DNA testing has freed another man in Texas.
A Dallas man imprisoned for 27 years for a crime he didn't do had his conviction officially dismissed on Tuesday.
Charles Chatman, 47, 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, according to a report from The Associated Press.
The AP also reported that 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.
Driving the Dallas efforts is District Attorney Craig Watkins, right, a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University’s law school and a former intern in the Tarrant County district attorney’s office. His team includes several other top lawyers from Fort Worth, including Terri Moore, a former Tarrant County prosecutor and trial lawyer and Fort Worth criminal defense attorney Mike Ware.
Watkins, a Dallas native, caused a stir when he announced last year that the DA’s office would open courthouse files to the Innocence Project of Texas, which is looking for convictions that, with DNA testing, might be overturned.
Meanwhile, Texas also leads the country in prisoners freed by DNA testing, with at least 30 since 2001, according to the AP.
-- Bill Miller
It would appear that Wade stood for We Arrest Despite (bad) Evidence.
Posted by: Cathey Shumate | February 27, 2008 at 01:18 PM