VA - Roger Keith Coleman: Did Virginia execute an innocent man?

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christine2448

christine2448

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Not sure where this should go, but I think this is a very interesting case. I just stumbled on this article this morning and am interested in looking more into this case and seeing what happens. If this is already being discussed :slap: , I apologize, mods, please delete, but tell me where I can find the discussion :)

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- With less than two weeks left in Gov. Mark R. Warner's term, time is running out for him to arrange DNA testing that could determine whether Virginia sent an innocent man to the electric chair in 1992.

If the tests show Roger Keith Coleman did not rape and murder his sister-in-law in 1981, it will mark the first time in the United States an executed person has been scientifically proved innocent, say death penalty opponents, who are keenly aware that such a result could have a powerful effect on public opinion.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/03/execution.dna.ap/index.html
 
christine2448 said:
Not sure where this should go, but I think this is a very interesting case. I just stumbled on this article this morning and am interested in looking more into this case and seeing what happens. If this is already being discussed :slap: , I apologize, mods, please delete, but tell me where I can find the discussion :)

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- With less than two weeks left in Gov. Mark R. Warner's term, time is running out for him to arrange DNA testing that could determine whether Virginia sent an innocent man to the electric chair in 1992.

If the tests show Roger Keith Coleman did not rape and murder his sister-in-law in 1981, it will mark the first time in the United States an executed person has been scientifically proved innocent, say death penalty opponents, who are keenly aware that such a result could have a powerful effect on public opinion.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/03/execution.dna.ap/index.html
Click to expand...
IMO They executed the right guy.


"DNA tests in 1990 placed Coleman within the 2 percent of the population who could have produced the semen at the crime scene. Additional blood typing put Coleman within a group consisting of 0.2 percent of the population. His lawyers said the expert they hired to conduct the test misinterpreted the results."

Defense attorneys:loser:
 
Linda7NJ said:
IMO They executed the right guy.


"DNA tests in 1990 placed Coleman within the 2 percent of the population who could have produced the semen at the crime scene. Additional blood typing put Coleman within a group consisting of 0.2 percent of the population. His lawyers said the expert they hired to conduct the test misinterpreted the results."

Defense attorneys:loser:
Click to expand...
I agree w/you...by what I have read so far, my opinion is subject to change if/when I have more time to read up on case.....I would like to see it proven without a doubt for all of those who believe he was wrongly convicted/put to death.
Scott said a mountain of evidence points to Coleman as the killer: There was no sign of forced entry at McCoy's house, leading investigators to believe she knew her attacker; Coleman was previously convicted of the attempted rape of a teacher and was charged with exposing himself to a librarian two months before the murder; a pubic hair found on McCoy's body was consistent with Coleman's hair; and the original DNA tests placed him within a tiny fraction of the population who could have left semen at the scene.

Coleman also failed a lie detector test hours before his execution.

"When you add all of this evidence together, it's a connect-the-dots case," he said. "In my mind, there just wasn't any question about it."
 
Interesting:

Before Coleman's scheduled execution, Governor Douglas Wilder agreed to grant clemency if Coleman passed a polygraph test. Coleman failed the test just hours before he was executed. http://www.quixote.org/ej/grip/reasonabledoubt/Roger%20Keith%20Coleman.html


Here is something that bugs me, but maybe I have landed on the right info yet:
The victim had broken fingernails, cuts on the hands, and a dark, dusty substance on her body. The autopsy report recorded wounds to her chest and throat, but did not mention defensive wounds on her hands or a bruise on her arm.

So, wouldn't Coleman have had some kinda injuries? I want to know more about this.
 
Linda7NJ said:
IMO They executed the right guy.


"DNA tests in 1990 placed Coleman within the 2 percent of the population who could have produced the semen at the crime scene. Additional blood typing put Coleman within a group consisting of 0.2 percent of the population. His lawyers said the expert they hired to conduct the test misinterpreted the results."

Defense attorneys:loser:
Click to expand...
and he failed MORE THAN ONE POLYGRAPH.... WHY are they bothering with this dead guy? There's many more executed people out there with FAR less evidence against them....

I hope they forget this and not even waste money on it.
 
No harm in doing the tests - we've got to know the truth, and a full DNA profile will say conclusively if he was innocent or guilty. It sounds likely they got the right guy, but certainty is always a good thing, and it does sound like the testing done so far leaves some room for a mistake. It's happened before.
 
Did Virginia execute an innocent man??? :waitasec: They're all innocent - remember??? ;)
 
I don't agree with post-execution testing. :doh:

If they can't hold off on an execution to do the testing why bother with it after the fact.

As far as defense attorneys go... they are a necessary fact of life. Not all defense attorneys are ethically and morally corrupt.
 
blueclouds said:
Just another link. I still cannot fathom why they wasted their time on this guy. :sick:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/12/dna.execution.ap/index.html

After reading all this for years, there was NO DOUBT he was guilty. Good Lord what a waste of time and money. Lets get onto the cases that are still unsolved.

I hope he's rotting in hell for this.
Click to expand...
I deleted the other thread, thanks for the heads up!:D

I am thrilled he's dead:clap:
 
I'm glad they tested - it's important to know if we made a mistake or not - whether or not we find out before or after the execution. This silences anyone who wants to say he was innocent. We have to know.
 
I loved this


"Death penalty advocates welcomed the results. "Stop the presses -- it turns out that rapists and killers are also liars," Michael Paranzino, president of a group called Throw Away the Key, said in a statement."

:clap: :clap: :clap:
 
What a relief. It's great we have the technology to do that, and the ability to set everyone's mind at ease.
 
At first I saw Pres. Bush and Mayor Nagin and thought you meant them!! Too funny!

At least THAT execution can be laid to rest.
 
KatherineQ said:
What a relief. It's great we have the technology to do that, and the ability to set everyone's mind at ease.
Click to expand...
i know the families must be relieved, he was married to the sister of the victim....crazy nut!!
 
If, in the past, the executed was adamant about his/her inncoence right up until their end, it would be great, if they have DNA from the crime scene, to run the DNA test to eliminate any remaining doubt about their guilt/innocence.
 
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