Career
He had been convicted in 1981 and sentenced to life in prison. He was released on 3 January 2008. Chatman became the 15th inmate from Dallas County since 2001 to be exonerated by deoxyribonucleic acid testing.
He stated that race was a factor in his conviction.
"I was convicted because a black man committed a crime against a white woman." Chatman was represented by Michelle Moore and Jeff Blackburn, attorneys for the Innocence Project of Texas. In 2009, New York City Poet Jeanann Verlee wrote "Resurrection," a poem written in the voice of Charles Chatman.
The poem was broadcast on the August 31, 2009 Indiefeed Performance Poetry Podcast.
