June 30, 2022 • 44 mins
On September 26th, 1989, Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders went to an apartment with $40,000 to buy cocaine, while the owner of the apartment, Troy Coleman, was 60 miles away in Atlantic City. Sanders waited down the block, while Jones drove up to the apartment alone and went missing. Troy heard that the Jones family was looking for him and fled to California. Over 2 months after Jones' disappearance, he was found beaten, bound, and shot, in the trunk of his car. Despite knowing of Troy's whereabouts between the abduction and when the body was found, the state coerced testimony that they knew to be false in order to charge him anyway. Coleman was convicted and sentenced to life in prison where he has been for over 32 years.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Since the initial release of our coverage of Troy Coleman's case,
attorney Joseph Moron has joined Troy's team and was able
to gain access to the original homicide filer h file
and the Brady material. It's so significant that we had
to rearrange this episode to accommodate the new evidence, which
is inserted throughout. Troy has always maintained his innocence, but
has never said a word about Darren Johnson and Byron
(00:22):
Johnson's involvement in this case until they themselves came forward
supporting his claims at the time of our first release. Now,
with their admissions, as well as previously discovered Brady material
and this new homicide file evidence, we can finally see
a clearer picture of what really happened to Kevin Jones,
as well as subsequently what happened to mister Troy Coleman.
(00:47):
Troy Coleman split his formative years between California and the
middle class Philadelphia neighborhood of Mount Airy, but while in Philly,
he attended a poor high school in Germantown, where he
met Byron Johnson, Kareem Nobles, and Darren Keith Johnson. After
Troy graduated Byron and Kareem with a muscle behind a
cocaine operation that they all ran out of Troy's apartment. However,
(01:10):
a drug drought in the summer of nine gave way
to desperate behavior all over Philly. While Troy was away
in Atlantic City on September nine, Kareem set up a
deal with two men, Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders. Sanders
claimed to have waited down the block while Kevin Jones
drove the Troy's apartment in his gray Dodge with forty
(01:32):
dollars to buy cocaine. Then, after about ninety minutes to
other men allegedly drove past Sanders in Jones's gray Dodge,
a light skin driver and a dark skinned passenger wearing
a hat with the brim pole down bow. There's new
evidence that indicates that the victim was alive at this time.
Nearly two months later, Jones's body was discovered in the
(01:53):
gray Dodge, beaten, found and shot. Arthur Sanders agreed the
Troy Coleman's photo looked like the passenger who allegedly drove
by him two months earlier. This Shaky I d along
with Darren Keith Johnson's coerced and incentivized false testimony sent
Troy away for life. Despite Darren's recantation, Byron Johnson's confession
(02:13):
to being the actual passenger that day, and some explosive
New Brady material, Troy continues to serve life for a
crime which he was not even in Philadelphia to commit.
This is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to wrongful conviction with
(02:43):
Jason Flom. That's me. And today we have a story
that I think is going to rock your world in
an in a different kind of way, right because the
person that we're interviewing today, Troy Coleman, has been in
carcetrated for thirty one years in Pennsylvania for a crime
he didn't commit it. That being said, he wasn't a
choir boy, not some of the people we have on
(03:03):
a show where literal acchoire 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 under
these circumstances. Good afternoon, how are you. I'm good Thank you,
(03:24):
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 my pleasures.
Let's go back, Troy. You grew up in a middle
class environment, right, because I grew up in Mount A, Philadelphia,
which is a middle class neighborhood, and I was less
(03:47):
to live with my grandmother, who was well off. We
had a beautiful, whole bedroom home, and you know, everyone
who came from that home came to be very successful,
although went to private school, even my father. My father
moved to California, and when he moved to California, I
was going back and forth from California to Philadelphia from
(04:08):
my grandma house, which California school curriculum are 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 Philaphia, Germany Town High School, I was looked
at this kind of dirty. I guess, you know, because
the academics. I guess that we came with versus we
was over here in Philadelphia. And you know, you try
(04:30):
your best to fit in that you want to be accepted.
That's where a lot of my demise came from when
I got involved with drugs, not needing to, didn't have to,
you know. Again, 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 um much of a good lifestyle.
(04:52):
I did in Bounty. It was Lord Moore, Lord Class
look At from Mount Area. So when I started boxing
the day of routine being down there and then she
him That's how I been a couple of them guys
from Brandon neighborhood after that subsequently got in cloud with
them with the about the age of seventeen sixteen. We
started out one of the the quarters. So that's when it began.
(05:14):
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
six to seventy one. The legacy of brutality and corruption
is widely known and it thrived in the police department
after he became mayor. Just really crazy that that guy
(05:37):
became mayor, but seventy eight, and they were just beating
the ship out of everybody back then. And it's really, uh,
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 or at least aware
of this. Right, this is not hyperbole. Right, if you
(05:57):
had a little bit of long hair like I did,
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 districts, right, a section of North Philadelphia,
which was a working class, poor black neighborhood. Police routinely
(06:18):
made false arrest, 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 This is 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.
(06:38):
But they're not the only ones there. 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, Mortin Devlin. The number of cases
have been overturned because of him. It's a very sorted history, right.
(06:58):
So this of course brings me back to another person
who was Romphick Victor has been on our show, Tony
right when, which was ironically the same cop that was
involved in Troy's case, Martin Devlin. And in the article
in Rolling Stone magazine about Tony's case, there was a
poll quote that said that in the nineteen eighties or
nineties black man had a better chance again injustice in Philadelphia, Mississippi,
(07:20):
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
we're working under you at the time, because they come
to play a role in your wrongful conviction. Well, when
(07:42):
we got involved, there was a couple of guys from
that neighborhood, particularly down Grocer Street. And this is as
She's called the jungle. Some of the guys that's involved,
Barack Johnson, Garry Kieth Johnson in his street me was
green my street me, but the town was tossin his
was with our his Kareem So he was an older guy.
(08:03):
He just got out of jail and all this time
everybody looked up to him as a tough ghighs and
so forth. To me, it was like comparative that I
get him involved and someone for the muscle as well
as Byron. So you had Byron Johnson, Darren Johnson and
Kareem Nobles where your under links they worked for you. Yes,
(08:23):
I guess my little untile being involved in that allowed
me to shoot up fast. So I had a little
apartment down in mar Street. Plashki Town is what they
called Aaron. But we had apartment in Polaski Town. There
was just for you know, fun, dealing with the drug stuff,
girls and all that. The Raymond Nobles Kareem was actually
staying in my apartment. Why this is in Mount Area.
(08:45):
I still had that place in Byron the keys to
the apartment, Kareem at keys to the apartment, so people
have access to it at that time, and I was
driving BMW's had a nice amount of money, and I
was okay. However, these guys that were working for me,
they okay until a drought came in nineteen eighty nine.
That's route is when there's those drugs, particularly cocaine, develople
(09:07):
at that time. And this was a well known time
because homicidally rose significantly at that time. So when this
drought came about, I was okay. These guys, I didn't
have anything for him, so they asked the ran them
up for lack of a letter flae. They just ran
them up. It was just no all kinds of play stuff.
