Troy Coleman split his formative years between California and the middle class Philadelphia neighborhood of Mount Airy, but while in Philly, he attended a rough high school in Germantown, where he met Byron Johnson, Kareem Nobles, and Darren Keith Johnson. After Troy graduated, Byron and Kareem were the muscle behind a
cocaine operation that they all ran out of Troy's apartment. However, a drug drought in the summer of nineteen eighty nine stimulated desperate behavior all over Philly, and while Troy was away to Atlantic City on September twenty sixth, nineteen eighty nine, Kareem allegedly set up a deal with two men, Kevin Jones.
And Arthur Sanders.
Now. According to Sanders, he waited down the block while Kevin Jones drove to Troy's apartment in his gray Dodge with forty thousand dollars to buy cocaine. Nearly two hours later, Sanders claimed to see two other men driving away in Kevin Jones's gray Dodge, a light skinned driver and a darker skin passenger wearing a hat with the brim pull down low Kevin's body was eventually found in the Gray Dodge.
Sanders agreed that Troy's photo looked like the passenger with Sander's shaky id and the coerce and incentivized testimony of Darren Keith Johnson. Troy was sentenced to life in prison. Despite Darren's nineteen ninety eight recantation and Byron Johnson's twenty nineteen confession to being the actual passenger in the Gray Dodge that day, Troy continues to serve life for a crime for which he was not even in Philadelphia to commit. This is wrongful conviction with Jason Flamm. Welcome back to
wrongful conviction with Jason Flamm. That's me And today we have a story that I think is going to rock your world in a different kind of way right because the person that we're interviewing today, Troy Coleman, has been incarcerated for thirty one years in Pennsylvania for a crime he didn't commit. That being said, he wasn't a choir boy. Some of the people we have on the show, we're literal acchoir people before they were arrested.
But he is.
Innocent of this crime. He wasn't even the same city when it happened, or state for that matter. So Troy's on the phone from prison. Troy, I'm glad you're here, but I'm sorry you have to be here under these circumstances.
How are you?
I'm good? Thank you? And with Troy is Jerry Brown, not the former governor of California, but an esteemed attorney from Philadelphia. Thank you for joining us on the show today. Jason, Let's go back, Troy. You grew up in a middle class environment, right.
I grew up in Mound Are, Philadelfia, which is a middle class neighborhood, and I was blessed to live with my grandmother, who was well off, and we had a beautiful home, three bedroom home. And you know, everyone who came from that home came to be very successful, although
went to private school, even my father. And my father moved to California, and when he moved to California, I was going back and forth from California to Philadelphia from my grandmother house, which California school curriculum, our junior high curriculum was equal to a high school curriculum here in Philadelphia. But you know, when I came back to high school here in Philluppia Germantown High School. I was looked at as kind of nerdy, I guess, you know, because of
the academics. I guess that we came with versus where was over here at Philadelphia, and you know, you try your best to fit in and you want to be accepted. That's where a lot of my de minds came from. When I had got involved with drugs, not needing to didn't have to, you know. Then my family was well to do. However, you know, just to sit in and be a part of this particular neighborhood that was in german Town, which is a little bit wasn't a good
lifestyle that they lived down here. It was a little more lower class again from Mound areas. So when I started boxing the DAGs being down there in the gym, that's how a couple of them guys from around the neighborhood. After that, subsequently I got involved with them with the about the age of seventeen sixteen. We started out young on the quarters, so that's when it began.
So this must have put you on the radar of the local police. And we know that in that time and place, this was a culture that it started with Frank Rizzo, who as the police chief in Philadelphia from sixty eight to seventy one. The legacy of brutality and corruption is widely known, and it thrived in the police department after he became mayor. Really crazy that that guy became mayor, but seventy two to eighty and they were just beating the shit out of everybody back then, and
it's really it's crazy that this was a major American city. So, Jerry, you were a college student at the University of Pennsylvania at that time, and you experienced were at least aware of this, Right, this is not hyperbole?
