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Due Process Essay: The Leroy Mccoy Murder Case

1077 Words5 Pages

Background The petitioner, Robert Leroy McCoy was arrested in May 2008 in Bossier Parish, Louisiana for three counts of first degree murder. There was an overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to McCoy committing the crime, but throughout the trial, McCoy maintained that he was innocent and gave multiple alibis. However, a person matching McCoy’s description was seen in a Kia fleeing the scene after the murder, and there were bullets matching the gun used in the crime were found in said car. Also, before the crime, one of the victims, Christine Colston Young, was heard in a 911 call just before the murder saying, “She {McCoy’s estranged wife, Yolanda Colston} ain’t here, Robert… I don’t know where she is. The detectives have her. Talk to the detectives. She ain’t in there, Robert.” Due to the overwhelming amount of evidence stacked against him, Robert McCoy was arrested for the crimes. Since McCoy was not able …show more content…

After English defied McCoy’s direct wishes by telling the jury of his guilt when McCoy specifically wanted to plea innocence, he violated this due process by not giving McCoy the chance to show his innocence to a jury of his peers. McCoy wanted to show the jury and the judge that he was an innocent man, which is his right to do, and English took this away from him. English also did not look into any of McCoy’s alibis regarding where he said he was when the murders were committed. Though English and many people involved in the case believed that McCoy was in fact guilty, it was his duty to provide McCoy with the assistance he needed to prove his innocence. Even if these alibis were false, English had no way of knowing this unless he would have looked into them, which he did

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