STATE CF 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT


 

?g EXECUTIVE onnsn 17'?

51? FOR: PARDON FOR KEITH DONNELL COOPER

TO ALL WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME, GREETINGS.

WHEREAS, in 1997, Keith Donnell Cooper was convicted by a court in Eikhazt
County of Robbery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injiny, a Class A felony
(the ?Robbery Conviction?), and was given a forty (40) year sentence;

WHEREAS, while in jail awaiting trial in the above~referenced matter, Mr. Cooper 
a battery on a fellow inmate and pleaded guilty to the crime of
Battery Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, a Class felony (the ?Battery
Conviction?), and was giVen an eight (8) year sentence to run concurrently
with his sentence for the Robbery Conviction;

WHEREAS, after ten (10) years in prison, and after his co-defendant?s conviction was
overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals based on serious concerns
about his trial and effectiveness of counsel for the co-defendant, the judge
(in obvious recognition of similar concerns about Mr. Cooper?s case) then
offered Mr. Cooper an opportunity to leave prison early for time served,
and Mr. Cooper accepted the offer and was released from prison in 2006;

WHEREAS, Mr. Cooper has filed a request for a pardon, which focuses almost entirely
on his Robbery Conviction and alleges he is innocent of that crime;

WHEREAS, as to the Battery Conviction, Mr. Cooper pleaded guilty to that crime,
does not claim he is innocent of it, and offers no evidence of a defect with
that prosecution, yet Mr. Cooper has nonetheless requested that he be
given a pardon on the Battery Conviction as well;

WHEREAS, the extensive record of materials submitted in connection with his request
for a pardon shows that the evidence against Mr. Cooper has changed
dramatically since his Robbery Conviction nearly twenty (20) years ago,
including, for example, the following:

(1) all of the eyewitnesses who identi?ed Mr. Cooper at trial have now
recanted their testimony and said they were mistaken;

(2) the jailhouse informant has recanted his trial testimony;

(3) the DNA evidence from the hat worn by the robber at the crime scene
now clearly identi?es and points to another man who is currently in
prison for murder and who has subsequently been identi?ed by
eyewitnesses as the actual person who shot the victim and committed
the crime; and

(4) the DNA testing con?rmed that no DNA from Nll'. Cooper was found
on the hat.

WHEREAS, the victim who was shot during the robbery and eyewitnesses to the crime
have requested that a pardon be granted to Mr. Cooper;



 

[in
SF 13323 (Ma?99)

   

 

We.





WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,

WHEREAS,



the deputy prosecutor who convicted Mr. Cooper back in 1997 has signed
a letter in support of a pardon, and, in addition, the trial judge who
presided over Mr. Cooper?s trial has stated that he has ?no obj ection? to a
pardon being issued;

in 2014, the Indiana Parole Board, after engaging in a careful review and
examination of Mr. Cooper?s case, unanimously recommended, by a vote
of that the governor issue a pardon to Mr. Cooper;

Mr. Cooper ?led a petition last fall in the Blkhart Circuit Court to have his
Robbery Conviction overturned (which is set for a hearing in late March
2017), which process could take years to run its course, especially if there
is one or more appeals;

it is evident from a review of Mr. Cooper?s case that it is extraordinarily
unique in several reSpects, and, based on a totality of the circumstances, is
deserving of consideration for a pardon; and

in light of the foregoing, and after careful consideration, a pardon will be
issued to Mr. Cooper for his Robbery Conviction.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Eric J. Holcomb, Governor ofthe State of Indiana, by virtue
of the authority vested in me by the Indiana Constitution and the laws of our State, do
hereby issue a Pardon to KEITH DONNELL COOPER for his Robbery Conviction,
and it is so ordered.

 

ATTEST:

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I,
Eric J. Holcomb, have hereunto set
my hand and caused to be af?xed the
Great Seal of the State of indiana on
this 415" day of February, 2017.

Eric J. Holcom!

Governor of indiana

Connie Lawson
Secretary of State





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