May God have Mercy story of Roger Coleman

Starting with the investigation it was blatant that Roger Coleman did not have a chance. To begin with the investigation was inadequate, the police did not properly investigate the crime, the crime scene was not sealed immediately and the local police were not equipped to deal with this type of investigation. In addition, there were key elements that were not taken into consideration: the pry mark on the front door and the scratches the assailant would have had on his body. Davidson’s investi

The most astounding support for how the defense attorney’s played a key role in the injustice served to Roger Coleman is the audacity of the lawyers to apologize to the jury for their representation of Roger Coleman. The defense did not even attempt to place a question in the mind of the jurors regarding the innocence of Roger Coleman by debating the statements made by the prosecution. Moving onto the trial itself the defense attorney’s never argued that they were not provided with evidence and reports that the prosecution presented. They never questioned Davidson regarding the inadequate investigation, from statements of people close to the victim and other possible suspects to the fingerprint and pry marks on the door suggest the possibility of forced entry. There were many other inconsistencies in police reports neither attorney questioned. Also, the defense should have had an expert witness of their own to challenge the reliability of the forensic evidence, this could have revealed that the pubic hairs and blood were not an exact match to Coleman as the prosecution tried to imply.

The most significant role for Coleman’s fate seems to have been played by Coleman’s court appointed defense attorneys, Steve Arey and Terry Jordan. Starting with the fact that no other lawyers wanted to take the case because they felt it was bad publicity, the judge appointed two inexperienced and thus inept lawyers, both of whom did not want to even take the case and had made such feelings known to the judge. It seems that having come to terms with the fact that they had to represent Coleman, the two defense attorney’s still did a poor job at providing a fair defense to Coleman and hoped it would all be over soon, rather than actually trying to provide Coleman his due process right to receive a fair trial. Beginning with the request for a change in venue, Steve Arey, who had actually prepared the statement was unable to attend the day of the argument and his counterpart, Terry Jordan, should have asked for an extension, or at least attempted to present an argument. Although not mentioned in much detail in the book, it is doubtful that the defense attorney’s were effective in choosing even one unbiased juror.

In preparing a defense for Roger Coleman it would seem obvious that the defense should have tried to prove their clients innocence by providing the jury with his alibi especially since he had a witness, Philip VanDyke, that could testify that he had been with Coleman just pri

Some topics in this essay:
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