BOSTON, Mass. — The trial for Louis Coleman resumed today after the judge delayed the case due to a positive COVID-19 test last weekend. The judge reverted back to using a plastic barrier around him and having the jury wear masks.
Inside federal court, testimony resumed after a four day COVID-19 delay. Louis Coleman is accused of kidnapping and causing the death of Jassy Correia in February of 2019. A medical examiner from Delaware, where Correia’s body was found in Coleman’s trunk, testified Correia was strangled to death by hand and had multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head.
[ New testimony in Louis Coleman trial shows the arrest ]
Federal prosecutors say Coleman kidnapped Correia after she and her friends got into a fight at a Boston nightclub. On surveillance video outside the club you see Correia falling to the ground after being pushed by her friend. The medical examiner testified the injuries on Correia’s body were not caused by several incidents where Correa is seen on camera falling. The medical examiner also seemed to blind-side the defense when the doctor told the jury she did not see any of the injuries on Correia in surveillance video that captured Coleman carrying Correia’s body up to his apartment — alluding that Correia was alive at that point. The medical examiner could not say when Correia was killed only that the strangulation injuries were not visible when Coleman can be seen carrying and dragging her into the apartment. That testimony was stricken from the record because the defense argued it was not in the medical examiner’s report. The judge denied a motion to dismiss.
Days later, federal prosecutors say this video captures Coleman rolling Correia’s body out in a rolling suitcase. Her body was found in his trunk in Delaware after Boston Police ID him as a suspect.
Not all of Correia’s family was in court for the medical examiner because of the graphic testimony. We did learn her body was found duct taped in the fetal position inside a couch cushion and another bag inside the suitcase. The medical examiner also testified Correia had alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana in her system.
In cross examination, Coleman’s attorneys showed injuries to Coleman claiming he was scratched and bitten multiple times. The defense has maintained Correia is the one who initiated the incident that lead to her death.
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