LOCK HAVEN - "Not guilty."
The words were loud and clear... repeated four times... by the jury foreman in the large Clinton County courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
The elation from former Clinton County Commissioner Adam Coleman and his attorney Robert Englert was also loud and clear.
Article Photos
Adam C. Coleman, in front, and his attorney, Robert Englert, leave the Clinton County courthouse.
A smiling Coleman shook hand with his attorney and then immediately turned his head and looked into the benches where his mother, Kim, sat. She smiled, too. And then Coleman called his dad, Dave, on his cell phone and relayed the verdict to him. Another big smile erupted.
For Adam Coleman it was time to smile after months and months of rumors and accusations, and eventually criminal charges that the 32-year-old was an accomplice with former YMCA director Jeremiah Clark to steal money from the Lock Haven YMCA and Elks Lodge.
The jury of eight women and four men did not see it that way, pronouncing him not guilty on all four counts - three charges of theft and one of conspiracy.
For the complete story on the verdict, Coleman's response and a recount of closing arguments by Coleman's attorney and counsel for the state Attorney General's Office, see today's print edition of The Express, found at most newstands throughout all of Clinton County and parts of Centre and Lycoming counties.
Express Managing Editor Lana Muthler and Staff Writer Jim Runkle tag-teamed coverage of the trial and its dramatic end on Tuesday afternoon.