Right? Oh no, If you had a little bit of long hair like I did, you every time you walk down the street at night, you were afraid that you were going to stop and hassled by the police. And I'm sure for people of color it was much worse.
In my research, I mean, these were in the thirty ninth District, right, a section of North Philadelphia, which was a working class, poor black neighborhood. Police routinely made false arrests, planted drugs, robbed victims, and filed bogus reports to cover up their actions. So all of this is known now, it's been documented. This is not us just having a a there's a trip down a very ugly memory lane right here.
In fact, there were fourteen hundred convictions that were overturned due to the thirty ninth district. But they're not the only ones. There was the one squad cases, the five squad cases. I mean, there's been a history in Philadelphia, you know, and then in the nineties you have one of the cops that was involved in this case, Martin Devlin. The number of cases have been overturned because of him. It's a very sordid history, right.
So this of course brings me back to another person who was wrongful Convictoro's been on our show, Tony Wright, which was ironically the same cop that was involved in Troy's case, Martin Devlin. And in the article of Rolling Stone magazine about Tony's case, there was a pull quote that said that in the nineteen eighties or nineties, a black man had a better chance of getting justice in Philadelphia, Mississippi than in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. So let's go to that,
and of course Troy. This of course, what led up to this, I think indirectly, is the fact that you were involved, as you've been very honest about, in the cocaine business. Can you tell us about that and the people that were working under you at the time, because they come to play a role in your wrongful conviction.
Well, we got involved. It was a couple of guys from that neighborhood, particularly down cross the Street, and this is actually it's called the Jungle. Some of the guys that's involved Barra Johnson, Garan, Keith Johnson, Raymond Nobles, and his street name was Kareem. My street game at the time was Kassin with his was with his Kareem. So he was an older guy, he just got out of jail and all this time everybody looked up to him as the tough Gert heights On and so forth. To me,
it was like imparative that I get him involved. It's somewhat for the muscle as well as Byron.
So you had Byron Johnson, Darren Johnson and Kareem Nobles were your underlings. They worked for you.
Yes, I guess my little intellect being involved in that allowed me to shoot up fast. So I had a little apartment down in Mars Street. Klaski Town is what they called Eron, But we had an apartment in Kulaski Town and that was just for you know, fun, dealing with the drug stuff, girls and all that. Raymond Nobles Koree was actually staying in my part why I lived in down area. I still had that place in firing that keys to the apartment between that keys to the apartment,
so people had access to it. At that time, I was driving BMW's, had a nice amount of money and I was okay. However, these guys that were working for me, they were okay until a drought came in nineteen eighty nine. The drought is when there's thaw drugs, particularly cocaine of elbow at that time in the city where it could be purchased in so and this was a well known time because the homicidely rose significantly at that time and
it was real bad. So when this drought came about, I was okay, these guys, I didn't have anything for him. So they actually ran them up for lack of retterfleet. They just ran them up. They was just doing all kinds of money stuff. And this day in particular in which this crime happened, myself and another gentleman by the name of Richard Crawford. That morning of September twenty sixth,
we went to Atlantic City. And when I was in Atlantic City, I think I had no more than nine ounces of cocaine left, and actually, you know, trusted between to deal with that when I was going. And when I left on the twenty sixth, we get to Atlanta City that morning was getting taking insights, you know, shopping, talking all that other stuff to girls whatever. So I was very intoxicated. I wasn't willing to drive back to the city, so that night we checked it two hotel.
Okay, so you were in Atlantic City having fun, intoxicated, so drunk in fact, that you had a hard time even remembering which hotel you had checked into and under what name. And the crazy thing is that the state eventually used your own shaky memory to impeach you. But it's so twisted because they actually presented evidence that was exculpatory because it differed from your memory that you had
in fact stated valleys under your own name. I mean, after all, wide, let evidence of you being in Atlantic City get in the way of prosecuting a man we now know and I think they knew that him was innocent. That should have been the end of this podcast right there, but it's not. So the crime itself. Back at the apartment in Philadelphia on September twenty sixth, nineteen eighty nine, Kareem set up a deal with Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders.
