Coleman v. Commonwealth

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• finding interview noncustodial where police asked to interview defendant, advised him that he was not under arrest, and interview took place in officer’s patrol car, leading to incriminating statements and evidence
• finding interview non-custodial where police asked to interview defendant, advised him that he was not under arrest, and interview took place in officer's patrol car, leading to incriminating statements and evidence
• upholding denial of motion for change of venue where court struck 15 out of 42 jurors based on their having formed an opinion or failing to understand the presumption of innocence
• upholding jury instruction that provided “when the death of the victim occurs in connection with rape, it shall be immaterial in the prosecution thereof whether the alleged rape occurred before or after the death of the victim”
• 42 veniremen questioned, 14 excused because they had formed opinions as to guilt or innocence
• “Circumstantial evidence is as competent and is entitled to as much weight as direct evidence, provided it is sufficiently convincing to exclude every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).