Prisoner freed after 13 years sues for wrongful conviction

MILWAUKEE -- A man who served 13 years in prison before his homicide conviction was overturned sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Thursday, the same day authorities filed new charges against a man whose DNA they say was found on the victim.

Chaunte D. Ott, who was convicted in 1995 in the death of a 16-year-old runaway, claims in his federal lawsuit that officers coerced two people to give false testimony and failed to intervene when DNA tests after his conviction showed he did not commit the crime. "I'm still kind of stunned they had audacity to proclaim I'm guilty of that crime," Ott, 35, said. "But my attitude is, I've never been bitter. I feel like I just have to live each day."

Authorities have now linked the DNA to Walter E. Ellis, 49, of Milwaukee. Police and prosecutors said his DNA matched samples taken from the runaway, Jessica Payne, and at least eight suspected prostitutes killed from 1986 to 2007.

Ellis, already facing two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, was charged Thursday with three more counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder -- the equivalent charge that was state law when the deaths occurred, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Ellis' attorney, Alejandro Lockwood, did not return a message Thursday.

Ellis has not been charged in Payne's slaying or in the death of one of the suspected prostitutes. While the other eight women were strangled, Payne was found partially nude with her throat slit.

A DNA profile from semen on Payne's body did not match Ott, the lawsuit said.

Original report here



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