And this day in particularly was this ground happened myself
(09:27):
and another gentleman by the name of Richard Crawford. That
morning of September twenty six, 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
I asked the you know, trusted queen to deal with
that when I was gone. And when I left on
the twenty six we get to Atlantic City that morning
(09:49):
was gettably in taking insights, you know, shopping talking to
all that other stuff to girls whatever. So I was
very incousticated. I wasn't wily drive back to the city,
so that night we checked the two hotel. Okay, so
you're in Atlantic City having fun, intoxicated, so drunk in fact,
that you had a hard time even remembering where you
had checked in and under what name. And then eventually
(10:12):
the prosecution presented evidence that you had stated Bally's under
your own name, using your shaky memory to impeach your alibi,
which makes no sense. They impeach your memory of your
alibi with evidence of your alibi, But why let evidence
of your innocence stop them from prosecuting you? Right? In fact,
what we now know is that the state was in
possession of even more exculpatory evidence, but we'll get to
(10:36):
that in just a bit. So anyway, the crime itself
while you're in Atlantic City. Back at the apartment in
Philadelphia in September, Kareem had set up a deal with
Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders. Now, according to Sanders, he
and Jones. Kevin Jones arrived in the area of the
apartment of separate cars around one thirty PM with forty
thousand dollars to buy cocaine. According to Sanders, while he
(10:56):
waited down the block, Jones continued alone to the apartment
in a gray Dodge. Then, about an hour and a
half later, Sanders allegedly saw two men driving the gray
Dodge passed him. A light skinned man driving in a
darker skin man with the brim of his hat pulled
down lower the passenger seat. This is who Sanders misidentified
as being Troy. However, in Byron Johnson admitted to being
(11:19):
that passenger right that Kareem had hired him to move
a body back. At this point in it is unclear
whether Kareem or Byron even knew that Kevin Jones was
still alive in the trunk, And we'll get to how
we know that in just a bit. It's dramatic, so
stay tuned. That night, though the Jones family came to
(11:39):
Troy's apartment armed looking for Kevin Jones. They threatened Troy's girlfriend,
searched the apartment, but no sign of Kevin at this point. Troy, well,
you had no way of knowing it yet, but you
were in a lot of trouble and not I'm not
talking about what the cops the cops actually kind of
ironically inadvertently saved you. That next day, I was stop
(11:59):
by the police. You had my license and registration, everything
was leg but they found a bag of marijuana in
the car, and that might have been a good thing,
because I got arrested that evening when I called home,
and that's when I heard everything, everybody saying, these guys
are looking for you. You stay there and when it
came it so when I was built out, my girlfriend
at the time as well as my mother had bags
(12:21):
in the car in a ticket for me, and that's
that that That very next day, I was in California.
Even though you had nothing to do with this, You've
got to leave town for California just to be safe
from the Joneses. So you bailed out and hopped on
a flight in September twenty nine. Now, between the time
of the abduction and when the body was discovered, Kareem
a k A. Raymond Nobles died. Call me crazy, but
(12:43):
it might have had something to do with the Joneses anyway.
So now November, the police discovered Kevin Jones's body and
the trunk of the Great Dodge and the John want
to make her parking lot of Abington Township. Now by
that time the body was badly decomposing, but it was
clear that his ace was struck with a blunt objects
several times and then one, and this is important, one
(13:06):
hard contact, high velocity gunshot wound was the cause of death.
And we'll get to why that's important in a little bit.
The body was bound with electrical cord, blankets, sheets, and
some insulation. The police chemists Louis Joka, later testified matched
items from Troy's apartment. So the investigation began, and initially
(13:26):
while under pressure from both the Jones family and the
notoriously like unbelievably like hopelessly terrifyingly corrupt Detective Martin Devlin,
Arthur Sanders was the first to implicate Troy. According to him,
never seen Troy before, and he's sitting there waiting for
now and have suddenly a car comes by. Now when
you I mean just logically, when you think about it,
(13:49):
the suddenly you see a car. First of let 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 skinned guy. And then he
looks at the passenger who has his hat over his head,
and he's able to identify him. Now, all this is
(14:10):
happening in two or three seconds. According to Sanders testimony,
officer to say that the passenger he said he had
a baseball cap one pulled down over his forehead, spouts
to the seat in a photo where he said, I
look like the passenger putting me in the city at
the time. However, I'm in Atlantic City. There's a possible
(14:30):
actification to me. 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 so he
probably said, isn't this the guy. 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 looks like the guy.
(14:53):
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 gunplay 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, And from what I understand, Sanders had
(15:15):
Kevin Jones Page rin Keys in his possession when Kevin
went missing, so he probably wanted to direct the tension
away from himself. Now, I've been saying allegedly every time
I mentioned this passing great dodge side because it may
never have actually happened. But even if it did, there's
an explanation for the misidentification. Troy and Byron look somewhat similar. Now,
let me be clear, I'm not just some white dude
(15:36):
over here giving cross racial misidentification. Troy, you can back
me up here right now. You two don't look exactly alike,
and not twins, but enough to say they look like
one another. And that's what Arthur Sanders ended up saying.
And that's when he's trying to identify someone with his
hat pulled down load for less than three seconds behind
(15:57):
glass in a car that's passing by over twenty miles
an hour. That's if we even accept that this passing
grade dodge identification even ever happened. It's also entirely possible
that this was just a complete fabrication from either Devlin
Sanders or both to direct the attention steer the attention
Troy Troy, who was a known entity to police and
whose apartment was involved. But they knew he was in
(16:18):
Atlantic City, and then they knew he went to California
as well. Now, according to police, Byron Johnson was a
prime suspect from day one, and they maybe I don't know,
maybe they thought they could get Troy to flip on him.
We're not sure and we'll probably never know, but that
would never happen. Troy was not flipping on anybody in anyway.
Troy was in California, so he wasn't even available to
(16:39):
be pressured to give up his friends. But that didn't
change when he came back either or for the following
thirty long years. But back in with only Arthur Sanders
is shaky, I d the police needed something more for
probable cause to arrest Troy. Now that they were focusing
on Troy Coleman, they start of focusing on his associates,
(17:02):
one of whom is Darren Keith Johnson, who was a
eighteen year old five ft three d and pounds soaking
wet youth essentially who's brought into homicide, who and who
first says I don't know anything about anything, and then
they proceed to scare the hell out of him by saying,
(17:24):
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
(17:46):
Kareem Nobles. Detective Cohen said, we think that he was involved,
but we want Troy because this apartment was rented by Troy.
He said, he's scared to death, and he finally gives
up Troy. Darren Johnson says, yeah, Troy admitted to be
had to lay somebody down. Those two pieces of evidence.
Arthur Sanders sort of I d and Darren Johnson now
(18:08):
they have enough to get an arrest. Weren't. 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. Now, not
(18:32):
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 exam or trial,
not twice. And from what I understand, they used both
the carrot and the stick to get this statement from
(18:53):
Darren and subsequently, and this will surprise exactly no one
in our audience, he received lean and see for multiple
drug charges and this quid pro quo and the fact
that it was hidden from the defense. It's something that
Troy litigated through pro se post conviction motions but unfortunately
no avail. But the point ends up being moved here
as Darren Keith Johnson has signed multiple affidavits starting in
(19:18):
to recant his testimony for which the prosecutor had 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 and onto what ends
(19:40):
up being really interesting preliminary hearing. Yes it was. It
was murder, robberty, conspiracy, and possessional. He was equal twelve
nine and at this splimber here in alto Sanders rightfully,
I guess he slipped up because he said that we
were going to see Kareem. And this is throughout the
(20:02):
eliminate unity. We were going to see Kareem, Kareem in
his Raymond Nobles. My name was not mining right. He
was going to see Kareem, not Troy or your street
name Kassim, but Kareem, which is probably why Judge Merryweather
was a decent judge, decided to dismiss the case because
if you're going to see Kareem, that's not him. Right,
(20:24):
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 Marywell dismissed the case, then it was
about a week or two and he re arrested me. Again.
Was the same as that information in the switch the
judges and he put it before another man. I think
they was judge, and he held it all for trial,
(20:47):
and it may have ended in a not guilty verdict
if you hadn't been screwed over by Ed Geiger, a
private investigator who your family had hired. Now, this guy
was supposed to have gone down to Atlantic City and
gathered up your alibi to Vents, which would literally been
the easiest job ever for a private investigator, just as
the hotel. But instead we now believe that he never
even went to Atletics say, or bothered to speak with
(21:09):
Richard Crawford, your alibi witness. Otherwise he would have bound
out what the state had already discovered, that you had
stayed at Bally's under your own name, and another item
that was hidden from the defense that Crawford had called
home several times from the room. Geiger failed to gather
this critical alibi evidence and further told you that Crawford
wasn't willing to testify in your behalf, which was another lie.
(21:31):
Richard Crawford was more than willing, but you didn't find
that out until two thousand and nine, almost two decades later. Instead,
with your fuzzy, drunken memory of a c you thought
that you had stayed at the ridgemont In under the
name Robert Irving. So when the state presented Marlene Smith,
a Bally's clerk who testified to you staying at Bally's
(21:51):
under your own name, it really hurt the credibility of
your memory. But it still doesn't place you in Philadelphia,
not to mention your heartment. You're in a different city,
in a different state, and they knew it anyway. What's
much worse than this private investigator doing essentially nothing is
what was hidden by the state in order to ensure
(22:12):
your roulengful conviction. And now, in in light of this
new evidence from the homicide file, you are being an
a c only makes you unavailable for Kevin Jones's abduction.
