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.
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