Wrongfully Accused

I can't imagine what life has been like for this man (the complete article is in the Dallas Morning News):

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Dallas County's record-setting list of innocent inmates cleared by DNA testing grew to 15 Wednesday when officials learned that Charles Allen Chatman could not have committed a rape for which he has served almost 27 years in prison.

State District Judge John Creuzot, who pushed for the genetic test that cleared Mr. Chatman, scheduled a hearing for this morning during which he is expected to order the 47-year-old man released on a personal bond and find him to be innocent.

"My attitude is that if the man is innocent, he needs to be free," the judge said.

He has been serving a 99-year prison sentence for the 1981 rape of a Dallas woman during a home break-in. He is believed to be the longest-serving Dallas County inmate to be exonerated by genetic testing.

His attorney, Michelle Moore, described Mr. Chatman as "very, very nice." Most of his family died while he was in prison, she said. He probably suffers from learning disabilities and does not know how to use a computer or cellphone.

"He's lost his life," said Terri Moore, the first assistant district attorney.

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It's also why I have trouble supporting the death penalty. That we wrongfully punish innocent people is a tragedy. 27 years. This man has been behind bars as a convicted rapist, though he was innocent, for almost as long as I have been alive. That's hard to comprehend.