DNA Tests Help Release Wisconsin Man

Thirteen years after he was charged and convicted in the murder of a Wisconsin runaway, the state Supreme Court released Chaunte Ott from prison when DNA testing of evidence found on the victim matched DNA from two other unrelated cases.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the county district attorney's office agreed release after forensic evidence taken from Ott's alleged victim failed to match Ott and instead matched an unknown person linked to two other unsolved murders in the Milwaukee area. Ott is being assisted by the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The indictment against Ott is still pending while officers continue to investigate the case.

Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams said prosecutors did not oppose Ott's release because "it was probably the fair and reasonable thing to do." The district attorney's office requested six months to determine whether to schedule another trial for Ott.

"We're going to be re-investigating some of the aspects of the case and come into court probably this summer to see if we want to retry the case," said Williams, who heads the district attorney's homicide unit.

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. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/8/09)