Murder charges have been dismissed against Wisconsin Innocence Project client Chaunte Ott, who was convicted in 1995 in Milwaukee of first degree homicide and sentenced to life in prison.  

In January 2009, after more than 13 years of incarceration, Ott was released on bond when the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled that new DNA evidence entitled him to a new trial. The DNA testing excluded Ott as the source of DNA found on the body of the victim, a 15-year-old girl.  In addition, the same unknown individual's DNA that was found on the victim  was found on the victims of two other Milwaukee homicides that occurred after Ott was incarcerated. Subsequent testing linked that same DNA profile to an additional five women homicide victims.

The State decided to not retry Ott, and on June 5, 2009, the District Attorney agreed to dismiss all charges.  The dismissal was the result of more than eight years of work by Clinical Professor John Pray and law students and attorneys at the Wisconsin Innocence Project based at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Ott becomes the 239th DNA exoneration in the United States and the 11th exonerated client of the Wisconsin Innocence Project.

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