My name is Joseph Moron. I represent Troy Coleman in
his ongoing pc r A matters. I'm lead counsel on
the case. I continue to consult with Jerome Brown. Recently,
(22:33):
we were able to access Troy Coleman's homicide file with
the assistance of the courts, which has information or evidence
in there that the prosecutor possessed during the course of
his case. We went through this entire file and we
found critical pieces of evidence that further substantiate Troy Coleman's innocence.
(22:53):
We found a search warrant and affidavit of probable cause
where the police are trying to get phone records because
the mother of the victim, Kevin Jones, contacted the police
and gave them some pretty astonishing information that she spoke
to her son on September nine, eighty nine, that he
(23:14):
told her that he was in fear of the Junior
Black Mothy or the JBM, that he suspected some type
of foul play. She did not see him since September nineteen.
Subsequent to that, on October nineteenth, a little over three
weeks after the alleged date of death in this case,
she told the police that she got a phone call.
She got a collect call from an individual who indicated
(23:36):
he was a member of the j b M and
that they had her son, Kevin Jones, in their custody,
that he was basically kidnapped and they were holding him ransom,
presumably about ten thousand dollars. She was initially skeptical. An
individual got on the phone, she indicates it sounded like
her son, and then the son referred to a pet
name of the mother, which further in her mind solidified
(23:57):
that it was him. They said that they would call back.
They called act. She asked for more information. She wanted
a piece of clothing. They thought that was fair, But
they were basically working out a deal the hold to
get money because they were holding in ransom. The bottom
line is this evidence, this information was indicating that Kevin
Jones was still alive, which completely contradicts the entire prosecution theory.
(24:19):
This information was known to the police was a critical
and crucial piece of exculpatory evidence that the prosecution and
the detectives and police, with help you, should have also
been able to show the jury that not only were
you not at your apartment on September twenty six, but
also that you weren't even on the freaking East Coast
(24:39):
from September, passed this phone call on October nine, and
passed the discovery of the body on November twenty one,
all the way to the following year. I'm talking about
all the way to January four. Kevin Jones was still alive,
that he was killed, that he was found all while
you were proved dobably in California, which proves that the
(25:02):
prosecution presented a case that they knew was horseshit, but
at trial in d attacked your alibi with this differing
alibi evidence, which seems like a crazy misdirection plans pretty weak,
But so tell us what else they presented to trick
the jury to believe you were guilty. Well, I believe
it was the testimony of Derreki Johnson, coupled with the
(25:23):
testimony of all the centators. However, one of the things
that were said in closing was that testimony pay seventh
fifty one by the prosecutor. He said, it's 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 that there's something that was said to
the jury. You can find them guilty of conspiracy and
(25:44):
you know, secondary murder so or so forth, and then
undefelony murder is actually saying that as a result of
that robbery a death occurred. We don't believe that he
had the intent to kill, right, and that's what secondly
we murdered is here. Uh, Well, there's certain enumerated felonies,
one of which is robbery. If you during a robbery,
(26:04):
if 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. Was like I
(26:26):
was just slight shocked. I was. It was so shocking
to me that the first couple of years, I believe
we only mentally, you know, we lost a lot of family.
My mother died, and my grandmom and my grand mamad
a domino effective pain and what happened the little I
just couldn't believe it. Normally, yea, we are doing were
(26:47):
usually first and get all prattiest to our career, getting
me through this and constantly having that hope, uh that
(27:10):
you know it will come to it. However, it was
a time, and to actually be honest with you, was
just recently when I uh, they said I was next
to it, but I know I was positive. I was
an intermity with COVID and I was I was deadly sick.
I never ever felt no pain like that at that time,
and this is once ago. I prayed. I asked the Lord,
(27:31):
I said, if this is, I rangna go now. And
I don't even thought it's no more. Just see if
you feel I wasn't, you know, suicidal. But I was like,
I was okay with I was okay with nine. I
just prayed, this is the time and I'm not going
in if I'm not on a go, I'm revery. And
that was my prayer. And subsequently, um, you know, all
(27:52):
this happened the store of little hope for me. But yeah,
you know, you're hiring 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 and that should
give hope to hopefully to you and many many other
(28:13):
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 and you should have been freed back
in that conspiracy conviction has since been reversed. The Superior
(28:35):
Court of Pennsylvania, that in it of the self, was
a reason to overturned this case and be trying me
or to let me, you know, let me go. However,
that hasn't been the case, which is just insane to me.
I mean, without the conspiracy and being in Atlantic City
for the abduction and California for the murder in the
body dump, how are you involved in the murder in
any way? Well, they continued to try to square that
(28:58):
circle with the two Boga witnesses, Arthur Sanders saying you're
in the car and Darren Johnson saying that you confess
to having to quote lay somebody down over some drugs
and quote so in Darren Johnson wanted to come clean
and finally recanted and did so in an affic David,
But as we find out later, he and his mother
were threatened by the police and the prosecutor openly threatened
(29:19):
him with perjury. So when he here, if we had
this too much, it makes me sick. So when he
came to court affirm this recantation, he was appointed counsel
who told him to plead the fifth in order to
avoid perjury charges, and he did. But obviously he would
not need to plead the fifth. If he was just
coming to repeat the lies he had told that Troy's
(29:41):
trial right, he wouldn't have been there at all. So, Troy,
you did most of your post conviction litigation pro say
meaning by yourself from prison, trying to undermine Darren Johnson's
trial testimony by proving that he was incentivized by a
deal for leniency in his own drug charges and that
the defense was never notified about any such deals. And
the prosecution got around this by promising Darren a deal
(30:05):
unofficially okay and suspending the charges until after Troy's trial,
So they weren't technically hiding a deal in exchange for
Darren's testimony, they were just dangling one, and Darren later
supported that in your post conviction motions. When Darren he
was asked by the prosecutor David Desideriol, do you have
any open cases at this time? Darren Kieth Johnson said yes,
(30:25):
one five years pullbation. That's a direct quote. It's a
testimony based three thirty seven. However, unbeknownst us, that was
a lie made all his criminal streat What he'd never
spent on five years of the jury is listening to this,
the jury say, oh, okay, he has five years for
which okay, so he don't have any incentive to testify
falsely against this guy because he's already been sentenced. Again,
(30:49):
I'm gonnas to us that was a lie. Darren actually
had an open case at that time, which was resolved
sixty nine days after I got convicted. But unfortunately, so
far post conviction litigation on the matter has been ignored.
The court sided with the d A, 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 nine,
(31:11):
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 a
c and your alibi witness, Richard Crawford, being unwilling to testify.
He lied about both of those two things. But you
hired another private investigator later on that named Walter P. Lee,
and in two thousand nine he caught up with Richard Crawford.
What my private investigator Walter Lee went to school, interviewed
(31:34):
rich crawl He said, that's something that he never said
to edguy said no, one never came to see me
until you mean nothing much. I was witting the Atlantic City,
and I would have said I was waiting to Atlantic City,
and we had his statement now, but he said that
never happened, so that theself was probably for me. But
now Wizard is wont cified, and this is something that's
also significant. Crawford called from the hotel. He called home
(31:57):
to his wife's shrill. The project you to had the
phone numbers and those phone calls, and a couple of
the phone calls was too Richard Crawford's address or mcnaight
Street in Philadelphia. They never before. What weren't they hiding?
The only things David Desiderio was presenting was the evidence
that he and Martin Devon had fabricated, and even that
(32:18):
was falling apart. Darren Johnson re can't they don't want
to hear it. Your investigator, Walter Lee unearthed your alibi
witness shedding more light on the States miss deeds, hiding
that exculpatory evidence and ambushing you with it to undermine
the truth which they already knew, which was that you
were in Atlantic City on September and they also knew
(32:40):
that Kevin Jones was still alive while you were in
California through until the end of the year or until
the beginning of next year. However, if that Albi wasn't
enough for them to stop pursuing you in nine ninety,
why would it stopped them in or two thousand nine
or or ever. Right, So, another ten years go passed,
and Byron Johnson, who everyone is scared of and wouldn't
even think of snitching on in two thousand nineteen, had
(33:02):
suffered a non fatal gunshot wound, and I guess he
didn't want to die without having told the truth. He
didn't die, and he came forward to confess to the
part that he played with Kareem. And there was a
felon named Herb Hartison who was with Byron Johnson who
had just been shot, and he said, get me to somebody,
because I want to be able to tell the truth
(33:23):
about this. And he came and he gave a statement.