According to Sanders, he and Kevin Jones arrived in the area of the apartment in separate cars around one thirty pm with forty thousand dollars to buy cocaine. Now, Arthur Sanders mentioned that the first preliminary hearing of this trial that he was going to buy this cocaine from Kareem, not Troy or your street name, Casim, but Kareem, which is why this case was initially thrown out as it
should have been. But nonetheless, here we are, all these years later, so again, according to Sanders, Jones continued down the street in a gray Dodge alone while Sanders waited down the block. Then, about an hour and a half later, Sanders allegedly saw two men driving the gray Dodge passed him, a light skinned man driving and a darker skinned man with the brim of his hat pulled down low in the passengers receipt. That night, the Jones family came to
Troy's apartment armed looking for Kevin Jones. They threatened Troy's girlfriend. The apartment was searched, but alas no Kevin. So at this point, Troy, you didn't know it yet, but you were in a lot of trouble. And I don't mean what the cops. The cops actually kind of inadvertently saved you.
When I got back to Philadelphia that next day, I was stopped by the police. You know, had my license and registration and everything was legit, but they found a bag of marijuana in the car. And that might have been a good thing, because I got arrested that evening and when I called home, and that's when I heard everything, everybody saying, yeah, these guys are looking for you if
you stated and want to take it. So when I was built out, my girlfriend at the time as well as my mother, had bags in the car and the tickets with me. And that's the very next day I was in California.
Okay, So even though you had nothing to do with this, you had to leave town just to be safe in California at least for now. And at this point the cops aren't even involved yet, and we find out much later that Kareem. Of course, Kareem was Raymond Nobles killed Kevin Jones and got Byron Johnson to help him dispose of the body. These are the two men that Arthur Sanders allegedly saw rolling by him in the Gray Dodge,
but we don't find that out until much later. Now, between the time of this crime and when it's investigated, Kareem Raymond Nobles died. Now call me crazy, but it just might have been. The Jones has had something to do with that. So anyway, Now, November twenty first, nineteen eighty nine, the police discovered Kevin Jones's body in the trunk of the Gray Dodge and the John Wannamaker parking lot in Abington Township. The body was bound with electrical cord,
blanket sheets and some insulation. By that time it was badly decomposing, but it's clear that his face had been struck with a blunt object several times and then one, and this is important, one hard contact, high velocity gunshot. When was the cause of death And we'll get to why that's important later. So anyway, the investigation begins, and initially, after being pressured by both the Jones family and the notoriously corrupt detective Martin Devlin. Arthur Sanders implicated Troy.
According to him, never seen Troy before, and he's sitting there waiting for a now and a half. Suddenly a car comes by. Now, when you I mean just.
Logically, when you think about it, if suddenly you see a car, first of all, you go, you know, that car looks familiar, and then in your mind you go, oh, yeah, that looks like it's Kevin's car. And then he looks at the driver and says, that's not Kevin. It's a light skin guy. Then he looks at the passenger, who has his hat over his head, and he's able to identify him. Now, all this is happening in two or three seconds. According to Sanders testimony.
Off sad to say that the passenger was a real sit He had a baseball cap, one pull down over his forehead, slouts in the seat and in a photo where you said, I look like the passenger putting me in the city at the time. However, I'm in the Atlantic City. It's a possible identification to me.
So the inference I would take is that I'm sure somebody in the police department in Devlin certainly was willing to do something like this to create false evidence, because he's done.
It on multiple occasions, as you all know. And there's other cases that you didn't mention that I'm aware of, So he probably said, isn't this the guy? And you know, Sanders is pretty scared to death anyway, because the family is really upset with him. This is an element that's not unwilling to use gun play if necessary. That's kind of the background of all this and part of the reason why Arthur Sanders' statement is so flaky, if you will.
He's being pressured by the police to give up somebody on the one hand, he's being pressured by the family on the other, and you know, he says, yeah, that it looks like the guy. Now that they are focusing on Troy Coleman, they start to focus in on his associates, one of whom is Darren Keith Johnson, who was a eighteen year old five foot three, one hundred and twenty five pounds, soaking wet youth essentially who's brought into homicide and who first says.
