dallas man cleared, freed after 27 years in prison, By Steve McGonigle, The Dallas Morning News, January 4, 2008"

Information Location 1:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-exonerate_04met.ART.State.Edition2.3775b72.html

Information Source 2:

"15th Dallas County Inmate Since ’01 Is Freed by DNA, By Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times, January 4, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us/04dna.html

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