Man cleared of 1981 rape in Texas

DALLAS, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A man who spent 27 years behind bars in Texas after being wrongly convicted for rape was freed Thursday.

Charles Chatman told The New York Times in a telephone interview he remains bitter about his long imprisonment, which began when he was 20, and believes he was convicted because he is black. He was rejected three times for parole because he insisted he was innocent.

Chatman was the 15th inmate from Dallas County to be freed because his DNA did not match samples from a crime scene. The crime lab under contract to the county, unlike others in Texas, has preserved evidence from cases decades old, allowing DNA exonerations.

Judge John Creuzot, who brought Chatman to his courtroom Wednesday to tell him in person that his DNA did not match a swab collected in 1981, said this was his third exoneration. He bought Chatman a steak for lunch and showed him how to use a cell phone so he could call his family.

Chatman said he hopes to work with the lawyers who represented him to help other innocent prisoners.

"I want to let the world know what happened," he said, "I won't shy away from that."