| On September 1, 2006, police in Houston, Texas arrested 20-year-old Marcus Tate, Jr., after they seized a powdery substance from Tate that field-tested positive for cocaine.
On September 5, 2006, Tate pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 150 days in the Harris County Jail.
In February 2011, the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory tested the powder and no controlled substance was found. The Harris County District Attorney’s Post Conviction Review Unit was informed of the lab test result in February 2015.
After sharing the results with Tate, the prosecution joined in a state court petition for a writ of habeas corpus to vacate the conviction. On March 25, 2015, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated the conviction. On May 5, 2015, the prosecution dismissed the charge.
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