DNA tests prove executed man guilty... again.

[S-T]

Opponents of capital punishment had been banking on DNA tests to prove a man executed over a decade ago was innocent of the crime for which he was killed. As it turns out, he was guilty after all. (http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/12/dna.execution.ap/index.html) From CNN:<center><table style="border: 5px solid rgb(255, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 3px;">(DNA) tests, ordered by Gov. Mark R. Warner earlier this month, prove Roger Keith Coleman was guilty of the 1981 rape and murder of his sister-in-law, Warner said.

Coleman was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 for the murder of 19-year-old Wanda McCoy, his wife's sister. She was found raped, stabbed and nearly beheaded in her home in the coal mining town of Grundy.</td></tr></tbody></table></center>In the meantime, Roger Keith Coleman continues to enjoy his vacation home on the banks of the Lake of Fire.

[Patriot Heart]

Awesome. I love a happy ending!

[DeclinetoState]

It's not what I'd call a happy ending, but it appears that at least justice was served.

[Kathy29]

This means that to all knowledge, there has never been an innocent person executed. Which means absolutely nothing to pernicious liberals who will continue to claim that innocent people have been executed.

[S-T]

Which means absolutely nothing to pernicious liberals who will continue to claim that innocent people have been executed. This came across an anti death penalty e-mail list I subscribe to.
The disappointing news about Roger Coleman will soon fade, and sooner or later the PROOF of an innocent person having been executed in the current death penalty era will emerge.Hmmm.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Almost like a religion, ain't it?

[Rhino]

They may be right. Numerous convictions have been overturned with DNA evidence lately. The law of averages seems to indicate that we will someday execute an innocent person, if we haven't already. My support of the death penalty has waned somewhat in light of recent overturned convictions, though I can't say I've abandoned it entirely. It seems obvious the system is quite fallible. I'd hate to lose the deterrent factor though.

[DeclinetoState]

Executed But Possibly Innocent

There is no way to tell how many of the approximately 1,000 people executed since 1976 may also have been innocent. Courts do not generally entertain claims of innocence when the defendant is dead. Defense attorneys move on to other cases where clients' lives can still be saved. Some of those with strong claims include:

Roger Keith Coleman Virginia Conviction 1982 Executed 1992
Coleman was convicted of raping and murdering his sister-in-law in 1981, but both his trial and appeal were plagued by errors made by his attorneys. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider the merits of his petition because his state appeal had been filed one day late. Considerable evidence was developed after the trial to refute the state's evidence, and that evidence might well have produced a different result at a re-trial. Governor Wilder considered a commutation for Coleman, but allowed him to be executed when Coleman failed a lie detector test on the day of his execution.



How long before Coleman is removed from this page (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=111#executed)?