A lie would have freed Kevin Coleman 13 years
ago. After spending a third of his life behind bars for a murder
many believe he did not commit, Coleman said on Monday that if he had
to do it over again he still wouldn't have accepted a plea bargain that
would have set him free. He just can't bring himself to plead guilty to
a murder he didn't commit. "I don't see doing nothing different than
what I did," said Coleman -- a veteran of Florida's prison system at age
32. Coleman was 19 when prosecutors offered him one of the sweetest
plea bargains imaginable: plead guilty to the 1991 murder of Bobby
Roddy and go free with the time he had already served in jail. Coleman
said no: "I know I wouldn't cop out to something I didn't do." Today,
Coleman is hoping that the truth -- something his mother has told him
will set him free -- will finally be heard. Coleman was convicted by all
white jury [more ]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.