I don't know anything about anything, and then they proceed to scare the hell out of him by saying, we know you do, and the homicide cops pressured him to give a statement. They told him that if he didn't give a statement, that he was going to go to jail, that he wouldn't see his mother again. I'm sure they told him that if he went to prison that he would be molested there because he was so small. He told him that they didn't want the dead guy Kareem Nobles.
Detective Cohen said, we think that he was involved, but we want Troy because this apartment was rented by Troy, so he's scared to death and he finally gives up trouy. Darren Johnson says, yeah, Troy admitted to me he had to lay somebody down. Those two pieces of evidence Arthur Sanders sort of ID and Darren Johnson. Now they have enough to get an arrest warrant.
And this is from Darren Johnson's statement about what Troy allegedly told him. And now I'm gonna quote, okay ready, quote I had to lay somebody down over some drugs. Let me tell you how I did it. I put my gun up to him and told him to give it up. I shot him two to the head. End quote how would I know, but it sure sounds like it might have been written by somebody other than the person who was saying it. Okay, and I'll let your
imagination take it from there. Now, not only is this statement not specific to the victim, Kevin Jones, but it also has a very important hallmark of false statements, which is factually inaccurate information. As I mentioned earlier, Kevin Jones was shot once according to the medical examiner a trial, not twice, and from what I understand, they used both
the carrot and the stick to get this statement from Darren. Subsequently, and this will surprise exactly no one in our audience, he received leniency for multiple drug charges and this quid pro quot and the fact that it was hidden from the defense is something that Troy litigated through pro say
postconviction motions but unfortunated no avail. But the point ends up being moved here as Darren Keith Johnson has signed multiple affidavits starting in nineteen ninety eight to recant his testimony, for which the prosecutor not only threatened him with perjury, but we find out later that Darren and his mother received ominous threats from the police to stick to the
original statement. However, back in nineteen ninety, with Arthur Sanders and Darren Johnson, they moved forward with your arrest Troy, and on to what ends up being really interesting preliminary hearing.
Yes it was. It was murder, robbery, conspiracy, possession of the instament of krun. The preliminary here was April twelfth, nineteen ninety and at this preliminary here in Arthus Sanders rightfully, I guess he slipped up because he said that we were going to see Kareem, and this is throughout the preliminary here, and that we were going to see Kareem Kareem and is Raymond Nobles.
My name was not mentioned, which is probably why Judge Merriweather, it was a decent judge, decided to dismiss the case because if you're going to see Kareem, that's not him.
Right, Sanders accidentally told the truth even though he had been pressured to lie. But they're not nearly done with you yet.
So after Judge Maryweather dismissed the case, then it was about a week or two and they rearrested me again with the same as that inflammation, and they switched to judges, and they put it before another man I think they was Judge Eigens, and he held it over for.
Trial, and it may have ended it in not guilty verdict if you hadn't been screwed over by Ed Geiger, private investigator who your own family had hired. He was supposed to go down to Atlantic City and gather your alibi defense. But instead we now believe that he never went to Atlantic City or spoke with Richard Crawford, your alibi witness, Otherwise he would have found out what the state had already discovered, that you stayed at Bally's under
your own name. Geiger, on the other hand, came back with no alibi evidence and told you that your alibi witness, Richard Crawford, wasn't willing to testify on your behalf. But you don't fully get this picture until two thousand and nine though, so at trial you just have your fuzzy, drunken memory of ac You thought that you had stayed
at the ridgemont In under the name Robert Irving. So when the state presents Marlene Smith, a Bally's clerk who testified to you staying at Bally's under your own name, it actually hurt your credibility and put your rock solid alibi on shaky ground. Then the state presents the least chemist, Lewis Joca, who testified that the betting electrical cord and insulation that Jones was wrapped in matched items from the apartment, which just established the setting of the crime, but doesn't
necessarily implicate you, Troy. So what was presented at trial that convinced the jury that they should find you guilty of second degree murder, which, of course they ended up doing well.