Walter Lee took the statement from Byron Johnson. Byron did that.
Kareem Nobles called them. He said something about moving some
furniture or something like that, and he went over and
the solid body and Creem said, look, you help me
get rid of his body, 'll give you five thousand dollars.
So the two men in the gray didges at Sanders
(33:45):
allegedly saw where Kareem Nobles and Byron Johnson. The cops
knew the Kareem was involved, and it's believed that the
Joneses did too, since he wound up dead before the
police had a chance to nab him. Byron's confession and
Darren's recantation impeached Sanders the shaky idea of Troy and
directly at Byron. This murder happened in Troy's apartment while
he was partying in a c so other than letting
(34:08):
his friends use his apartment while he was out of town,
there's nothing else that connected Troy to the abduction on September,
and certainly not the murder sometime after October ninete, while
he was in a essay again California, three thousand miles away.
But the conflict between Byron's confession when he talks about
moving a body and Miss Jones's statement about the phone
(34:29):
call that she received. We just assumed that Byron and
perhaps Kareem didn't know Kevin was still alive. When you
look at Byron Johnson's confession indicating that he was contacted
by Kareem Nobles to come to the house to move
a body, specifically the body being Kevin Jones. Nobody really
gets into the fact of whether Kevin Jones is still
(34:51):
alive or not. In neither of this heat what could
have potentially happened. I mean, Byron Johnson was arrested the
end of September September twenty nine for an unrelated robbery.
He was technically out of the loop sort of speak.
So the fact that Kevin Jones could have been still alive,
he may not have known that. And when he ultimately
confessed back in nineteen, he is just trying to be
(35:12):
truthful and telling what he knows. That he was called
by Kareen to move a body and he did so,
and he was the one in the car with Kareen.
It further substantiates that Troy had nothing to do with this.
When Byron Johnson confessed, Darren Keith Johnson could finally speak
freely and he gave a sworn affid David to Walter
Peely and Jerry Brown, which was very powerful but has
(35:33):
never been heard to this very day in open court.
So we reached out to Darren to give him a
chance to finally speak publicly. When they first came and
got me, they laid out some pictures and I picked
out Kareem and they should know, but did makeingntil you
(35:53):
know who did it? And they kept pointing at Troy.
She and he did it. He did it. So they
kept saying, I said, no, this man right here. Then
he had kicked the chair, and you know, they was
getting mad, and they kept taking my hand and putting
(36:14):
my finger at his picture and that. Then when they
let me go, I was like, no, he's just guy.
And then you know, one was behind me and the
other one was that that's type. And and they said
we know who did it, and they started typing stuff
up and they made me sign it, and so they
(36:36):
bade me say that he confessed to me. And then
after that I wasn't going to court. And then they
kept arrashing my mother. She said, well, they said that
they're going to rescue if you don't come in the court.
And uh, the fat d a, I know, he's a
(36:56):
fat white guy. I don't remember his name. He said, well, well,
we could give you approbation if you testify with the
detectives told you, and they always allied Troy was in
Atlantic City because I remember because I said, YO, bring
their pair Gucci sneaks back and he started laughing and
(37:21):
he was like, I got you and I see YO.
When I get back, I said, are you got anything? Then?
In jail for something he didn't do? You know, I've
been carrying that guilt for a long time. Other than
(37:49):
the testimony of these two people, there's not one shred
of physical evidence that ties Troy Coleman too this crime.
Nothing And to hear the words of Darren Keith Johnson,
along with Byron Johnson's confession in which he completely nullified
Arthur Sanders and Shaky I d that should end the
(38:10):
state's case right there, full stop. Then there's this newly
discovered evidence from the homicide Filer H file that indicates
that Kevin Jones died sometime after October nine, while Troy
was most certainly on the West Coast, Coupled with all
of the exculpatory monseral that this prosecutor would help, and
the fact that Byron may not have been clear on
whether Kevin Jones was actually dead when he moved him, well,
(38:32):
he was arrested on September. It didn't see the outside
until well after Kareema died and couldn't tell him the
rest of the story. So with that said, we're going
to go to Joe Maron for the current status of
Troy's case. So we now have submitted and amended pcr
A outlining this critical information that we found in the
(38:52):
homicide file. We have served a copy of this petition
to the District Attorney. We are waiting for the District
Attorney to tell us when they will respond. But there
is a hearing date on July seven, and based on
this information that we have now found and the previous information,
we are going to ask for some form of intervention
(39:13):
from the court, from the judge to force the District
Attorney's hands to either have a evidentiary hearing immediately on
these issues or to respond to our amendate petition so
that the judge can make a ruling regarding Mr Coleman's innocence.
Our concern is we're caught into the system of procedure
(39:34):
in the courts, and and that being said, it's not
unlikely that the d A's office will ask for a
sixty and ninety day extension to answer a respond to
our amendate petition, and that I believe is unfair. So
what we're trying to do is push the process through
through the judge, by the judge, really forcing them to
kind of respond. Now, well, we've previously been seeing some
(39:56):
really great things out of the Philadelphia CiU, and we
hear at wrong from conviction, and I personally want to
encourage them to end this particular injustice as swiftly as
it possibly can. We understand that the task of researching
and relitigating the last thirty fifty years worth of corrupt
cases in a place like Philadelphia, you know, trying to
(40:18):
write any percentage of those wrongs is a tall, tall order.
So I just want to say that every one of
the hard working people at the PHILD obviously you your
hard work is not going to appreciated here. But also
we originally released this story a year ago. It's pastime
to end this nightmare, and we hope they will join
our call for freedom and justice. And with that, we're
(40:42):
not going to go to my favorite part of the show,
which of course is where I first thank all three
of you for joining me here today and sharing your
your incredible harrowing story. And now I'm gonna kick back
in my chair and turn off my mic and just
listen to whatever else you guys would like to say. Jerry,
and then Joe, why don't you guys lead off and
then hand the mic off to Troy and he'll take
(41:03):
us out into the sunset. 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
(41:25):
its worst homicide waves and its history. Homicide police wanted
to clear cases and do it in the most 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
(41:46):
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 part and soul of the Commonwell's case.
Once they've been debunked, which I believe they have been,
(42:06):
it is pretty clear that Troy Coleman is not guilty
based on Troy's case and its entirety. And if you
look back from the day that he was initially arrested,
and you start to take apart all the evidence in
the case, and you start to realize how the prosecutor
the d A in this case handled the case, and
you look at all the evidence that was withheld throughout
(42:29):
the process, key witnesses, criminal history, phone records. It goes
on and on and on, and I think at some
point now that we found this additional information, we're hoping
that the courts will see through this and some immediate
intervention will happen to help expedite the process of exonerating
an innocent man who's been sitting in prison for well
(42:51):
over thirty years. At this time, I would like to
say how to be never guy to meet all precedures
to our with Lord. I don't think any thing just
want to come to pluition in regards to this case
except by the will of our creative God. More time,
I would like to thank Jason and my attorney and
uh Connor and all that was involved in this, my
(43:13):
family who has been supported me through this, and my
message you know at this time what got me through
these years. I want to push education and vocational skills
that's needed. I'm a founder and facilitator of a group
entitled Use It's the acronimic young offenders understanding the happitual
shackles which unous facilitated by myself, Kept Moment and Tracy Watts,
(43:37):
and we pushed forward to try to help the youth
of public between eighteen and through this enhancing and are
holding their education and vocational skills. But I'm very grateful
for everyone and God willing I can be speaking for
about this on the street as opposed to from the penitatary.
