WE, THE UNDERSIGNED:
Request that Virginia Governor Mark Warner order DNA tests be carried out on samples belonging to Roger Coleman to show categorically whether he was guilty or innocent of the 1981 killing of his sister in law, Wanda McCoy. Roger Coleman was executed for this crime in 1992.
If the tests show Coleman to be innocent the search for Wanda McCoy\'s real killers can begin-this will also be compelling and unique evidence that the death penalty in the US has executed an innocent human being. If they show him to be guilty, finality will be brought to the family of Wanda McCoy in a case that has contained anything but. The doubt surrounding Colemans guilt was such that it led to a widely distributed book, May God Have Mercy by John Tucker, and also a Time magazine cover story, both critically examining the evidence convicting Coleman.
From the time of his arrest, to his execution, Coleman maintained his innocence. The case against him was based on circumstantial evidence, which included forensic testimony showing sperm cells recovered from the victim contained the same blood type as Coleman (2% of the population that could have donated it.) However, since Colemans execution DNA testing has evolved to such a standard that the probability of two unrelated individuals matching is now between 1 in 740 billion, to 1 in 1 quadrillion. In short, it is now possible to prove beyond ANY doubt as to whether or not Coleman committed the crime it is only a matter of conducting the new tests. We therefore urge Governor Warner to act in the interest of Law and Justice and order those tests to be carried out.
The sample has lain preserved in a Californian laboratory for over a decade waiting for the conclusive tests to be carried out. In November of 2002, the Virginia Supreme Court refused to allow a group of newspapers, together with NJ charity Centurion Ministries access to DNA for testing of evidence that would show categorically whether Coleman was guilty or innocent of that crime. Governor Warner alone now can act upon the natural impulses of justice and order the sample be tested; we urge him to do so.
With enough momentum the truth will be discovered as to whether the state has done what it says it is incapable of doing: kill an innocent man. Please sign the petition asking Warner to order the sample be tested.