How could anyone look the other way if it was revealed that Virginia executed an innocent man? How could we do anything except finally face the immorality, unfairness and arbitrariness of capital punishment. And finally admit that it is simply wrong.
In 1984, Coleman was offered the chance to join what was ultimately a successful escape attempt. He declined because, he said, he was innocent and believed his lawyers would be able to make a court see that. To make the system work. It never happened, but to his dying day, Coleman retained his faith that the truth would someday be known. Now it can be.
Ruben Cantu, executed in Texas this year, was 17 at the time of the crime and had no prior convictions. He may be another case of wrongful execution. PBS will be featuring his case tomorrow night. [hat tip to Randy of Beautiful Horizens for the PBS link, and to several TL readers who e-mailed the AP article on Gov. Warner.]
Update: Criminal Appeal writes:
"This is a case about federalism" was the first sentence in Justice O'Conner's majority opinion in Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722 (1991), a seminal case on federal habeas review of claims defaulted in state court. Invoking the two F's (federalism and finality) the Court held that Roger Keith Coleman would have no federal habeas corpus review of his claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel because he had defaulted on his claims by filing his notice of appeal from the state trial court's denial of his state habeas petition one-day late.
The Court held that untimeliness was an adequate and independent ground for dismissal of the state habeas appeal. The Court also held that a procedural default in state court can be excused on federal habeas review only by a showing of cause and prejudice. Because there is no constitutional right to counsel in state habeas proceedings, state habeas counsel's late filing of the notice of appeal was not sufficient cause to excuse the default. Coleman was executed in 1992.
Yesterday, Virginia Governor Mark Warner ordered DNA testing to confirm whether Coleman raped and murdered his sister-in-law in 1981