God will. Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. I'd
(44:04):
like to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Claver,
and Kevin Wardis, with research by Lila Robinson. The music
in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated
composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram
at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and
on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava
(44:25):
for Good. On all three platforms, you can also follow
me on both TikTok and Instagram at it's Jason Flom.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good podcasts
in association with Signal Company Number one
Since the initial release of our coverage of Troy Coleman's case,
attorney Joseph Moron has joined Troy's team and was able
to gain access to the original homicide filer h file
and the Brady material. It's so significant that we had
to rearrange this episode to accommodate the new evidence, which
is inserted throughout. Troy has always maintained his innocence, but
has never said a word about Darren Johnson and Byron
(00:22):
Johnson's involvement in this case until they themselves came forward
supporting his claims at the time of our first release. Now,
with their admissions, as well as previously discovered Brady material
and this new homicide file evidence, we can finally see
a clearer picture of what really happened to Kevin Jones,
as well as subsequently what happened to mister Troy Coleman.
(00:47):
Troy Coleman split his formative years between California and the
middle class Philadelphia neighborhood of Mount Airy, but while in Philly,
he attended a poor high school in Germantown, where he
met Byron Johnson, Kareem Nobles, and Darren Keith Johnson. After
Troy graduated Byron and Kareem with a muscle behind a
cocaine operation that they all ran out of Troy's apartment. However,
(01:10):
a drug drought in the summer of nine gave way
to desperate behavior all over Philly. While Troy was away
in Atlantic City on September nine, Kareem set up a
deal with two men, Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders. Sanders
claimed to have waited down the block while Kevin Jones
drove the Troy's apartment in his gray Dodge with forty
(01:32):
dollars to buy cocaine. Then, after about ninety minutes to
other men allegedly drove past Sanders in Jones's gray Dodge,
a light skin driver and a dark skinned passenger wearing
a hat with the brim pole down bow. There's new
evidence that indicates that the victim was alive at this time.
Nearly two months later, Jones's body was discovered in the
(01:53):
gray Dodge, beaten, found and shot. Arthur Sanders agreed the
Troy Coleman's photo looked like the passenger who allegedly drove
by him two months earlier. This Shaky I d along
with Darren Keith Johnson's coerced and incentivized false testimony sent
Troy away for life. Despite Darren's recantation, Byron Johnson's confession
(02:13):
to being the actual passenger that day, and some explosive
New Brady material, Troy continues to serve life for a
crime which he was not even in Philadelphia to commit.
This is wrongful conviction. Welcome back to wrongful conviction with
(02:43):
Jason Flom. That's me. And today we have a story
that I think is going to rock your world in
an in a different kind of way, right because the
person that we're interviewing today, Troy Coleman, has been in
carcetrated for thirty one years in Pennsylvania for a crime
he didn't commit it. That being said, he wasn't a
choir boy, not some of the people we have on
(03:03):
a show where literal acchoire 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 under
these circumstances. Good afternoon, how are you. I'm good Thank you,
(03:24):
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 my pleasures.
Let's go back, Troy. You grew up in a middle
class environment, right, because I grew up in Mount A, Philadelphia,
which is a middle class neighborhood, and I was less
(03:47):
to live with my grandmother, who was well off. We
had a beautiful, whole bedroom home, and you know, everyone
who came from that home came to be very successful,
although went to private school, even my father. My father
moved to California, and when he moved to California, I
was going back and forth from California to Philadelphia from
(04:08):
my grandma house, which California school curriculum are 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 Philaphia, Germany Town High School, I was looked
at this kind of dirty. I guess, you know, because
the academics. I guess that we came with versus we
was over here in Philadelphia. And you know, you try
(04:30):
your best to fit in that you want to be accepted.
That's where a lot of my demise came from when
I got involved with drugs, not needing to, didn't have to,
you know. Again, 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 um much of a good lifestyle.
(04:52):
I did in Bounty. It was Lord Moore, Lord Class
look At from Mount Area. So when I started boxing
the day of routine being down there and then she
him That's how I been a couple of them guys
from Brandon neighborhood after that subsequently got in cloud with
them with the about the age of seventeen sixteen. We
started out one of the the quarters. So that's when it began.
(05:14):
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
six to seventy one. The legacy of brutality and corruption
is widely known and it thrived in the police department
after he became mayor. Just really crazy that that guy
(05:37):
became mayor, but seventy eight, and they were just beating
the ship out of everybody back then. And it's really, uh,
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 or at least aware
of this. Right, this is not hyperbole. Right, if you
(05:57):
had a little bit of long hair like I did,
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 districts, right, a section of North Philadelphia,
which was a working class, poor black neighborhood. Police routinely
(06:18):
made false arrest, 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 This is 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.
(06:38):
But they're not the only ones there. 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, Mortin Devlin. The number of cases
have been overturned because of him. It's a very sorted history, right.
(06:58):
So this of course brings me back to another person
who was Romphick Victor has been on our show, Tony
right when, which was ironically the same cop that was
involved in Troy's case, Martin Devlin. And in the article
in Rolling Stone magazine about Tony's case, there was a
poll quote that said that in the nineteen eighties or
nineties black man had a better chance again injustice in Philadelphia, Mississippi,
(07:20):
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
we're working under you at the time, because they come
to play a role in your wrongful conviction. Well, when
(07:42):
we got involved, there was a couple of guys from
that neighborhood, particularly down Grocer Street. And this is as
She's called the jungle. Some of the guys that's involved,
Barack Johnson, Garry Kieth Johnson in his street me was
green my street me, but the town was tossin his
was with our his Kareem So he was an older guy.
(08:03):
He just got out of jail and all this time
everybody looked up to him as a tough ghighs and
so forth. To me, it was like comparative that I
get him involved and someone for the muscle as well
as Byron. So you had Byron Johnson, Darren Johnson and
Kareem Nobles where your under links they worked for you. Yes,
(08:23):
I guess my little untile being involved in that allowed
me to shoot up fast. So I had a little
apartment down in mar Street. Plashki Town is what they
called Aaron. But we had apartment in Polaski Town. There
was just for you know, fun, dealing with the drug stuff,
girls and all that. The Raymond Nobles Kareem was actually
staying in my apartment. Why this is in Mount Area.
(08:45):
I still had that place in Byron the keys to
the apartment, Kareem at keys to the apartment, so people
have access to it at that time, and I was
driving BMW's had a nice amount of money, and I
was okay. However, these guys that were working for me,
they okay until a drought came in nineteen eighty nine.
That's route is when there's those drugs, particularly cocaine, develople
(09:07):
at that time. And this was a well known time
because homicidally rose significantly at that time. So when this
drought came about, I was okay. These guys, I didn't
have anything for him, so they asked the ran them
up for lack of a letter flae. They just ran
them up. It was just no all kinds of play stuff.
And this day in particularly was this ground happened myself
(09:27):
and another gentleman by the name of Richard Crawford. That
morning of September twenty six, 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
I asked the you know, trusted queen to deal with
that when I was gone. And when I left on
the twenty six we get to Atlantic City that morning
(09:49):
was gettably in taking insights, you know, shopping talking to
all that other stuff to girls whatever. So I was
very incousticated. I wasn't wily drive back to the city,
so that night we checked the two hotel. Okay, so
you're in Atlantic City having fun, intoxicated, so drunk in fact,
that you had a hard time even remembering where you
had checked in and under what name. And then eventually
(10:12):
the prosecution presented evidence that you had stated Bally's under
your own name, using your shaky memory to impeach your alibi,
which makes no sense. They impeach your memory of your
alibi with evidence of your alibi, But why let evidence
of your innocence stop them from prosecuting you? Right? In fact,
what we now know is that the state was in
possession of even more exculpatory evidence, but we'll get to
(10:36):
that in just a bit. So anyway, the crime itself
while you're in Atlantic City. Back at the apartment in
Philadelphia in September, Kareem had set up a deal with
Kevin Jones and Arthur Sanders. Now, according to Sanders, he
and Jones. Kevin Jones arrived in the area of the
apartment of separate cars around one thirty PM with forty
thousand dollars to buy cocaine. According to Sanders, while he
(10:56):
waited down the block, Jones continued alone to the apartment
in a gray Dodge. Then, about an hour and a
half later, Sanders allegedly saw two men driving the gray
Dodge passed him. A light skinned man driving in a
darker skin man with the brim of his hat pulled
down lower the passenger seat. This is who Sanders misidentified
as being Troy. However, in Byron Johnson admitted to being
(11:19):
that passenger right that Kareem had hired him to move
a body back. At this point in it is unclear
whether Kareem or Byron even knew that Kevin Jones was
still alive in the trunk, And we'll get to how
we know that in just a bit. It's dramatic, so
stay tuned. That night, though the Jones family came to
(11:39):
Troy's apartment armed looking for Kevin Jones. They threatened Troy's girlfriend,
searched the apartment, but no sign of Kevin at this point. Troy, well,
you had no way of knowing it yet, but you
were in a lot of trouble and not I'm not
talking about what the cops the cops actually kind of
ironically inadvertently saved you. That next day, I was stop
(11:59):
by the police. You had my license and registration, everything
was leg but they found a bag of marijuana in
the car, and that might have been a good thing,
because I got arrested that evening when I called home,
and that's when I heard everything, everybody saying, these guys
are looking for you. You stay there and when it
came it so when I was built out, my girlfriend
at the time as well as my mother had bags
(12:21):
in the car in a ticket for me, and that's
that that That very next day, I was in California.
