Wife, attorney of murder suspect speak

“What I will say to you is, Coley McCraney is innocent until proven guilty,” Coley McCraney’s defense attorney David Harrison said to the press during a conference on Wednesday, March 20. “Coley McCraney has a constitutional right, guaranteed by the 1901 Alabama Constitution and the United States Supreme Court Constitution, that he is innocent until proven guilty, and he remains innocent until the State of Alabama, through evidence, proves beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of said crime.”

The wife of Coley McCraney, who was arrested March 16 and charged with five counts of murder and one count of first-degree rape in connection with the 1999 deaths of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, spoke in response to his arrest during a press conference called by Harrison and his team.

“I’ve been asked since the inception of this case, ‘Who is Coley McCraney?’” Harrison said. “Every call I get from New York to Miami is, ‘Who is Coley McCraney?’ Nobody knows Coley McCraney more than his wife and his family.”

Coley McCraney’s wife, Jeanette McCraney, described her husband as a God-fearing man. She said he is currently active with a phone ministry called Heart of Gold Ministry.

“I’m here to be my husband’s voice,” she said. “I would like to say that what he has been accused of is a horrible crime; however, everyone that knows my man of God knows that this is only a test, this is just a challenge of our faith.

“My husband, Coley, once told me that the closer you are to God, the battle we will face will sometimes become unbearable, but to know God is to trust him.

“I grieve for the families of the young ladies; however, I’m here to let you know that the man behind those bars, he’s innocent, and at this moment, he’s praying for your comfort as well.”

She said her family is waiting to hear his personal testimony “when all of this is over.”

“I proclaim my husband’s innocence, and I will be his voice, and I can already tell you there’s an expiration to this,” she said. “Coley has taught us that he wants us to be faith minded through every trial and tribulation that we will face, and I know that the battle we are facing right now is not ours. It’s the Lord’s.

“I’m here to reshape the image that has been set of my husband,” she said. “Through me, you will see Coley.”

Jeanette McCraney said she was not aware that her husband was a suspect until he was arrested, but she knew he was being asked by the Ozark Police Department to submit a DNA sample.

Harrison said he was asked to donate a DNA sample about “three or four weeks ago.”

“They told us that it was to better their search, that they had a family tree,” Jeanette McCraney said. “When they first brought him in, I was there. Once they brought me in the room to talk to him, and they explained why they wanted to talk to him.”

She described the conversation between Coley McCraney as casual.

“They asked him, after discussing basketball and everything else… ‘What would you think about doing a DNA test?’”

Jeanette McCraney said her husband asked if he would need a lawyer, and they were told no. She said they were told law enforcement only wanted to “broaden the search” and present Coley McCraney with a bigger list of family members to look at.

“I feel like it was taken under false pretenses,” she said. “It’s just my opinion.”

She said she and her husband knew the DNA sample was in connection with the case of the deaths of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett. She also said she and her husband had discussed using a DNA kit themselves.

Scarborough, who is working with Harrison, briefly spoke to press members about constitutionality of the DNA tests in cold cases.

“That is something that has caused concern for us, the privacy concerns with the DNA, with the companies,” he said. “That is something that we’ll look into. That’s as much as we can discuss about that.”

Harrison addressed the DNA sample collected from the scene in 1999, saying hair follicles and fingerprints have been used in cases to convict innocent individuals of crimes.

“I think 100 people have been released from death row because of faulty tests,” he said. “Are we going to give this man a fair trial? That is all this family’s asking for.”

Jeanette McCraney told press members she did not believe her husband would receive a fair trial if it were to stay in Dale County.

Harrison told the press a decision to seek a change of venue for the case would be a decision made at a later time.

“I truly believe in the people of Dale County,” he said. “I think they’re fair, and I think they’re forthright; however, we have a man’s life at stake here, and what we’re going to do is make that decision at the time we need to make that decision.”

He said the time to file a motion “if need be” is around 30 days after the arraignment date.

Harrison also said he does intend to take part in the preliminary hearing set for April 3 and not just move forward to a grand jury.

Harrison told press members he is building a defense team to include attorney Andrew Scarborough of Dothan, “a forensics expert, a DNA expert and a police crime scene reconstruction expert.”

“We zealously will represent Mr. McCraney,” he said. “We will zealously seek every opportunity to exonerate him, and we might bring the real killer into light.”

He said he could not comment on who the real killer could be, but he added, “Coley McCraney is an innocent man, and he will be innocent. He says he’s innocent, and the Constitution says he’s innocent, and until he’s found guilty, (he is) going to remain steadfastly innocent.”