People v. Coleman

Defendant, director of security for international religious ministry, was convicted, after jury trial, of three counts of first-degree murder for deaths of his wife and two teenage sons. Court was within its discretion in admitting sexually explicit photos and videos of Defendant and a woman with whom he was having an affair. Court's admission of hearsay statements of five witnesses as to Defendant's statements to wife of his desire for divorce and that she was ruining his life was not error. Court's admission of expert linguist testimony comparing spray-painted writings at murder scene to Defendant's handwriting, and admission of hardware store receipt for spray paint, was not error. State presented sufficient evidence for jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant killed all three victims, and no error or combination of errors was so grave as to deny fundamental fairness at trial.(STEWART and SCHWARM, concurring.)