I believe that it was the testimony of Derek and Junge and coupled with the testimony of Office Sanders. However, one of the things that were said in closing was that testimony page seven to fifty one by the prosecutor. He said, is in fact Troy was in Atlantic City, and you believe that he was still involved or he put these guys up to it, and this is this is something that was said to the jury. You could find them guilty of conspiracy and you know, second degree murder.
So so forth, and then undefeld the murder is actually saying that as a result of that robbery, a death occurred. We don't believe that he had the take to kill right, and that's what secondly we murdered.
Is here, Well, there's certain enumerated felonies, one of which is robbery, and if you during a robbery, if a murder occurs, that becomes felony murder, which is unfortunately in Pennsylvania. Even if you're convicted of second degree murder, it's life.
Troy, can you describe for us that awful and probably, I mean, I'm guessing must have been the worst moment of your life when the jury came back in.
I found you guilty, he said guilty. It was like I was just like shocked.
I was.
It was so shocking to me that the first couple of years they believe Wait only you know, we lost a lot of family. My mother died, my grandmother and my grandmother died. Ah Domino offend the pain and what happened. But I just couldn't believe in believing year we are hearing were years later.
This episode is underwritten by Paul Weiss Rifkin, Porton and Garrison, a leading international law firm. Paul Weiss has long had an unwavering commitment to providing impactful pro bono legal assistance to the most vulnerable members of our society and in support of the public interest, including extensive work in the criminal justice area.
First all prise to our creative getting me through this in constan having that hope that you know it will come to it. However, it was a time and actually be honest with you. Its just recently when they said I was negatived by I know, I was posting, I was an infirmity with COVID and I was oh, I was deadly sick. I never had a film pane like at that time. And this is once ago. I pray, ask the Lord, I say that this is I re go. Now, don't even gorge no more than you see you feel.
I wouldn't feel suicidal. But I was like, I was okay with I was okay with Nan. I just praise that this is a time and I'm not going to I'm not going to go home. I'm reve and that was my praio. Subsequently, you'll all the same. It's going a little hope for me, But yeah.
You know, you're inspiring other people not to give up hope. So I'm glad you're here to talk about this, and I'm glad you're fighting. And I think now in Pennsylvania there's you know, the progress and and then and that should give hope, hopefully to you and many many other people who need relief in the Pennsylvania criminal system. Talk a little about the post conviction litigation, because this is a crazy I mean, like a lot of these cases are when they go on this long. I mean, it
should have been reversed. It should have been freed back in ninety three.
That conspiracy commission in nineteen ninety three has since been reversed by the Superior Court of Pensivey, that in it of itself was a reason to overturn this case and retry me or to let me let me go. However that hasn't been the case, which is.
Just insane to me. Without the conspiracy and being in Atlantic City, how are you involved in the murder in any degree? Well, they continue to square that circle with the two bogus witnesses, Arthur Sanders saying you were in the car and Darren Johnson saying that you confess to having to quote lay somebody down over some drugs. So in nineteen ninety eight, Darren Johnson wanted to come clean
and finally recanted, and he did so. In an affidavit, But as we find out later, he and his mother were threatened repeatedly by the police and the prosecutor openly threatened him with perjury. So when he came to court in nineteen ninety eight to affirm his recantation, he pleaded the fifth. Obviously, he would not have needed to plead the fifth if he was just going to repeat his
bogus testimony. So Troy does most of his post conviction litigation pro say meaning by himself from his president, acting as his own lawyer, trying to undermine Darren Johnson's trial testimony by proving that he had been incentivized by a deal for leniency in his own drug charges, and that the defense had never been notified about any such deals.
When Darren he was asked by the prosecutor, David Desiderio, do you have any open cases at this time? Darren Keith Johnson said yes, one five years pulbation. That's a direct quote notes of testimony basedly thirty seven. However, unbeknownst to us, that was a lie made all his criminal history, where he never spent all five years pul viation. The jury is listening to this, did jury say oh, okay,
he has five years folcation. Okay, so he don't have any incentive to testify falsely against this guy because he's already been sentenced. Again, unberknownst to us that was a lie. Darren actually had open case at that time, which was resolved sixty on these after I got convicted.
