Roger Coleman Case and Developments “An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have.”
- Roger Coleman’s last words before he was executed by the state of Virginia May 20, 1992
On May 20, 1992 as Roger Keith Coleman was strapped to Virginia’s electric chair he uttered his last words: “An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have.”
It is now 10 years later, and the Coleman case is still in the news. Last year, Centurion Ministries who led the investigation for the defense during the appeals stage, joined with the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Richmond Times- Dispatch, and the Virginia Pilot in petitioning the courts for the re-testing of DNA evidence still being held in a California laboratory. In June, 2001 Buchanan County Circuit Court Judge Keary Williams decided that, “the court finds that to order re-testing of the Coleman DNA at this stage would have no bearing on the fairness of the death penalty as it is now administered or on the public confidence of the criminal justice system…. How can investigation of the death penalty as it was implemented in 1992 be beneficial in scrutinizing the death penalty as it is carried out in 2001 when the processes are so different?” He also found that “re-testing of the evidence would not contribute to public confidence in our criminal justice system as it operates today.”
A 3-member panel of the Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments on April 4 from lawyers representing the 4 newspapers and Centurion Ministries whether they will hear arguments whether to overturn a Buchanan Circuit Court's judge's decision to not do the new DNA testing.
On April 26 they rendered their decision that they will send the case to the full court.
Click here to order the book, May God Have Mercy- a true account of the Coleman case
Home | News & updates | Action alerts | Vigil info | Upcoming events | Men on the row Va. death penalty info | Execution info | 21-day rule Join VADP | Search