Pennsylvania v. Coleman (majority)
Annotate this CaseAppellant Keenan Coleman petitioned for post conviction relief; he was convicted by jury of first-degree murder for the 2010 shooting death of Tobias Berry. Appellant argued he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, arguing the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury on the use of certain hearsay testimony, trial counsel failed to object to other testimony, and trial counsel failed to object to a portion of the prosecutor's closing argument. After review of the trial court record, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Supreme Court determined the trial court indeed erred by not instructing the jury to consider the alleged hearsay testimony for limited purposes, and the PRCA court did not adequately address the issue raised from testimony regarding Appellant's alleged ownership and use of firearms. The Supreme Court affirmed the PCRA court's rejection of Appellant's ineffective assistance claim with respect to the prosecutor's closing argument. The matter was therefore remanded for further proceedings.
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