Even though you had nothing to do with this, You've
got to leave town for California just to be safe
from the Joneses. So you bailed out and hopped on
a flight in September twenty nine. Now, between the time
of the abduction and when the body was discovered, Kareem
a k A. Raymond Nobles died. Call me crazy, but
(12:43):
it might have had something to do with the Joneses anyway.
So now November, the police discovered Kevin Jones's body and
the trunk of the Great Dodge and the John want
to make her parking lot of Abington Township. Now by
that time the body was badly decomposing, but it was
clear that his ace was struck with a blunt objects
several times and then one, and this is important, one
(13:06):
hard contact, high velocity gunshot wound was the cause of death.
And we'll get to why that's important in a little bit.
The body was bound with electrical cord, blankets, sheets, and
some insulation. The police chemists Louis Joka, later testified matched
items from Troy's apartment. So the investigation began, and initially
(13:26):
while under pressure from both the Jones family and the
notoriously like unbelievably like hopelessly terrifyingly corrupt Detective Martin Devlin,
Arthur Sanders was the first to implicate Troy. According to him,
never seen Troy before, and he's sitting there waiting for
now and have suddenly a car comes by. Now when
you I mean just logically, when you think about it,
(13:49):
the suddenly you see a car. First of let 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 skinned guy. And then he
looks at the passenger who has his hat over his head,
and he's able to identify him. Now, all this is
(14:10):
happening in two or three seconds. According to Sanders testimony,
officer to say that the passenger he said he had
a baseball cap one pulled down over his forehead, spouts
to the seat in a photo where he said, I
look like the passenger putting me in the city at
the time. However, I'm in Atlantic City. There's a possible
(14:30):
actification to me. 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 so he
probably said, isn't this the guy. 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 looks like the guy.
(14:53):
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 gunplay 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, And from what I understand, Sanders had
(15:15):
Kevin Jones Page rin Keys in his possession when Kevin
went missing, so he probably wanted to direct the tension
away from himself. Now, I've been saying allegedly every time
I mentioned this passing great dodge side because it may
never have actually happened. But even if it did, there's
an explanation for the misidentification. Troy and Byron look somewhat similar. Now,
let me be clear, I'm not just some white dude
(15:36):
over here giving cross racial misidentification. Troy, you can back
me up here right now. You two don't look exactly alike,
and not twins, but enough to say they look like
one another. And that's what Arthur Sanders ended up saying.
And that's when he's trying to identify someone with his
hat pulled down load for less than three seconds behind
(15:57):
glass in a car that's passing by over twenty miles
an hour. That's if we even accept that this passing
grade dodge identification even ever happened. It's also entirely possible
that this was just a complete fabrication from either Devlin
Sanders or both to direct the attention steer the attention
Troy Troy, who was a known entity to police and
whose apartment was involved. But they knew he was in
(16:18):
Atlantic City, and then they knew he went to California
as well. Now, according to police, Byron Johnson was a
prime suspect from day one, and they maybe I don't know,
maybe they thought they could get Troy to flip on him.
We're not sure and we'll probably never know, but that
would never happen. Troy was not flipping on anybody in anyway.
Troy was in California, so he wasn't even available to
(16:39):
be pressured to give up his friends. But that didn't
change when he came back either or for the following
thirty long years. But back in with only Arthur Sanders
is shaky, I d the police needed something more for
probable cause to arrest Troy. Now that they were focusing
on Troy Coleman, they start of focusing on his associates,
(17:02):
one of whom is Darren Keith Johnson, who was a
eighteen year old five ft three d and pounds soaking
wet youth essentially who's brought into homicide, who and who
first says I don't know anything about anything, and then
they proceed to scare the hell out of him by saying,
(17:24):
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
(17:46):
Kareem Nobles. Detective Cohen said, we think that he was involved,
but we want Troy because this apartment was rented by Troy.
He said, he's scared to death, and he finally gives
up Troy. Darren Johnson says, yeah, Troy admitted to be
had to lay somebody down. Those two pieces of evidence.
Arthur Sanders sort of I d and Darren Johnson now
(18:08):
they have enough to get an arrest. Weren't. 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. Now, not
(18:32):
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 exam or trial,
not twice. And from what I understand, they used both
the carrot and the stick to get this statement from
(18:53):
Darren and subsequently, and this will surprise exactly no one
in our audience, he received lean and see for multiple
drug charges and this quid pro quo and the fact
that it was hidden from the defense. It's something that
Troy litigated through pro se post conviction motions but unfortunately
no avail. But the point ends up being moved here
as Darren Keith Johnson has signed multiple affidavits starting in
(19:18):
to recant his testimony for which the prosecutor had 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 and onto what ends
(19:40):
up being really interesting preliminary hearing. Yes it was. It
was murder, robberty, conspiracy, and possessional. He was equal twelve
nine and at this splimber here in alto Sanders rightfully,
I guess he slipped up because he said that we
were going to see Kareem. And this is throughout the
(20:02):
eliminate unity. We were going to see Kareem, Kareem in
his Raymond Nobles. My name was not mining right. He
was going to see Kareem, not Troy or your street
name Kassim, but Kareem, which is probably why Judge Merryweather
was a decent judge, decided to dismiss the case because
if you're going to see Kareem, that's not him. Right,
(20:24):
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 Marywell dismissed the case, then it was
about a week or two and he re arrested me. Again.
Was the same as that information in the switch the
judges and he put it before another man. I think
they was judge, and he held it all for trial,
(20:47):
and it may have ended in a not guilty verdict
if you hadn't been screwed over by Ed Geiger, a
private investigator who your family had hired. Now, this guy
was supposed to have gone down to Atlantic City and
gathered up your alibi to Vents, which would literally been
the easiest job ever for a private investigator, just as
the hotel. But instead we now believe that he never
even went to Atletics say, or bothered to speak with
(21:09):
Richard Crawford, your alibi witness. Otherwise he would have bound
out what the state had already discovered, that you had
stayed at Bally's under your own name, and another item
that was hidden from the defense that Crawford had called
home several times from the room. Geiger failed to gather
this critical alibi evidence and further told you that Crawford
wasn't willing to testify in your behalf, which was another lie.
(21:31):
Richard Crawford was more than willing, but you didn't find
that out until two thousand and nine, almost two decades later. Instead,
with your fuzzy, drunken memory of a c you thought
that you had stayed at the ridgemont In under the
name Robert Irving. So when the state presented Marlene Smith,
a Bally's clerk who testified to you staying at Bally's
(21:51):
under your own name, it really hurt the credibility of
your memory. But it still doesn't place you in Philadelphia,
not to mention your heartment. You're in a different city,
in a different state, and they knew it anyway. What's
much worse than this private investigator doing essentially nothing is
what was hidden by the state in order to ensure
(22:12):
your roulengful conviction. And now, in in light of this
new evidence from the homicide file, you are being an
a c only makes you unavailable for Kevin Jones's abduction.
My name is Joseph Moron. I represent Troy Coleman in
his ongoing pc r A matters. I'm lead counsel on
the case. I continue to consult with Jerome Brown. Recently,
(22:33):
we were able to access Troy Coleman's homicide file with
the assistance of the courts, which has information or evidence
in there that the prosecutor possessed during the course of
his case. We went through this entire file and we
found critical pieces of evidence that further substantiate Troy Coleman's innocence.
