Nathaniel M. Hatchett

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Charge:	Sexual Assault and Carjacking
Sentence:	25 to 50 years
Years Imprisoned:	11
Year Crime:	1996
Year Convicted:	1998
Year Cleared:	2008
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Michigan
County or Region of Crime:	Macomb
City of Crime:	Sterling Heights
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Nathaniel M. Hatchett was wrongly convicted in 1998 of a November 12, 1996 rape and carjacking based on the eyewitness identification of the victim. Nathaniel Hatchett was convicted of kidnapping, carjacking, armed robbery and criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to 25 to 40 years in prison. Released in April 2008 based on DNA tests of sperm recoverd from the victim that were conducted in 1996 that excluded him as her assailant, and also excluded her husband as the source of the sperm. Three weeks after Hatchett's release he filed a $75 million federal civil rights lawsuit that named as defendants the then Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga and assistant prosecutor Eric Kaiser, and Sterling Heights and Detroit police officers involved in arresting him and investigating his case."
Conviction Caused By:	Erroneous eyewitness identification of the victim.
Innocence Proved By:	Released in April based on the prosecution's concealment of a DNA test conducted in 1996 that excluded Hatchett and the victim's husband as the source of sperm recovered from her.
Defendant Aided By:	The Thomas Cooley Law School Innocence Project
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	18
Age When Released:	29
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"Wrongfully convicted man seeks 75 million, By Jameson Cook, The Macomb Daily, May 6, 2008"
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Nathaniel M. Hatchett

Charge:

Sexual Assault and Carjacking

Sentence:

25 to 50 years

Years Imprisoned:

11

Year Crime:

1996

Year Convicted:

1998

Year Cleared:

2008

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Michigan

County or Region of Crime:

Macomb

City of Crime:

Sterling Heights

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Erroneous eyewitness identification of the victim.

Innocence Proved By:

Released in April based on the prosecution's concealment of a DNA test conducted in 1996 that excluded Hatchett and the victim's husband as the source of sperm recovered from her.

Defendant Aided By:

The Thomas Cooley Law School Innocence Project

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

18

Age When Released:

29

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Wrongfully convicted man seeks 75 million, By Jameson Cook, The Macomb Daily, May 6, 2008"

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