Coleman fails to appear for trial

Coleman fails to appear for trial

September 11, 2001

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

The jury, judge and lawyers were all geared up to go in a highly-publicized and long-awaited county court trial Monday, but the star of the show failed to appear.

John Coleman, accused of tackling his ex-girlfriend, then fleeing the scene with the couple’s 15-month-old daughter more than a year ago at the Mancos High School graduation, was scheduled to stand trial on charges of third-degree assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

However, the trial was vacated because Coleman, assumed to still be at home in New Orleans, never showed up.

Montezuma County Court Judge Christopher Leroi issued a warrant for Coleman for failure to appear and tacked on a $50,000 bond.

Because the incident was initially treated as a kidnapping case by law enforcement and because it happened in full view of hundreds of people, the case drew extensive media attention.

According to police reports, on May 21, 2000, Coleman attacked his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Davis, as she was walking down some steps during the Mancos High School graduation. He then allegedly grabbed their daughter, Aniston, and fled the area.

Two weeks later Coleman turned himself in to authorities in Durango after leaving the baby in Louisiana with his mother.

Original charges brought by then-District Attorney Mike Green included third-degree assault with a domestic-violence sentence-enhancer, child abuse and second-degree kidnapping for forcibly removing the child from the arms of her mother.

Since last summer, though, the kidnapping charge was dismissed, reinstated on appeal and again dismissed.

During a preliminary hearing in July 2000, the kidnapping charge was dismissed by Judge Leroi on the grounds that existing case law in People vs. Armendariz stated that in cases where there is no court order giving custody to one parent or the other, both parents have an equal right to the child, and therefore taking the child is not considered kidnapping.

Davis did not have a custody order preventing Coleman from taking his daughter.

In Armendariz, a man under a restraining order for domestic violence broke into the home of his child’s mother, severely beat her, and took the child. The courts ruled that it was not kidnapping because there was no custody order, Leroi said.

Leroi cut short the preliminary hearing because he believed that Armendariz took precedence and dismissed the charges. But that decision was overturned Jan. 11 by Senior District Judge Joyce S. Steinhardt in Denver following a referral of the case by 22nd Judicial District Judge Sharon Hansen. The decision was overturned on a procedural technicality.

In March, District Attorney Joe Olt filed a motion to have the kidnapping charge dropped once again, pursuant to Armendariz.

Davis and her daughter now reside in the Durango area, but were unavailable for comment.

Coleman’s attorney Kyle Ipson declined comment as to his client’s whereabouts.