Yay!

[dcseain]

Vigrinia Governor Warner did the right thing. This pleases me immensley.

Comments

[maddogairpirate.livejournal.com]

Yes, I read about that yesterday. The amazing thing is the guy who was executed put forth the stance that he was innocent and when it was found out, there would be an ourcry against the death penalty.

I'm for the death penalty, honestly. But should an innocent man be convicted, it will cause me to think twice and thrice. ... I still think the better solution is to do all DNA testing before anyone is ever executed again.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I still think the better solution is to do all DNA testing before anyone is ever executed again.

Yes, i think this is a good solution. However, i still think that death penality is wrong. On the other hand, i do believe that euthanasia is right.

[maddogairpirate.livejournal.com]

I've nothing against euthanasia either as long as it involves a terminal illness and not merely mental illness or depression. =)

I... read about your dad's battle with ALS. I supported his choice.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I agree with you totally on the not for mental illness nor depression. Though i do thing it is (or ought to be) acceptable for people to take their own lives.

It's funny to me how people are mostly loathe to bring that essay up. :) I held that opinion before that, but that experience certainly reinforced, and entrenched, it.

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

of course they didn't have the technology available now back then. I feel for the poor woman's husband though - having to go through all this, but am not sure why he's against this if he's SURE it'll prove the guy guilty. And then there's what happens if he's innocent? Sure it will do a lot to futher the anti-dealth penalty cause - but will they try to find out who really killed this woman?

anyway, I agree that the gov did the right thing. Questions need to be answered.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

...but am not sure why he's against this if he's SURE it'll prove the guy guilty.

Perhaps out of fear that the death will be found to have been wrongful, and he would then feel guilty?

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

yeah.. well. Then he's not really as SURE as he says he is. Assuming the story is not something made for TV (i.e. the husband did it) I really feel bad for him having to go through this all again.

Roger Coleman was guilty as charged.

[(Anonymous)]

This case _was_ resolved in court between the time of the original trial in 1981 and many appeals leading to Coleman’s 1992 execution. Despite claims that they were “denied” the opportunity to appeal by the 21 day rule, Coleman’s attorneys *did* have a chance to show all of their evidence to federal judge Glen Williams a few weeks prior to their client’s execution.

However, their own DNA analyst’s findings showed that Coleman’s sperm genotype and blood type combined (both found at the scene) put him in a subcategory of 2/10th of 1 percent of the population that could have murdered Wanda McCoy.

The federal judge ruled that Coleman did not “have a colorable shade of innocence,” and the “evidence now makes the case against him even stronger”

Their “alternative suspect” - a neighbor of McCoy, did not have the same blood type. After Coleman’s execution, said neighbor sued Coleman’s lawyer, Centurion Ministries and a Virginia death penalty abolitionist for libel - winning a sizeable out of court settlement in 1994.

There was no break-in at the McCoy house that night. Wanda would have opened the door at night to only three people - her husband, her father and her brother in law Roger Coleman. The first two had alibis, Coleman had about a 45 minute window in which he couldn’t explain his whereabouts.

Additionally, Coleman had been convicted of a 1977 attack on a local woman in which he tried to force the woman into a rape at gunpoint. Fortunately, the victim, Barbara Ratliff, managed to escape the home and alert authorities to arrest Coleman. He spent three years in prison for that.

Additionally, a few weeks prior to the McCoy murder, Coleman was observed in the public library committing a lewd act in front of the librarians just before closing.

The right man was arrested, convicted and executed for this grisly murder.

DNA testing was performed in 1991.

[(Anonymous)]

I still think the better solution is to do all DNA testing before anyone is ever executed again.

Coleman's post-conviction appellate attorneys DID have Dr. Ed Blake test the evidence for DNA material. His conclusions in 1991 found that Coleman fit within two-tenths of one percent of the entire population that could have committed the murder.

Re: Roger Coleman was guilty as charged.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Your facts are correct, though whether there were only three people to whom she would have opened the door is arguably conjecture or hearsay. And, as flyingwolf pointed out above (http://www.livejournal.com/users/dcseain/43802.html?thread=157466#t157466), there has been advancement in DNA analysis since then. Additionally, Virginia does have a history of botched DNA analysis, and in light of that, i believe retesting is appropriate.

Re: DNA testing was performed in 1991.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Again, as below, you are factually correct. Though, again, i must point out that Virginia has a history of botched DNA analysis, so i believe retesting in this case, among others, is appropriate.

Re: Roger Coleman was guilty as charged.

[(Anonymous)]

DCSeain, your allusions to Virginia "botching" DNA analysis doesn't really apply to this situation.

Dr. Blake was the defense's _own hand picked_ expert to screen the DNA samples back in 1991. He is in private practice in California.

Additionally, the alternative suspect that Coleman attorney Kitty Behan tried to cast as the "real killer" of Wanda McCoy came forward with documented work records showing he had a blood type other than what was found at the crime scene. In contrast, Roger Coleman had the correct blood type and the semen alleles matched his DNA -- a cross-reference that narrowed it down to 2/10th of one percent of the population.

The comment about the night time door opening was corroborated both by Wanda's father and her husband, both of whom were elsewhere at the time the homicide occurred. Coleman's own behavior that night was suspicious, he was not at work and paid an unexpected visit at 10 pm to the trailer of a female acquaintance, Sondra Stiltner, but left suddenly when he discovered her husband was at home. That may very well have been his initial intended victim.

There wasn't any sign of forced entry at the McCoy home, which leads me to conclude Wanda invited someone in willingly and then was almost immediately attacked -- being nearly decapitated by the knife blade wounds.

Oh yes, Coleman supporters like to attack the prosecution theory about Coleman fording the Slate Creek to reach the home to commit the crime. The Slate Creek, they note, was flooded that evening and would have been impossible to ford. Yet, how did Brad McCoy get home from work to discover his wife's mutilated body? He drove over a nearby bridge down the street across the creek - a bridge Roger Coleman would likely have walked across to get from where he parked his truck.

I have been to Grundy and explored the neighborhood in detail to understand the timeline of events. Coleman could very easily have had the time and opportunity, not to mention, motivation to commit this crime.

Slippery slope for courts.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a matter of court jurisdiction over evidence. Third parties, such as Centurion Ministries, are not legal triers of fact and thus should not be granted the opportunity to seek and test evidence from cases.

This establishes a risky precedent. It would be like a private citizen, asserting a right to take the "magic bullet" from the JFK assassination and seeking to independently test it to see if their theory about the Grassy Knoll were true. Such openness of availability of evidence to private citizens whims would be a slippery slope towards the demise of the criminal justice system.