State’s Attorney Alvarez announces dismissal of charges following Conviction Integrity Investigations

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has dismissed felony convictions against two men who were charged and convicted of murder and sexual assault in separate cases following comprehensive re-investigations of the cases by the State’s Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced today.

Prosecutors from the Conviction Integrity Unit have dismissed the convictions of Latherial Boyd, 47, of Chicago, and Carl Chatman, 58, also of Chicago. Both men have been in prison since their convictions and are expected to be released later today.

The Boyd and Chatman cases bring to five the total number of convictions that have been dismissed since Alvarez created the Conviction Integrity Unit last year.

“We remain committed to proactively re-investigating cases that involve wrongful or questionable convictions such as those that were delivered in the cases against Mr. Boyd and Mr. Chatman,” Alvarez said. “Above all else, our work as prosecutors is about seeking justice, even if that measure of justice means that we must acknowledge failures of the past.”

Boyd was charged in connection with a street shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 1990 near 3505 N. Clark Street in Chicago. A single gunman approached Michael Fleming and Ricky Warner, who were selling drugs on the street, and fired several times, killing Fleming instantly and wounding Warner, who was shot in the neck and paralyzed. Three other individuals who were standing or walking by were also shot, but not seriously injured.

Boyd was convicted of First Degree Murder and Attempted First Degree Murder on Oct. 24, 1990 and eventually sentenced to 82 years in prison, where he has remained since that time.

Page 2/Conviction Integrity

According to Alvarez, the Boyd conviction was dismissed based upon a number of factors, including:

n When he learned he was a suspect in the case, Boyd voluntarily went to the police station without an attorney and participated in a line-up. Nine eyewitnesses to the shooting viewed the line-up and not one of them identified Boyd as the shooter. However, this evidence was never introduced or raised in Boyd’s defense at trial.

n The second shooting victim, who was the only witness who claimed to positively identify Boyd, provided inconsistent statements regarding his ability and to see and identify the shooter when questioned by police and in testimony at trial.

Carl Chatman was charged with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault in connection with an alleged attack on a Cook County employee in the Richard J. Daley Center on the morning of May 24, 2002 in a courtroom office on the 21^st floor. Chatman was convicted of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault on March 4, 2004 and subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison, where he has remained since that time.

According to Alvarez, the Chatman conviction was also dismissed based upon a number of factors, including:

n The Conviction Integrity Review led to the discovery of a potential witness that had not previously been contacted by police or prosecutors. This person was a Cook County Deputy Sheriff who had arrived at work early and was sleeping in a nearby room a very short distance from where the alleged attack occurred. Although the complaining witness testified that she had cried out for help and fought loudly with Chapman during the attack, the Deputy Sheriff heard no noise whatsoever. The Deputy Sheriff was never interviewed in the criminal investigation and the information he provided was apparently unknown and never introduced at Chatman’s trial.

Throughout the course of their incarceration, both Boyd and Chatman had filed appeals and post conviction petitions that were ultimately denied by the courts. Neither had any litigation pending and they had essentially exhausted their legal appeal options when the cases were undertaken and reviewed by the State’s Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit.

The following cases have been reviewed and dismissed by the State’s Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit since it was created in February, 2012.

James Kluppelberg

1984 First Degree Murder

Dismissed: May 2012

Victims: Elva Luperico, Santos Jr., Sonia, Cristabel, Yadira and Anabel

Alprentiss Nash

1995 First Degree Murder

Dismissed: August 2012

Victim: Leon Stroud

Daniel Taylor

1995 First Degree Murder

Dismissed: June 2013

Victims: Sharon Haugabook, Jeffrey Lassiter

Latherial Boyd

1990 First Degree Murder

Dismissed: September 2013

Victims: Michael Fleming, Ricky Warner

Carl Chatman

2004 Sexual Assault

Dismissed: September 2013