LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville man accused of rape and sodomy two years ago was back in a Jefferson County courtroom on Thursday -- now indicted again on those same charges.
Antonio Coleman, 31, has been entangled in the legal system for years, most recently for allegedly exposing himself to women near downtown.
The Commonwealth Attorney's Office has decided to pursue Coleman's 2022 rape case again. It was dismissed last year, with Judge Jennifer Bryant Wilcox determining there wasn't sufficient enough evidence to support the charges.
But prosecutors believe their case this time around will yield a different result.
"We have been in contact with the victim, and he is willing to testify this time. That's why we believe the outcome in this procedure would be different than the last," Emily Wessel, Asst. Commonwealth Attorney, said.
It's become a repeated cycle.
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Coleman been deemed incompetent to stand trial a handful of times in just the last couple years alone, most recently in May. It means multiple times he's been entered into psychiatric hospitals and then later released back to the public -- only to get arrested again.
"Why is he back in jail? He doesn't understand why he's back in jail. He doesn't understand what's happening here -- what we're trying to do or what the Commonwealth is trying to do," Que Christian, defense attorney, said.
Coleman, who's been at Central State Hospital since last month, sat quiet during the hearing.
His attorneys argue nothing has changed since 2022. They say Coleman remains intellectually disabled, and they told the judge that retrying this case is cruel and unusual punishment.
"We believe that it is improper and unconstitutional for a person to be indicted -- for that person's case to be presented to be indicted -- when the Commonwealth knows full well that he is not competent and that there is zero possibility that he's going to obtain competence for the foreseeable future," Christian said.
Under Kentucky statute 202C, there is an avenue for Coleman to be involuntarily committed into a correctional psychiatric center – if he's proved to be a danger to society – through an evidentiary hearing.
But to do that, a judge must rule there is substantial evidence to support guilt of the crimes in question.
Back in 2022, that request was denied.
The question is whether anything changes this time around.
Coleman and attorneys are due back in court on July 12. That's when the judge is expected to decide on the defense's request to dismiss the case.
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