But unfortunately, so far post conviction litigation on this matter has been totally ignored. The court sided with the DA finding him more credible than Darren Johnson. However, that's not the last we're going to hear from Darren Johnson. But first two thousand and nine, you find out what I had mentioned earlier, that your investigator at the time of trial lied to you about not being able to find any alibi evidence in ac and your alibi witness, Richard Crawford,
being unwilling to testify. But you hired another private investigator later on, Walter P. Lee, And in two thousand and nine he finally caught up with Richard Crawford.
Well, my private investigator, Walter Lee went to school interview. Rich Crawbey said that's something that he never said to Edgeier said, no, one never came to see me and told me nothing about I was whitting in Atlantic City, and I would have said that I was whitting in Atlantic City, and we had his statement nail, but he said that never happened, So that d of himself was probably.
Not for me.
With Daniell Richards will sistified, and this is something saw some significant mid Crawford called from the hotel. He called home to his wife shrill. The prosecutor had the phone numbers and those phone calls, and a couple of the phone calls was to Richard Crawford's address on McNay Street in Philadelphia. They never turned this stuffore.
So now the evidence is mounting and Darren Johnson recants and they don't want to hear it. Your investigator, Walter Lee, unearthed your alibi witness, shedding even more light on the state's misdeeds in this case, hiding that exculpatory evidence and ambushing you with it to undermine the truth, which was what they had already known, which is that you were
in Atlantic City, not Philadelphia. However, if that alibi evidence wasn't enough for them to stop pursuing you in nineteen ninety why would it stop them in nineteen ninety eight or two thousand and nine or ever, so another ten years go past, and Byron Johnson, who everyone was rightfully scared of and wouldn't think of snitching on in two thousand and nine. Eineteen, had suffered a non fatal gunshot, would it. I guess he didn't want to die without
having told the truth, so he finally came forward. But oddly enough he was shot and killed the following year on Juneteenth, twenty twenty.
The person who was actually in the car and the passengers even the car, Bynan Johnson, has confessed to this. In twenty nineteen, he did come and he confessed to the Crown of disposure of the body, helping Kareem and everything else, that he was always a prompt respect who was never arrested.
And there was a fellow named Herb Hartisan who was with Byron Johnson who had just been shot, and he got in touch with the spell of Artisan and he said, get me to somebody, because I want to be able to tell the truth about this before I die. And he knew that the end was near for him and he wanted to do the right thing here, and he came and he gave a statement. Hartisan I interviewed him, took a statement from him. Walter Lee took the statement
from Byron Johnson. Byron came in. He said that Kareem Nobles called him. He said something about moving some furniture or something like that, and he went over and he saw the dead body and Kareem said, look, you.
Help me get rid of his body.
I'll give you five thousand dollars. And Byron goes, okay, I mean that's easy money. What he's going to do is put the body in a car and drive away and leave the car out in Abington at the John Wannamaker store, which they did.
Byron Johnson was actually a prompt suspect in this case and actually Baron K. Johnson. As he was interviewed by Room and others, he made it clear that the reason why they got Barren took five against me is because when I was in California, they believed that I want to come back. Until everything they had been watched, I didn't know enough to till and he said that Byron, you know, put him up.
Bryron Johnson was a very very violent guy, as Darren said in his things. He was good with his fist, with knives and with guns. And he was scared to death of byron reaction if he were to rat him out. So I think that he was finally comfortable enough to come forward, which is newly discovered evidence he was unwilling to state until after Byron died, and he said the same thing that Byron said in his statement, which was that Nobles called him got him to help him move
the body. Byron and Darren Johnson essentially corroborate each other as to what happened to her, and so did the police because the police believed that Kareem Nobles was.
