Poor Investigation Cost Conviction

Richard “Dickie” Bradley

According to Bradley, the case fell apart because the murder was poorly investigated. And from evidence before the court, while he was smitten by Juana, there was no proof that Coleman had killed her.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney for Alberto Coleman

“As one example of many that emerged, there was—when police broke down the door to her apartment—they found a shirt on her bed. She had been brutally stabbed in the bedroom she had on her clothes. There was some indications where DNA evidence could have been obtained from fluid; it was not. The clothes is another area where the doctor testified yes that clearly you can get DNA from a shirt which is full of blood. There was a bite mark on her hand, a fresh bite mark found by a medical examiner, who did the autopsy. I know in court, the doctor was praised by Judge Hanomansingh for the thorough examination that was so clear in court in relation to what transpired from a medical/scientific point of view. But again, a failure to take DNA samples to be able to link to somebody; there were several suspects and the police admitted that there were several persons who were suspects and they went… At the end of the day, it was a painful trial for myself because the father attended every trial; the mother and father testified this is their only daughter and they in fact are the ones who led the police to the apartment.”

Coleman who is now a free man buried his mother today in Punta Gorda.