Christopher Coleman case reversed based
on “compelling evidence” of innocence
BY ROB WARDEN
Center on Wrongful Convictions
Citing “compelling evidence of actual
innocence,” the Illinois Supreme Court
today unanimously reversed and remanded
the case of Christopher Coleman, a client of
the Center on Wrongful Convictions
convicted in 1995 of taking part in a home
invasion and armed robbery in Peoria
County.
The crime occurred on August 22, 1994.
Six armed masked men broke into a Peoria
home shared by five women. The men
robbed and beat several of the women. One
woman, a 17-year-old, was raped.
Four young men—James Coats, Robert
Nixon, Elbert Nickerson, and Christopher
Coleman—were arrested, as was 13-yearold Anthony Brooks, who allegedly served
as a lookout. Coats, the alleged rapist, and
Nixon agreed to plead guilty to home
invasion and were sentenced, respectively,
to 15 years and 12 years in prison. Charges
were dropped against Nickerson, and
Brooks, the juvenile, was sentenced to
probation.
Coleman, 20 at the time of the crime, was
tried before Judge Robert Barnes Jr. and a
Peoria County jury in the summer of 1995.
He, like Nixon, was not accused of
committing the rape, but rather with being
accountable for it. The principal evidence
against him was testimony of the sister and
the mother of the rape victim. The sister
testified that she recognized Coleman,
whom she knew as “Fats,” when he removed
his mask during the crime. The mother
testified that she had known Coleman years
earlier and, although she had not seen him in
recent years, recognized him by his voice
and his distinctive walk, which she
described as “kind of crooked like.”
The prosecution also called Brooks, who
acknowledged that after his arrest he had
told a detective that a dark-skinned man
known as “Fats” was involved, but that that
was not true. He said he had so testified
because the detective had threatened him
that unless he cooperated he would never
see his family again.
Nixon testified for the defense that
Coleman had not been involved in the crime.
Coleman testified that he was not involved,
and offered an alibi defense, claiming that at
the time of the crime he had been with his
girlfriend and another woman, both of
whom testified for the defense. There was
no physical evidence linking his to the
crime. The jury nonetheless found him
guilty of armed robbery, home invasion,
residential burglary, and aggravated criminal
sexual assault armed robbery and aggravated
criminal sexual assault.
At a hearing on a motion for a new trial,
Coats testified, as Nixon had at the trial, that
Coleman had not been involved in the crime.
Judge Barnes denied the motion and, on
August 4, 1995, sentenced Coleman, then
21, to 60 years in prison—two consecutive
terms of 30 years each. The conviction was
affirmed by the Third District Illinois
Appellate Court on November 7, 1997.
Coleman filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief, which was denied as
frivolous. The Third District Appellate
Court affirmed the denial on March 16,
2001.
Center on Wrongful Convictions staff
attorney Karen L. Daniel and her students
began looking into the case at the behest of
Dana Holland, a CWC client exonerated in
2003 who believed Coleman, his former
cellmate, was innocent. On May 9, 2009,
after a thorough investigation, Daniel filed a
successor petition for post-conviction relief
based on newly discovered evidence of
actual innocence.
The prosecution, did not object, but rather
asked Judge Brandt to hold a hearing on the
petition. At the hearing, three admitted
participants in the crime who had not been
charged all testified that Coleman had not
been involved. Judge Brandt, nonetheless,
denied Coleman a new trial. The Appellate
Court affirmed the denial on August 25,
2011.
Daniel petitioned the Illinois Supreme
Court for leave to appeal. The firm of
Grippo & Elden filed an amicus brief in
support of the petition, which was granted
on January 25, 2012. On October 3, 2013,
the Supreme Court, with a unanimously
opinion written by Justice Mary Jane Theis,
reversed and remanded the case to the
Peoria Circuit Court for possible further
proceedings.
Theis relied on the court’s opinion in a
2006 case known as People v. Washington
holding that “no person convicted of a crime
should be deprived of life or liberty given
compelling evidence of actual innocence.”
Over the years, Northwestern law students
who worked on the case were Meredith
Baron, Christopher Bernard, Kassie Couey,
Deb Bone, Eva Lewis, Sharon Makowski,
Amy Malinowski, Ashley Mangus, Amber
Montague, Johanna Sheehe, Lindsey
Sieling, Tina Sohaili, and Aubrey Yang.