Involved, So the two men in the Gray Diedes that Sanders allegedly saw were Kareem Nobles and Byron Johnson. Byron's confession and Darren's recantation impeached Sanders's shaky id. The cops new Kareem was involved, and perhaps the Joneses did too, since he wound up dead before the police had a
chance to nab him. This murder happened in Troy's apartment while he was party in ac Other than letting his friends use his apartment while he was out of town, there was literally nothing else that connected Troy to this crime.
Troy, you know there's no evidence that he was ever involved in any violent crimes. The one time he got arrested afterwards, when he was stopped, what did they find on marijuana? No guns, no nothing. You could be sure that he was stopped because he was driving while black in Philadelphia, so they would have searched the hell out of that car and that's what they found.
And I want to just read a quick quote here from Darren Johnson, because it's one thing for us to talk about this one said this and the other one said that. But this is from an affid David on September third, twenty twenty that he courageously signed, and he said quote. Before the trial, the police kept trying to get me to come to court, and I really didn't want to. I knew my testimony was a lie. They and the prosecutor just told me to follow the script.
They even went to my mother's house and harassed her and threatened her and told her to tell me to come back to court or something would happen to both of us. That's why in nineteen ninety eight, nineteen ninety nine, I tried to testify, but again was threatened and I chickened out because I was told that I would go to jail for several years for perjury. I was still frightened because I was small. The public defender they gave to me that day told me to plead the fifth
and I did. Not only was I small, but I only had an eighth grade education. Was a whole lot less smart than I am now. I regret then not having the courage to go through with telling the truth. He goes on to say, still quoting someone might say that I'm angry with the police and the district attorney because they promised me that I probably wouldn't go to jail and then I did. That is not the truth.
I keep coming back, and I'm willing to testify because I know this is the truth, and this lie I told that Troy's trial has been bothering me for three decades, no matter what anyone threatens me with. Now, I'm not going to cave in. I should have done this years ago and told the truth about Byron, but I was afraid he would kill me or have me killed. I would like the opportunity for the court to see me in person and know it is in my heart that Troy Coleman is not guilty. End quote.
Other than the testimony of these two people, there's not one shread of physical evidence that ties Troy Coleman to this crime.
Nothing. And to hear the words I just read from Darren Johnson and add that to Byron Johnson's confession where he admits to being the passengor of the car. Does Arthur Sanders' shaky id even matter anymore? I mean, the guy who would actually be in the gray Dodge told us it does not. But if that, somehow is still not enough for you, consider some of the things that are known about Arthur Sanders. He began with not knowing Troy Coleman at all, then switched to he knew him
from around the neighborhood. More importantly, he had Kevin Jones's pager and keys in his possession when Kevin went missing. To be in possession of a missing, dead guy's things, you're gonna want to place blame on someone else quickly. So let's say Sanders actually did see these two guys in the passing grade Dodge. I've been saying allegedly this entire time, as you might have noticed, But let's just suppose for a second that it actually happened. That way,
Troy and Byron do resemble one another. Now, let me be clear, I'm not just some random white dude giving cross racial misidentification. Troy can back me up here, Troy, that tracks right.
Yeah, I will see that.
Barie Johnson, now you too, don't look exactly like but enough to say they look like one another. And that's while you're staring right let alone. While if one were to see a guy in a passing car behind glass at twenty miles an hour for less than three seconds, that's if we even accept that this passing Great Didge identification actually happen. It's also entirely possible that this was a fabrication to steer the investigation and the Jones is away from Sanders and at least in the direction of
Kareem and Byron. So that said, Jerry, where does this case stand now currently?
I have an emotion for discovery that's still open. I think I filed a supplemental in April. It's still open. The Commonwealth was going to respond to both of them, and I think that's where we're at right now.
From my perspective, it, I mean, the system has to play out itself. I think that they're so busy in the CiU, which is a conviction integrity unit, that they are just overwhelmed. They have thirteen fourteen hundred cases and they've got six or eight, maybe ten people working on them. They're all homicides.
