On the night of May 25, 1995, a woman fell asleep while watching television in her Lake Charles home. Early the next morning, she woke to find a man standing over her bed. He put a knife to her throat and raped her. During the crime, she was able to grab the knife and stab the attacker in the buttocks. He fled. Police showed the victim photographic lineups and she picked out Mr. Coco’s photo from the second. Based on this cross-racial identification, Mr. Coco was arrested. Mr. Coco had large tattoos on both arms, but the victim never described the perpetrator as having tattoos. Mr. Coco also did not have a stab wound on his buttocks. After a bench trial in November 1997, Mr. Coco was convicted of aggravated rape and aggravated burglary. He was sentenced to life without parole.
IPNO investigated Mr. Coco’s case and requested DNA testing in 2003. DNA results proved Mr. Coco’s innocence, but the state continued fighting to uphold the conviction for seven months. Finally, in October 2006, the state dropped the charges and Mr. Coco was exonerated, having been incarcerated for over 11 years for a crime he did not commit. Unfortunately, his freedom lasted fewer than two years. Mr. Coco passed away in August 2008 after a long battle with cancer.