(22:53):
We found a search warrant and affidavit of probable cause
where the police are trying to get phone records because
the mother of the victim, Kevin Jones, contacted the police
and gave them some pretty astonishing information that she spoke
to her son on September nine, eighty nine, that he
(23:14):
told her that he was in fear of the Junior
Black Mothy or the JBM, that he suspected some type
of foul play. She did not see him since September nineteen.
Subsequent to that, on October nineteenth, a little over three
weeks after the alleged date of death in this case,
she told the police that she got a phone call.
She got a collect call from an individual who indicated
(23:36):
he was a member of the j b M and
that they had her son, Kevin Jones, in their custody,
that he was basically kidnapped and they were holding him ransom,
presumably about ten thousand dollars. She was initially skeptical. An
individual got on the phone, she indicates it sounded like
her son, and then the son referred to a pet
name of the mother, which further in her mind solidified
(23:57):
that it was him. They said that they would call back.
They called act. She asked for more information. She wanted
a piece of clothing. They thought that was fair, But
they were basically working out a deal the hold to
get money because they were holding in ransom. The bottom
line is this evidence, this information was indicating that Kevin
Jones was still alive, which completely contradicts the entire prosecution theory.
(24:19):
This information was known to the police was a critical
and crucial piece of exculpatory evidence that the prosecution and
the detectives and police, with help you, should have also
been able to show the jury that not only were
you not at your apartment on September twenty six, but
also that you weren't even on the freaking East Coast
(24:39):
from September, passed this phone call on October nine, and
passed the discovery of the body on November twenty one,
all the way to the following year. I'm talking about
all the way to January four. Kevin Jones was still alive,
that he was killed, that he was found all while
you were proved dobably in California, which proves that the
(25:02):
prosecution presented a case that they knew was horseshit, but
at trial in d attacked your alibi with this differing
alibi evidence, which seems like a crazy misdirection plans pretty weak,
But so tell us what else they presented to trick
the jury to believe you were guilty. Well, I believe
it was the testimony of Derreki Johnson, coupled with the
(25:23):
testimony of all the centators. However, one of the things
that were said in closing was that testimony pay seventh
fifty one by the prosecutor. He said, it's 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 that there's something that was said to
the jury. You can find them guilty of conspiracy and
(25:44):
you know, secondary murder so or so forth, and then
undefelony murder is actually saying that as a result of
that robbery a death occurred. We don't believe that he
had the intent to kill, right, and that's what secondly
we murdered is here. Uh, Well, there's certain enumerated felonies,
one of which is robbery. If you during a robbery,
(26:04):
if 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. Was like I
(26:26):
was just slight shocked. I was. It was so shocking
to me that the first couple of years, I believe
we only mentally, you know, we lost a lot of family.
My mother died, and my grandmom and my grand mamad
a domino effective pain and what happened the little I
just couldn't believe it. Normally, yea, we are doing were
(26:47):
usually first and get all prattiest to our career, getting
me through this and constantly having that hope, uh that
(27:10):
you know it will come to it. However, it was
a time, and to actually be honest with you, was
just recently when I uh, they said I was next
to it, but I know I was positive. I was
an intermity with COVID and I was I was deadly sick.
I never ever felt no pain like that at that time,
and this is once ago. I prayed. I asked the Lord,
(27:31):
I said, if this is, I rangna go now. And
I don't even thought it's no more. Just see if
you feel I wasn't, you know, suicidal. But I was like,
I was okay with I was okay with nine. I
just prayed, this is the time and I'm not going
in if I'm not on a go, I'm revery. And
that was my prayer. And subsequently, um, you know, all
(27:52):
this happened the store of little hope for me. But yeah,
you know, you're hiring 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 and that should
give hope to hopefully to you and many many other
(28:13):
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 and you should have been freed back
in that conspiracy conviction has since been reversed. The Superior
(28:35):
Court of Pennsylvania, that in it of the self, was
a reason to overturned this case and be trying me
or to let me, you know, let me go. However,
that hasn't been the case, which is just insane to me.
I mean, without the conspiracy and being in Atlantic City
for the abduction and California for the murder in the
body dump, how are you involved in the murder in
any way? Well, they continued to try to square that
(28:58):
circle with the two Boga witnesses, Arthur Sanders saying you're
in the car and Darren Johnson saying that you confess
to having to quote lay somebody down over some drugs
and quote so in Darren Johnson wanted to come clean
and finally recanted and did so in an affic David,
But as we find out later, he and his mother
were threatened by the police and the prosecutor openly threatened
(29:19):
him with perjury. So when he here, if we had
this too much, it makes me sick. So when he
came to court affirm this recantation, he was appointed counsel
who told him to plead the fifth in order to
avoid perjury charges, and he did. But obviously he would
not need to plead the fifth. If he was just
coming to repeat the lies he had told that Troy's
(29:41):
trial right, he wouldn't have been there at all. So, Troy,
you did most of your post conviction litigation pro say
meaning by yourself from prison, trying to undermine Darren Johnson's
trial testimony by proving that he was incentivized by a
deal for leniency in his own drug charges and that
the defense was never notified about any such deals. And
the prosecution got around this by promising Darren a deal
(30:05):
unofficially okay and suspending the charges until after Troy's trial,
So they weren't technically hiding a deal in exchange for
Darren's testimony, they were just dangling one, and Darren later
supported that in your post conviction motions. When Darren he
was asked by the prosecutor David Desideriol, do you have
any open cases at this time? Darren Kieth Johnson said yes,
(30:25):
one five years pullbation. That's a direct quote. It's a
testimony based three thirty seven. However, unbeknownst us, that was
a lie made all his criminal streat What he'd never
spent on five years of the jury is listening to this,
the jury say, oh, okay, he has five years for
which okay, so he don't have any incentive to testify
falsely against this guy because he's already been sentenced. Again,
(30:49):
I'm gonnas to us that was a lie. Darren actually
had an open case at that time, which was resolved
sixty nine days after I got convicted. But unfortunately, so
far post conviction litigation on the matter has been ignored.
The court sided with the d A, 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 nine,
(31:11):
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 a
c and your alibi witness, Richard Crawford, being unwilling to testify.
He lied about both of those two things. But you
hired another private investigator later on that named Walter P. Lee,
and in two thousand nine he caught up with Richard Crawford.
What my private investigator Walter Lee went to school, interviewed
(31:34):
rich crawl He said, that's something that he never said
to edguy said no, one never came to see me
until you mean nothing much. I was witting the Atlantic City,
and I would have said I was waiting to Atlantic City,
and we had his statement now, but he said that
never happened, so that theself was probably for me. But
now Wizard is wont cified, and this is something that's
also significant. Crawford called from the hotel. He called home
(31:57):
to his wife's shrill. The project you to had the
phone numbers and those phone calls, and a couple of
the phone calls was too Richard Crawford's address or mcnaight
Street in Philadelphia. They never before. What weren't they hiding?
The only things David Desiderio was presenting was the evidence
that he and Martin Devon had fabricated, and even that
(32:18):
was falling apart. Darren Johnson re can't they don't want
to hear it. Your investigator, Walter Lee unearthed your alibi
witness shedding more light on the States miss deeds, hiding
that exculpatory evidence and ambushing you with it to undermine
the truth which they already knew, which was that you
were in Atlantic City on September and they also knew
(32:40):
that Kevin Jones was still alive while you were in
California through until the end of the year or until
the beginning of next year. However, if that Albi wasn't
enough for them to stop pursuing you in nine ninety,
why would it stopped them in or two thousand nine
or or ever. Right, So, another ten years go passed,
and Byron Johnson, who everyone is scared of and wouldn't
even think of snitching on in two thousand nineteen, had
(33:02):
suffered a non fatal gunshot wound, and I guess he
didn't want to die without having told the truth. He
didn't die, and he came forward to confess to the
part that he played with Kareem. And there was a
felon named Herb Hartison who was with Byron Johnson who
had just been shot, and he said, get me to somebody,
because I want to be able to tell the truth
(33:23):
about this. And he came and he gave a statement.