Well, we've been seeing some really great things out of the philadel your CiU. Patricia Cummings, Larry Krasner. We know they're going to keep up the hard work. I mean, just think if you had to research and re litigate the last thirty to fifty years of corrupt cases at a place like Billy Chicago, New Orleans. Trying to right those wrongs is no easy tasks. So your hard work is
not going unappreciated here. Maybe us shining a light on a case like Troy's will help bring it to the top of their very formidable pile.
God will.
So after hearing all of this, Troy, I know I want to do all that I can, and I'm sure our audience feels the same way. Is there anything that they can do?
If you want to know more about my case, go to chroycolmiancase dot com. Everything from the confession to the conspiracy reverbs to the we can't testimony of Marrikee Johnson to his deal that he received to go to choicolmicase dot com to see it for yourself.
Well, we'll definitely link your site in the episode bio. And with that we now go to my favorite part of the show, where I first of all, thank both of you so much for joining me here and sharing your story. And now I'm going to kick back in my chair, turn off my microphone and just listen to whatever else you'd like to say. No offense, Jerry, but we'll be saving the best for last, our guest of honor, which means you'll be leading off.
Well, thank you Jason for giving me this opportunity to address Troy's case. Obviously, there is a lot of facts and circumstances here that are extremely troubling. One of the problems is back when Troy was arrested, Philadelphia was in the midst of one of its worst homicide waves and its history. Troy was also dealing with a secondary problem
in that he had a court appointed counsel. He was also dealing with homicide police that wanted to clear cases and do it in the convenient way because they were being pressured to do so, and therefore they used some of the cases, I've seen some shortcuts in order to achieve that goal, and one of the shortcuts is that they would pressure witnesses, and in this case they had two very good subjects that they could pressurize.
So these are the only two pieces of evidence that.
Were the backbone and the heart and soul of the Commonwealth's case. Once they've been debunked, which I believe they have been, and there's been new evidence that's come forward from Byron Johnson who said that Kareem Nobles told him that he was the shooter and asked him to help
him dispose of the body. Johnson, unfortunately is dead, but he's kind of taken the wraps off of Darren Johnson because he was scared to death of this man who was extremely violent and that's why he died a violent death. But in any way, once these pieces have been debunked, it is pretty clear that Troy Coleman is not guilty.
All right, Troy, over to you.
I would like to thank everyone for a long to have this opportunity, and at this time I would like to say I'm to be narrow guying, I mean all press due to our Lord. I don't think anything is going to come to fruition in regards to this case except by the will of our creative God, the Most High.
I would like to thank Jason and my attorney and Connor and all that was involved in this, my family who has been supported me through this and my message or I like to have a takeaway even if you know it's just not about me, but you know at this time what got me through these years. And I want to encourage a lot of the youth because we're actually going through about with our youth today with killing and crime and all that is. I want to push
education and vocational skills that's needed. I'm a founder and facilitator of a group of titled Youth Mister Acronym and Young Offenders Understanding their habitual Shackles, which is facilitated by myself, Technic Boweman and Tracy Box, and we push forward to try to help the youth put between agent and eighteen and three this and or holding their education and vocational skills.
I would also like to lasts like Ceichester, which is one of the most progressive jails right now for criminal justice reform, and at this institution we have more guys who went out on commutation, and I would like to also move back that I need to file for commutation under actual innocence. Perchance it's the falling, definitely, God willing, they won't. But this jail has been good for and they allow me to do this podcast, and I'm very grateful for that. And I hope that other institutions can
mirror what's going on at our institution here. So I would like to take Tastipintendent Islamis and Superintendent east Sign and w Wall because these are smart progressives here that you know, push for education and vocation and allowing you know, college courses and stuff goals if it's not going to double jobs. But I'm very grateful for everyone, and God will not get me speak about this on the street as opposed to you know, for the peditetary that will in Icula.
Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm. Please support your local innocence projects and go to the link in our bio to see how you can help. I'd like to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Clyburn, and Kevin Wardis. The music on the show as always is by three time Oscar nominated composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Wrongful Conviction and
on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction podcast. Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flamm is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts and association with Signal Company Number one