By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-663478.mp3
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: From the start, Charles Chatman declared he was not guilty. In 1981, he says the racist system let him down.
Charles Chatman, exoneree: I was convicted because I was a Black man. Because I was a Black man who committed a crime against a white woman, and I was available.
Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter: Back then, Chatman says he was just a 20 year old kid working for a relative's cleaning business. He was on probation for a teen burglary. When he was accused of rape it made no sense, & he thought it was all a joke.
Charles Chatman, exoneree: I didn't believe the state had evidence to convict me of a crime. They made me feel like Jack the Ripper. They convinced me that the crime was committed. I knew I didn't commit it. I just had to stand fast with that.
Zeeble: Over the next 27 years in jail, he reiterated his innocence at 3 different parole hearings. The board wanted him to admit guilt, to explain the crime for which he received a 99 year sentence. He says he could not explain what he did not do. Today, he believes both the prosecutor and victim knew he was innocent. His attorney Jeff Blackburn, who runs the Texas Innocence Project, says Chatman's false conviction, like others, didn't happen by accident. Rules and evidence were ignored. He says, it may sound remarkable - a man goes free after 27 years of a false conviction. But Blackburn says it's not. It's like similar cases.
Jeff Blackburn, attorney, Texas Innocence Project: Pattern Number 1 - he was a young Black man with a prior record. Pattern number 2 - he was young Black man accused of raping a white female. Pattern number 3, he didn't have money or friends or finances to defend himself. And number 4, there was a quick conviction by a mostly white jury.
Zeeble: Blackburn says Dallas County prosecutors pushed hard for tough convictions, guilty or not. Thanks to people like Judge John Creuzot, who asked for a rare DNA test in this case, and new D.A. Craig Watkins, who's trying to find others wrongly convicted, he said things are changing. Watkins apologized to Chatman in court, as he's done before, since taking office last year.
Dallas D.A. Watkins: This is an example of how justice works with the release of this innocent individual.
Zeeble; Blackburn wants other cities to copy what does Dallas is doing, but figures he'll have to be patient. He also wants the legislature to more aggressively punish law-breaking prosecutors, change the rules about eyewitness identifications, and offer better representation for poor people.
The now freed Chatman wants to do his part too, helping others in jail he suspects are innocent.
Chatman: - Today I'm just a child of God, just want to do his job. He got a job for me to do out here. That's what I intend to do.
Zeeble: The D.A. s office is now pouring over nearly 500 cases in which convicts also want DNA tests. Bill Zeeble KERA news. Bzeeble@Kera.Org