Allen Coco

On October 12, 2006, Allen Coco walked out of a Lake Charles jail after serving 11 years for a rape he did not commit. DNA testing conducted by a private laboratory had excluded him as the perpetrator in March, however, the State of Louisiana resisted his release for seven months, despite the fact that subsequent testing by a State crime laboratory arrived at the same conclusion in July.

Mr. Coco was arrested in 1995 for aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated burglary, and one count of simple burglary for a May 25, 1995 attack in a Lake Charles home. One count of aggravated burglary and the simple burglary charge were dropped prior to trial, along with a slew of charges in other open cases for which Mr. Coco had suddenly and conveniently become a suspect.

The victim testified at trial that she had been raped by a man who broke into her home after she fell asleep watching television. The attacker held a knife to her throat during the rape. At some point, the victim was able to take the knife from the attacker, who then attempted to flee through a broken window. He became tangled in the blinds, at which point the victim stabbed him in the buttocks. The attacker escaped. Police assisted the victim in constructing a composite sketch of the attacker, which she found unsatisfactory, yet she continued to view it. Nearly a month after the rape, the victim was shown two photo arrays containing both another suspect and Mr. Coco. Using the faulty composite for reference, she identified Mr. Coco as her attacker.

State experts testified that blood found at the scene, including that found on the blinds, was of the same type as that of Mr. Coco (as well as nearly 6% of the black population). Apparently, no testing was performed on the rape kit or the victim's clothing.

Based on this evidence, Mr. Coco was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Quite apart from the tenuous identification and the less-than-exacting blood evidence testimony, left unexamined were questions about the effect the circumstances of the attack would have had on the victim's ability to get a good look at the attacker, notably illustrated by the fact that the victim described the attacker as wearing a short-sleeved shirt but never mentioned any tattoos. Mr. Coco has tattoos covering both arms, as well as his chest and back. Mr. Coco also did not have a stab wound on his buttocks or anywhere else on his body.

IPNO investigated Mr. Coco's case because of the questionable evidence used against him, and filed an Application for DNA Testing and Post Conviction Relief on October 14, 2004. Nearly two years later to the day, after being proved innocent of this crime, Mr. Coco exited the State's correctional system to little fanfare, but to the immense delight of his family and friends (see picture below).