The New Haven state's attorney on Thursday moved to vacate two two sexual assault and burglary convictions of a man connected to incidents in 1986.
Charles William Coleman, 65, of New Haven, has been serving a combined sentence of 170 years in prison since his trial in 1993.
According to State's Attorney John Doyle, Coleman was convicted based on fingerprint evidence found at the crime scene.
An extensive investigation by the state's Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) found new testing on DNA taken from the victims using current technology eliminated Coleman as a contributor to the samples, Doyle said.
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“The state’s decision to move to vacate Mr. Coleman’s convictions comes after careful review of the CIU report and the newly discovered DNA evidence, which has led me to no longer have confidence in two of Mr. Coleman’s convictions,” Doyle said in a statement.
The state will not retry the cases, Doyle said.
In 1993, Coleman was convicted in a third case that involved a robbery and an assault. That conviction was not vacated, but Coleman has already served his sentence, according to Doyle.
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It is not clear when Coleman could be released from prison.
