Pickaway – A man who was sentenced to 39 years in prison for a brutal attack and rape of a 17 year old girl in her home has won an appeal for a new trial.
62 year old Martin Hatton was convicted in 1997 kidnapping, rape, felonious assault, and theft, along with convicted rapist Ricky Dunn.
According to court documents, Hatton and Dunn were accused of entering a home on Chatham drive in January of 2017 where Hatton was accused of a brutal rape of a 17 year old girl, he then transferred the girl to the laundry room where Dunn also raped her. Parents of the teen woke up hearing commotion and found Dunn in the home with the child, but the second man ran out of the home unidentified by anyone but Dunn. Hatton was arrested later.
Hatton’s appeal says that the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty, that the DNA evidence that was collected was not “inconclusive,” but contained a “B” gene that neither men had in their blood.
But prosecutors argued that information on the DNA was presented at the 1998 trial of Hatton and it is old evidence, but Hatton’s attorneys argue that a memo that reports the “B” gene mischaracterizes her court statements that the DNA was inconclusive. That Hatton was not the second rapist, and demands a new trial. Prosecution argued that DNA evidence was not what convicted Hatton, that several witnesses who saw Hatton and Dunn that night, as well as the girl’s father, who heard Dunn screaming for “Marty” led to the conviction.
Supreme Court agreed with Hattons argument and overturned arguments from local authorities and a new trial may be granted. Hatton has been moved from the London prison to Pickaway County prison awaiting a possible upcoming new trial over 20 years after his conviction.
