Danny K. Coston
WHITE CO. (by way of Mt. Vernon, Ill.)—A White County murderer’s latest attempt at having his case overturned and remanded back to state court has failed.
Danny K. Coston, 38, had submitted an appeal to his conviction a year ago, right after the conviction took place and he agreed to a 53-year sentence for the murders of Jacob Wheeler, 22, and Jessica M. Evans, 17, during what was revealed to have been a horrific assault on the two youngsters after they attempted to help Coston at the Little Wabash River outside of Centerville, this on August 25, 2012.
Coston’s attorneys from St. Louis had filed the appeal based on a claim that he consented to an interview with authorities Aug. 31, but wasn’t aware that he was “in custody,” ergo he took issue with the way his Miranda Rights were given to him, as well as his subsequent consent to be questioned.
It was a technicality that sometimes appeals court justices can find and thus overturn a case, but in this situation, they found no exceptions, and did not remand the case back to White County, choosing instead to uphold the sentence, which Coston entered into in September of 2013 by agreement with prosecutor Denton Aud and following a stipulated bench trial in front of Judge Tom Foster.
You can read the document in full by clicking this link; it outlines the Appeals Court justices decision.
White County State’s Attorney Denton Aud released this statement this morning: “I am pleased and in complete agreement with the decision of the Appellate Court to affirm Coston’s conviction. The Court’s ruling affirms the investigation by Sheriff Doug Maier, his department, and the Illinois State Police, as well as the decisions made in resolving the case with a result of Coston being sentenced to what amounts to a life sentence for his brutal and heinous acts. Most importantly, the Court has affirmed justice for Jessi and Jake and their families. All of us should say an extra prayer to God for their comfort at this time as we hold onto our own loved ones.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hit our Facebook page (yes we still have one), and this post on it if you’d like to discuss this subject on Facebook; and be sure you check your “get notifications” selection under the ‘like’ button on our page; recent Facebook upgrades have booted many of our followers off from getting our posts. Also, check us on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr!