Trial Date Set/Pre-Trial Discussion

[ynotdivein]

Thinking of Sheri, Garrett and Gavin today! raying:

 

[ynotdivein]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/article_d953a854-63f4-11e0-8d8d-001a4bcf6878.html

"PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. • Prospective jurors have started arriving at the Knights of Columbus hall as lawyers begin their search for a jury to decide the fate of Christopher Coleman."

Much more at link.

 

[fran]

Chris Coleman murder trial jury screening begins

An estimated 80 potential jurors were screened on the first day. The judge swore them all in, instructed them on the rules as jurors and gave them a survey to fill out. The lawyers will use the survey results to help them pick the jury.

The defendant, Coleman, was not in Pinckneyville, but the judge told the potential jurors about the charges he faces.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin on April 25th.


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<full article at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/254108/3/80-screened-for-Coleman-trial-jury

 

[Kimster]

"The linguist compared a series of threat letters and sprayed messages with a database of some 200 e-mails known to be written by Christopher Coleman, a former bodyguard for televangelist Joyce Meyer. Leonard concluded that the language patterns are consistent, and further said that the threatening letters and messages appeared to come from a single person, not a copycat."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/8048d38e-66b9-11e0-8065-001a4bcf6878.html

 

[Kimster]

"Leonard&#8217;s linguistic specialty of Forensic Linguistics applies the science of linguistic investigation to issues of U.S. law. Forensic Linguistics augments legal analysis by applying rigorous, scientifically accepted principles of analysis to legal evidence like contracts, confessions, and recorded speech. In the U.S. legal system, language is key. "

http://people.hofstra.edu/robert_a_leonard/

I'll bet his testimony will be very interesting!

 

[stmarysmead]

Spray-pained on wall:

"I saw you leave, (obscenity) you, I am always watching."

Now imagine, upstairs in their beds, your two little boys lay slaughtered, you choked the life out of them. From the day you first held them in your arms, YOU have been their Dad, their protection, the other half (with Mom) of their world.

So is there even the slightest remorse, the slightest regret..like you might feel for a dead parakeet?

No.

What is Coleman doing...he's spray-painting his alibi. Thinking about HIMSELF..all about HIMSELF, his needs... and probably Tara.

Coleman gives new definition to the word "cold" in "cold-blooded killer."

 

[Wrinkles]

Hello St. Mary's Mead...

You know I was just having these same thoughts, wrote them up in the other thread... your child -- the little one that you cradled in your arms, smooched as an infant (presumably), you have just strangled them while they lay sleeping in their safe haven -- first, you looked at their beautiful angelic face -- the kind that only a sleeping child has, then you changed that face with your violence and topped it off with write vulgarities across their covers. Who, WHO could be a lower person than this. Who could be a more hateful wicked person than this?

 

[who knew?]

You know Wrinkles, I HOPE those boys were asleep. I keep thinking about their thoughts if they actually saw the face of their daddy - if they saw the coldness in his eyes. I will never understand parents who kill their children, but I especially can't understand someone who plans it for 6 months - and then after all the planning, he walks into their bedrooms, looks down at his innocent children (BTW, who look just like him), and follows through with his plan. If it weren't for all the planning, I'd believe he was mentally ill. But someone who plans for as long as he planned, and who tries to give himself an alibi, who implements his plan in pieces for several months with letters, security cameras, involving the neighbor to "watch" the house for the "threat letters".... he's plain evil. He has no excuse other than he wanted to start all over again with a wife and new kids. I...just...don't...get...it.........

 

[Brian5671]

Because he's a classic sociopath, that's why. Look at Scott Peterson-murdered his pregnant wife with a viable fetus by that time nonetheless in the same cold blood-he didnt care. He wanted to "rid" himself of those that were impeding his plans...sound familiar? the reason most of us cannot comprehend any of this is that we have a conscious...something Peterson and CC were clearly born without. (not to mention their stupidity in carrying out their plans)

 

[Wrinkles]

Exactly Brian,

Correct... I agree, no conscience. Yup, Peterson was the same way.

 

[Wrinkles]

Hello All,

Article, KSDK, Casey Nolen: "Judge in Chris Coleman case issues gag order"

* Lawyers meeting this afternoon to see if they have enough people in the juror pool

* According to Ryan Dean, 40 selected -- video on this page

* Gag order reporters/Coleman cannot talk to one another -- "stems from a question that was asked by a reporter on Friday as Coleman was walking to the courthouse." Judge wants Reporters to have first amendment right, he also wants defendant's right to a fair trial. The concern is that a juror might hear Coleman answer a question, this could cause grounds for mistrial -- obviously something the judge doesn't want.

* Pistor article here: "Wharton also told Coleman not to answer such questions, citing concerns that anything he says within earshot of a prospective juror could cause a mistrial down the line."

* According to Pistor: "The number of potential jurors making it past the initial questioning reached 42 this morning. The judge wants a pool of more than 50 before additional questioning winnows them to 12, plus four alternates. "

 

[Wrinkles]

Greetings All,

Here it is, a glorious Spring weekend... This is a weekend that would have been special to Sheri, Gavin and Garrett, a weekend of celebrating one of the most important holidays in a Christian woman's life. This weekend, Sheri and her children would have been celebrating the resurrection of their Lord. As it was, they did not have to wait a lifetime before they could revel in seeing Him face to face. This wasn't their choice, nor was it His.

Last evening, Sheri might have joined her church members in a Good Friday church service at Destiny Church. She might otherwise have planned a special Good Friday dinner with her family and intimate friends.

Yesterday and/or today, the boys would likely have participated in one of the many Easter Egg hunts the church was having. Garrett might really have enjoyed the Youth hunt at 9PM last evening:

>>New this year,Youth Egg Hunt for those in middle school and high school! Students can join us for Glow-in-the-Dark Egg Hunt, roasting peeps over a big bon-fire, and tons of games & prizes.<<

Garrett was only in 5th grade at the time he was robbed of all future Easter Egg hunts and things that glow-in-the-dark. Had he not been denied his future here on earth, he would nearly be 13 years old. In fact, while enjoying roasting peeps over a bon-fire he might have been reminding his friends not to forget his birthday party "this coming weekend."

Born April 30th, 1998, Garrett would have been just 1 week shy of 13 years old as of today. Garrett's father, the man who could call Garrett "his first born son," will be sitting in a jail cell on the day that would have otherwise held a major party to enjoy Garrett's first 13 years of life. Only Garrett didn't get to have 13 years of life...

Gavin would have been in 5th grade now, looking up to his 7th grade brother. Gavin would have been looking forward to a birthday party just 3 months ago on January 25th. He would have turned 11 on that birthday.

I wonder if Gavin might have been able to join his older brother at the glow-in-the-dark event, or if he would have preferred to be elsewhere with his mom.

What would today have been like for Sheri and the boys? It is likely she and Chris would have been separated by now, but not by her or the boys first choice. On the other hand, she might be looking back thinking, "I'm SO GLAD that guy did me the favor of leaving me."

Speaking of separated, Chris, Sheri and the boys are separated by a very large chasm. Woe for you Chris, it was you who created that chasm.

Nick Pistor posted an article today, the title is "Coleman: Loving family man or killer?"

Oh, pick me, pick me, I can answer that question!

Or how about we let some of the words from the article speak the answer to the question (the pair in the following are Chris and Tara):

>>State's Attorney Kris Reitz, a prosecutor, won the judge's approval to show the jury some of the pair's graphic homemade sex videos, to demonstrate the "extent, intensity and audacity of the affair."

Lintz, a reluctant star witness, failed to get her subpoena quashed and is expected to testify later this week. She told police that Coleman said he would deliver divorce papers on his wife on May 5, the day of the murders.<<

Enjoy your dinners this weekend Jurors, it is unlikely that after Monday morning you are going to feel much like eating for a long long time

 

[panthera]

Thank you, Wrinkles. And again, if only the State is as eloquent with their case presentation..........


Happy Easter Sheri, Garrett and Gavin

 

[Kimster]

Thank you, Wrinkles. And again, if only the State is as eloquent with their case presentation..........


Happy Easter Sheri, Garrett and Gavin

I'd like Wrinkles to make the opening statement for the state!

Thank you so much Wrinkles. We have so much to be thankful for. Let's not forget to pray for those who loved Sheri and the boys and are anxiously awaiting the trial.

:rose:

 

[panthera]

I'd like Wrinkles to make the opening statement for the state!

Thank you so much Wrinkles. We have so much to be thankful for. Let's not forget to pray for those who loved Sheri and the boys and are anxiously awaiting the trial.

:rose:

The opening statement & closing argument!!

I also am praying for Sheri's family, that they have the strength to sit through what will undoubtedly be something very painful for them. rayer:

 

[Melanie]

Question - is this case going to be broadcast live anywhere? I'd sure like to hear the opening statements.

Thanks in advance. And most excellent post Wrinkles - it brought tears to my eyes. You have a very big heart!

Hugs,

Mel

 

[Wrinkles]

Hello M (as in MGardner) and All,

This evening I mused about getting in the car and driving halfway across the country just so that I could listen to the opening statements with my own ears. I do not believe that there will be anyone recording or broadcasting these.

Personally, I would like to hear the opening statements directly. I would like to see the faces of the jurors as they listen, and observe their reactions. I would like to watch Chris' body language and behavior. I would like to see who sits where in the courtroom and how each person responds.

As I thought about heading to the trial, I thought about something Perry County Circuit Judge James Campanella told the jurors prior to jury selection:


>>Down to business, he suggested the prospective jurors should "just become a machine," emotionally detached, like the Star Trek character Spock. "Do what you're supposed to do."<<

I wonder who will be our eyes and ears in the courtroom? We have listened for news for two weeks while jury selection was underway. The news flow has been so minimal, the descriptions, the accounts of what is occurring has been slim...

I know that there are several reporters who have written and who "seem" to have a heavy heart for Sheri and the children. I know that reporters are supposed to "report the news" and not just spew their emotions, yet this whole case can do very little but cause a world of emotions in the person/s who hears of it.

But who will be our eyes and ears, who will watch the body language of the jurors as they walk in and sit down the first day? Who will watch it and report what they see as the jurors walk out of the room having heard the opening statements? This is what I want to hear about from the reporters.

Coupled with what they are hearing, I want the reporters to tell us what they are seeing. I can visualize people walking in to hear the case, people who are not often encumbered with the heaviest of burdens. I can imagine their frames as rather erect, with their shoulders relatively squared as they approach the task before them, yet showing signs that they know that there is a heavy cloud over their head. They are somewhat aware of what they are walking into, but do they know, are they really prepared for the rain that is about to fall?

The judge brought up something that really is a dilemma... The jurors will hear the facts. Well, actually they will hear many facts and they will hear other things which are not facts. There will be days of varying thud sounds as things are thrown on the wall to see if they might stick. The defense is going to fling those "reasonable doubt" hope-they-stick items out there. The prosecution is forced to present the information that will undoubtedly send the hearts, souls, minds and spirits of the jurors to their emotional and "too much information" knees.

Before the end of the first day, I might guess that the jurors will be thinking, "Take this cup from me." In a large way, these people are laying down their lives for Sheri and the children, they are even laying down their lives for Chris. The latter is a very sobering, troublesome thought, knowing what I know thus far. There are the victims and the victimizer. Will the jurors end up recognizing that they are not sitting across the room from the "innocent" (presumed), but that they are in the presence of a monster -- the victimizer?

The jurors will almost definitely feel some sense of satisfaction that they are sacrificing their eyes, ears, minds and spirits to be used for the sake of the victims i.e. "I am doing this incredibly painful thing for you dear people, you didn't deserve what happened to you." But how will the jurors come to feel as days wear on? How will they feel on the particular day when they hear that particular bit of information that sends them flying off the fence at lightning speed? How will they feel when they solidly smack down on the side of the fence that states to them that they are not only sitting across the room from the victimizer, but they have become one of his victims. The victimizer had it in his power to prevent further carnage, mind's eyes indelibly etched with that which they have had to look upon.

When it hits these people that they have sacrificed to sit day in and day out to give the victimizer every benefit of the doubt until they could no longer do so, what will their body language speak? What will their countenance speak? And who will they eventually be able to vent to in order to unload some of the burden they were forced to carry, not for Sheri and the children, but -- in the end -- for Chris, one of the most cold hearted murderers that it is unimaginable, for Chris, a man who was so loathing of everyone other than himself, that he would not admit his wrongdoing and prevent further damage to the hearts and souls of the society that permitted him to breathe beyond May 5th, 2009.

For some 10 years I received autopsy reports for study. These weren't just any reports, they were the reports of the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters of people I considered to be my friends. All deaths were sudden, mysterious, there was no preparation for them...there was, however, no thought of crime surrounding these deaths. The ages of the deceased -- a description that is hard for me to speak because the deceased held spirits that were so meaningful prior to their being "deceased" -- were in varying decades, but mostly they were 40 or younger, a number of them were in their teens.

My scientific interests and "medical investigator mind" permitted me to read as if I was "Spock" -- so to speak -- most of the time, but certainly not always. There were those times when in the midst of the paragraphs I began to feel as if I needed to separate myself from the document I was reading. This report was not just about what a slice of this person's heart could show us -- signs that could help us to someday prevent other similar deaths -- this was about our looking at a slice of heart that was beating just hours ago. It was about the heart of a beloved teenage son, a son for whom a mother was grieving so severely that it was unfathomable. It was about the heart of an adored young sister who was carrying a full term nephew who was only days away from being born when his mommy's heart stopped beating. It was about the heart of a dad whose strange complaints and ailments were so misunderstood that no one saw the signs that were screaming, "Protect me from sudden death."

At the times when I could not "spock-separate" myself from that which I was reading, I was able to flip the reports over on my desk, get up and go sleep off the pain with a nap, or stand on the porch and soak in the valley view which stretched on for over a hundred miles, or the soft clouds breaking up the otherwise somewhat boring clear blue sky, or the mountain tops covered with snow in the distance. I was able to salve my wearied spirit with some of that which was good in life, that which was gentle, that which was natural and right and okay...

The jurors who are forced to hear this case will not be able to flip a report over on their desk and walk away for a few moments when they need it. They will not be able to raise their hand and say, "Break time please -- I've had enough for the moment and for a lifetime actually." There will be too many real breaks needed for those 16 people to allow that and still keep the trial moving forward. Even if the jurors could get up for a break when needed, they could not really retreat to anything good, or gentle, or natural or right OR okay anywhere very close to where it is allowable for them to take their break. That break space would likely keep them breathing the same air Chris Coleman is breathing. Allowed to go out on a courthouse porch for a break, they would be reminded that within minutes they will need to turnaround and go back into Chris Coleman air space -- what could be natural, or refreshing or good about that breaktime thought?

Sheri, Gavin and Garrett's family and friends, the jurors, courtroom recorder and judge, the reporters and courtroom visitors will all need our prayers... As much as I try to shake the images formed by reading the autopsy reports that I did, I cannot...the images return and unsettle me. Those images were not graphic -- they were imagined. Those in the courtroom will have to learn new ways to erase or put aside memories, to dull returning mind's eye images. Some of them may need counseling or sedatives to help them through post traumatic stress.

Chris could stop some of his crimes against mankind before Monday arrives. I would be the most pleased with that. Will he stop a furthering of the tears, an exacerbation of the grief that is already too much to bear? I don't think so, but I still pray that he will. He has a day left to do that, a day and a morning. I can hope, we can all hope together. While I hope, I hope that he doesn't try to "step out" leaving anyone deluded, he needs to let those who entertain any innocence in him know that there isn't any innocence in him where this crime is concerned. My gut would go ballistic thinking that I might ever have to hear, "Poor Chris, he couldn't take being wrongly accused." Oh no...that would never work. Chris Coleman has not been wrongly accused.

 

[Melanie]

:hug::hug::hug: to you Wrinkles (and you can just call me Mel)

Most excellent post, and I really wish you could be in the courtroom. You would be a fantastic commentator!

I do hope we'll hear about the opening statements, but based on info so far - prolly just bits and pieces. Seems so unfair to Sheri and the boys.

Mel

 

[who knew?]

Wonderful post, Wrinkles!

As for reporters in the courtroom, they can only give us "words". I want to see faces, reactions, and body language. And I want to see the family of Chris as the evidence mounds up - when they are unable to look past the obvious - when they realize their son is an evil person. I want to see the interaction between Chris and Tara when she sits on the stand to testify - and I want to see her reactions to the questions she must answer. And short of moving to Monroe County, the only way we can see for ourselves is by televising the trial, which of course is not going to happen. We can't see anyone's face (except for the face of the one who is testifying) if we are sitting in the courtroom, which is how we will be getting out information. I hope the reporters will be able to take notes quickly enough to be able to give us as complete a picture as possible.

While I wish Chris would plead out, I am fairly certain that won't happen (because he is so much smarter than the rest of us), and, in truth, the trial may be the only way Sheri's family will get closure. They will finally have questions answered, and will be able to see Chris lose everything important to him.

 

[panthera]

Another excellent post, Wrinkles, and thank you. :hug:

Hopefully there will be good coverage of the trial for those of us who cannot be there. I also would like to see that miracle of Chris pleading guilty and sparing Sheri's friends and family the agony of the trial, but sadly I doubt that will happen. MOO