Edgar Coker

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Charge:	Rape and Breaking and Entering
Sentence:	Indeterminate period of confinement and lifetime Sex Registry Registration
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2007
Year Convicted:	2007
Year Cleared:	2014
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Virginia
County or Region of Crime:	Stafford
City of Crime:	Stafford
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Edgar Coker was wrongly convicted in November 2007 of breaking and entering a private home and raping a 14-year-old girl in Stafford County, Virginia when he was 15. Coker pled guilty to rape and breaking and entering after the prosecutor threatened that otherwise he would prosecute Coker as an adult and seek a lengthy prison sentence. Coker was sentenced to an indeterminate period of confinement in the Department of Juvenile Justice and ordered to register with the state’s Sex Offender Registry for life, Several days after Coker was sentenced the girl told her mother, Michele Sousa, that she lied about being raped because she was afraid of getting in trouble. Sousa began to try and help Cooker, and beginning in January 2009 three public advocacy groups began working on Cooker's behalf. Based on the new evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel claims, Coker filed a petition to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his conviction. On February 10, 2014 Coker's petition was granted on the basis his juvenile court-appointed attorney Denise Rafferty of Stafford, violated Coker’s constitutional right to effective counsel. The judge vacated his convictions and ordered removal of his name from the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. In late February the Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney notified Coker's attorney's the judge's ruling would not be appealed."
Conviction Caused By:	Perjury by Coker's accuser about what was infact consensual sex.
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 10, 2014 the judge vacated Coker's convictions and ordered removal of his name from the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. In late February the Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney notified Coker's attorney's the judge's ruling would not be appealed."
Defendant Aided By:	"University of Virginia School of Law Innocence Project, University of Virginia School of Law Child Advocacy Clinic, and JustChildren/Legal Aid of Charlottesville, Virginia."
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"Mineral man's 2007 rape conviction vacated, By The Associated Press, WJLA TV, February 12, 2014"
Information Location 1:	http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/02/mineral-man-s-2007-rape-conviction-vacated-100153.html
Information Source 2:	"No retrial for Coker in 2007 rape case, By Pamela Gould (staff writer), The Free Lance-Star, March 3, 2014"
Information Location 2:	http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2014/03/03/no-retrial-for-coker-in-2007-rape-case/
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Edgar Coker

Charge:

Rape and Breaking and Entering

Sentence:

Indeterminate period of confinement and lifetime Sex Registry Registration

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2007

Year Convicted:

2007

Year Cleared:

2014

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Virginia

County or Region of Crime:

Stafford

City of Crime:

Stafford

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Perjury by Coker's accuser about what was infact consensual sex.

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 10, 2014 the judge vacated Coker's convictions and ordered removal of his name from the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. In late February the Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney notified Coker's attorney's the judge's ruling would not be appealed."

Defendant Aided By:

"University of Virginia School of Law Innocence Project, University of Virginia School of Law Child Advocacy Clinic, and JustChildren/Legal Aid of Charlottesville, Virginia."

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"Mineral man's 2007 rape conviction vacated, By The Associated Press, WJLA TV, February 12, 2014"

Information Location 1:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/02/mineral-man-s-2007-rape-conviction-vacated-100153.html

Information Source 2:

"No retrial for Coker in 2007 rape case, By Pamela Gould (staff writer), The Free Lance-Star, March 3, 2014"

Information Location 2:

http://news.fredericksburg.com/newsdesk/2014/03/03/no-retrial-for-coker-in-2007-rape-case/

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: