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THE PROSECUTION ENDS
Police `took no names,
they didn't interview people afterward'
The prosecution's last witness was Sgt. Ed Brochu,
the Riviera Beach detective who began his investigation of Roddy's
murder by failing to take down the names of potential witnesses.
Brochu told jurors essentially the same story
Geesey had previewed in his opening statement. Smith had identified
Coleman from the photo lineup.
On cross-examination, Pleasanton pointed to the
flaws in Brochu's investigation, including the fact that Brochu did
almost nothing to look into the possibility - raised by another
police officer - that the shooting was related to an earlier motel
robbery in which Smith and Roddy were suspects.
Pleasanton's cross-examination was effective,
according to jurors.
``I was disappointed with the police,'' one said.
``They took no names, they didn't interview people afterward. All the
people inside the club - none of those people were even identified by
the police.''
THE DEFENSE
Credibility problem for
the defense: Alibi witnesses are drug dealers
Kevin Coleman's lawyer called 11 witnesses to tell
jurors Coleman couldn't have been the killer.
He was 2 miles away, they said, hanging out with
friends near Avenue S.
Coleman's buddies - Avery Clayton, Dejuan Early and
Kenny McMillian - took the stand, along with others, to give Coleman
his alibi.
He never made it to Roadburners.
But Clayton, Early and McMillian hurt Coleman more
than they helped, by contradicting each other on a number of details.
Some of Coleman' s witnesses even contradicted their own pretrial statements.
When lawyers rely on an alibi defense, it puts the
burden on them to prove a case to jurors. The lawyers must know what
their witnesses will say and make sure the jury gets a clear,
concise, credible picture of the alibi.
``We had a hard job controlling our defense
witnesses,'' Pleasanton conceded recently.
Pleasanton and Orsley could have minimized that
problem by going over pretrial statements with defense witnesses
before the trial. But they did almost nothing to prepare their
witnesses, based on interviews and files kept by defense investigators.
Just as damaging, Coleman's witnesses were
convicted criminals. Six witnesses admitted to a combined total of 15
felony arrests or convictions - an estimate, since some witnesses had
lost track.
``Every one of the defense witnesses (other than
police) were oncredible, '' one juror said. ``They were drug dealers,
they had records, and every one of them had a totally different
story. There was no consistency.' '
`THAT'S THE GUY'
Defense witness says he
saw the killer, and it was `Duane'
Testimony from Coleman's key witnesses - Clement
Anthony Thomas and Shawn Anderson - was lost amid the other,
inconsistent accounts.
Thomas and Anderson were both at Roadburners bar
the night of the murder. Thomas was a good friend of Bobby Roddy.
Anderson was a friend of Coleman.
The gunman ``wasn't as broad or as tall as Kevin
Coleman,'' Thomas testified. ``I'm positive I did not see Kevin.''
But Thomas didn't fare well under cross-examination.
Prosecutor Geesey pointed to a statement in which Thomas had said he
never looked closely at the gunman.
Anderson said he had looked closely at the shooter.
He identified the gunman as Dejuan Early.
Smith came out of the bar first followed by Roddy,
Anderson testified. Early shot Roddy once, then stood over his prone
body and said ``f- -nigger,'' I told you I was going to get you,''
before shooting a second time. Smith had recalled hearing the shooter
say the same words.
``It was more than me saw what happened that
night,'' Anderson wrote in a letter to police after learning Coleman
had been charged with Roddy's murder. ``The only reason nobody is not
saying anything (is) because they know that he (Coleman) will beat it
in court.''
Anderson initially identified Early from a photo
lineup. Pleasanton recalled that, as he handed the lineup sheet to
Anderson, it slipped from his hand.
``I'll remember this as long as I live,''
Pleasanton said. ``He stopped it from floating down by putting his
finger on Dejuan Early, and he said, `That's the guy.'''
Early, who also goes by the name ``Duane,''
testified at the trial partly because Pleasanton wanted to show
jurors the man he believed was the real shooter.
``We felt if we gave the jury someone else to look
at, gave them a reasonable theory that this other person did it, they
would accept it,'' Pleasanton said.
As it turned out, Anderson's testimony didn't sway
jurors, but it did affect Early.
When Anderson identified Roddy's killer as
``Duane,'' Early rose quickly from his seat inside the courtroom and
walked out.
Throughout the trial, Early glared at witnesses as
they waited in a hallway outside the courtroom or stared at them
through a window in the courthouse door as they testified, defense
investigator Hilary Sheehan recalled.
It seemed clear to her, she said, that he was
intent on intimidating the witnesses.
``I was trying to move in between him and the glass
so the witnesses couldn't see him staring at them,'' Sheehan said.
``Everyone's afraid of Dejuan,'' Sheehan said.
*more:
The Verdict
*beginning
of story
*top
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