"This man might be innocent; this man is due to die," blared the May 18, 1992, cover of Time magazine. "Roger Keith Coleman was convicted of killing his sister-in-law in 1982. The courts have refused to hear the evidence that could save him." Accompanying the text was a full-cover photo of a shackled Coleman, looking morose in prison garb.We hear the same arguments with every pending execution. Here in California we were subjected to endless weeks of sympathy for Tookie Williams, which was then followed by all kinds of stories about the old, sick Clarence Ray Allen who was executed earlier this week. The anti-death penalty advocates are never interested in hearing about the murderer's crimes or his victims, they are simply interested in gaming the system long enough to keep killers alive.
Before Coleman was sent to the electric chair two days later for the rape, stabbing and near-beheading of 19-year-old Wanda McCoy, his protestations of innocence had put an anti-death-penalty PR machine firmly in his corner. This man with a previous history of attempted rape became a cause célèbre telling his woeful tale of justice gone awry. "An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight," he declared before his electrocution.
A dramatic sound bite that proved hollow last week, when new DNA testing ordered by Virginia's Gov. Mark Warner proved Coleman's guilt. James McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, who had spent nearly two decades trying to prove Coleman's innocence, was befuddled, asking the Washington Post: "How can somebody, with such equanimity, such dignity, such quiet confidence, make those his final words even though he is guilty?"
It happens all the time. Killers rally sympathetic activists behind them by using the manipulative skills that are integral to their criminal careers.
Read Johnson's entire article here.
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