Walter Lee took the statement from Byron Johnson. Byron did that.
Kareem Nobles called them. He said something about moving some
furniture or something like that, and he went over and
the solid body and Creem said, look, you help me
get rid of his body, 'll give you five thousand dollars.
So the two men in the gray didges at Sanders
(33:45):
allegedly saw where Kareem Nobles and Byron Johnson. The cops
knew the Kareem was involved, and it's believed that the
Joneses did too, since he wound up dead before the
police had a chance to nab him. Byron's confession and
Darren's recantation impeached Sanders the shaky idea of Troy and
directly at Byron. This murder happened in Troy's apartment while
he was partying in a c so other than letting
(34:08):
his friends use his apartment while he was out of town,
there's nothing else that connected Troy to the abduction on September,
and certainly not the murder sometime after October ninete, while
he was in a essay again California, three thousand miles away.
But the conflict between Byron's confession when he talks about
moving a body and Miss Jones's statement about the phone
(34:29):
call that she received. We just assumed that Byron and
perhaps Kareem didn't know Kevin was still alive. When you
look at Byron Johnson's confession indicating that he was contacted
by Kareem Nobles to come to the house to move
a body, specifically the body being Kevin Jones. Nobody really
gets into the fact of whether Kevin Jones is still
(34:51):
alive or not. In neither of this heat what could
have potentially happened. I mean, Byron Johnson was arrested the
end of September September twenty nine for an unrelated robbery.
He was technically out of the loop sort of speak.
So the fact that Kevin Jones could have been still alive,
he may not have known that. And when he ultimately
confessed back in nineteen, he is just trying to be
(35:12):
truthful and telling what he knows. That he was called
by Kareen to move a body and he did so,
and he was the one in the car with Kareen.
It further substantiates that Troy had nothing to do with this.
When Byron Johnson confessed, Darren Keith Johnson could finally speak
freely and he gave a sworn affid David to Walter
Peely and Jerry Brown, which was very powerful but has
(35:33):
never been heard to this very day in open court.
So we reached out to Darren to give him a
chance to finally speak publicly. When they first came and
got me, they laid out some pictures and I picked
out Kareem and they should know, but did makeingntil you
(35:53):
know who did it? And they kept pointing at Troy.
She and he did it. He did it. So they
kept saying, I said, no, this man right here. Then
he had kicked the chair, and you know, they was
getting mad, and they kept taking my hand and putting
(36:14):
my finger at his picture and that. Then when they
let me go, I was like, no, he's just guy.
And then you know, one was behind me and the
other one was that that's type. And and they said
we know who did it, and they started typing stuff
up and they made me sign it, and so they
(36:36):
bade me say that he confessed to me. And then
after that I wasn't going to court. And then they
kept arrashing my mother. She said, well, they said that
they're going to rescue if you don't come in the court.
And uh, the fat d a, I know, he's a
(36:56):
fat white guy. I don't remember his name. He said, well, well,
we could give you approbation if you testify with the
detectives told you, and they always allied Troy was in
Atlantic City because I remember because I said, YO, bring
their pair Gucci sneaks back and he started laughing and
(37:21):
he was like, I got you and I see YO.
When I get back, I said, are you got anything? Then?
In jail for something he didn't do? You know, I've
been carrying that guilt for a long time. Other than
(37:49):
the testimony of these two people, there's not one shred
of physical evidence that ties Troy Coleman too this crime.
Nothing And to hear the words of Darren Keith Johnson,
along with Byron Johnson's confession in which he completely nullified
Arthur Sanders and Shaky I d that should end the
(38:10):
state's case right there, full stop. Then there's this newly
discovered evidence from the homicide Filer H file that indicates
that Kevin Jones died sometime after October nine, while Troy
was most certainly on the West Coast, Coupled with all
of the exculpatory monseral that this prosecutor would help, and
the fact that Byron may not have been clear on
whether Kevin Jones was actually dead when he moved him, well,
(38:32):
he was arrested on September. It didn't see the outside
until well after Kareema died and couldn't tell him the
rest of the story. So with that said, we're going
to go to Joe Maron for the current status of
Troy's case. So we now have submitted and amended pcr
A outlining this critical information that we found in the
(38:52):
homicide file. We have served a copy of this petition
to the District Attorney. We are waiting for the District
Attorney to tell us when they will respond. But there
is a hearing date on July seven, and based on
this information that we have now found and the previous information,
we are going to ask for some form of intervention
(39:13):
from the court, from the judge to force the District
Attorney's hands to either have a evidentiary hearing immediately on
these issues or to respond to our amendate petition so
that the judge can make a ruling regarding Mr Coleman's innocence.
Our concern is we're caught into the system of procedure
(39:34):
in the courts, and and that being said, it's not
unlikely that the d A's office will ask for a
sixty and ninety day extension to answer a respond to
our amendate petition, and that I believe is unfair. So
what we're trying to do is push the process through
through the judge, by the judge, really forcing them to
kind of respond. Now, well, we've previously been seeing some
(39:56):
really great things out of the Philadelphia CiU, and we
hear at wrong from conviction, and I personally want to
encourage them to end this particular injustice as swiftly as
it possibly can. We understand that the task of researching
and relitigating the last thirty fifty years worth of corrupt
cases in a place like Philadelphia, you know, trying to
(40:18):
write any percentage of those wrongs is a tall, tall order.
So I just want to say that every one of
the hard working people at the PHILD obviously you your
hard work is not going to appreciated here. But also
we originally released this story a year ago. It's pastime
to end this nightmare, and we hope they will join
our call for freedom and justice. And with that, we're
(40:42):
not going to go to my favorite part of the show,
which of course is where I first thank all three
of you for joining me here today and sharing your
your incredible harrowing story. And now I'm gonna kick back
in my chair and turn off my mic and just
listen to whatever else you guys would like to say. Jerry,
and then Joe, why don't you guys lead off and
then hand the mic off to Troy and he'll take
(41:03):
us out into the sunset. 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
(41:25):
its worst homicide waves and its history. Homicide police wanted
to clear cases and do it in the most 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
(41:46):
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 part and soul of the Commonwell's case.
Once they've been debunked, which I believe they have been,
(42:06):
it is pretty clear that Troy Coleman is not guilty
based on Troy's case and its entirety. And if you
look back from the day that he was initially arrested,
and you start to take apart all the evidence in
the case, and you start to realize how the prosecutor
the d A in this case handled the case, and
you look at all the evidence that was withheld throughout
(42:29):
the process, key witnesses, criminal history, phone records. It goes
on and on and on, and I think at some
point now that we found this additional information, we're hoping
that the courts will see through this and some immediate
intervention will happen to help expedite the process of exonerating
an innocent man who's been sitting in prison for well
(42:51):
over thirty years. At this time, I would like to
say how to be never guy to meet all precedures
to our with Lord. I don't think any thing just
want to come to pluition in regards to this case
except by the will of our creative God. More time,
I would like to thank Jason and my attorney and
uh Connor and all that was involved in this, my
(43:13):
family who has been supported me through this, and my
message you know at this time what got me through
these years. I want to push education and vocational skills
that's needed. I'm a founder and facilitator of a group
entitled Use It's the acronimic young offenders understanding the happitual
shackles which unous facilitated by myself, Kept Moment and Tracy Watts,
(43:37):
and we pushed forward to try to help the youth
of public between eighteen and through this enhancing and are
holding their education and vocational skills. But I'm very grateful
for everyone and God willing I can be speaking for
about this on the street as opposed to from the penitatary.
God will. Thank you for listening to Wrongful Conviction. I'd
(44:04):
like to thank our production team Connor Hall, Jeff Claver,
and Kevin Wardis, with research by Lila Robinson. The music
in this production was supplied by three time OSCAR nominated
composer Jay Ralph. Be sure to follow us on Instagram
at Wrongful Conviction, on Facebook at Wrongful Conviction Podcast, and
on Twitter at wrong Conviction, as well as at Lava
(44:25):
for Good. On all three platforms, you can also follow
me on both TikTok and Instagram at it's Jason Flom.
Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good podcasts
in association with Signal Company Number one
Hosts And Creators
Lauren Bright Pacheco
Maggie Freleng
Jason Flom
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Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.