Bryan Coe was one vote away from prison.
But before that, he was four votes from freedom.
Finally, a third jury gave Coe, 42, the unanimous vote he was seeking, finding him not guilty this month of a reckless manslaughter charge tied to a fight he helped break up outside Diamond Cabaret during the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
The three trials for the former strip club manager provide a real-life illustration of how different sets of jurors can interpret the same information in very different ways.
Prosecutors said a hold that Coe used to restrain 41-year-old Gabriel Pico led to his death in August 2008.
“Letting a jury decide this case was the right thing to do,” said Denver district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough. “There wasn’t anything that changed in between these trials that changed our original belief that we had ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt,’ which is our criteria for filing any case.”
The district attorney’s office doesn’t keep statistics on how many cases are retried after hung juries, but it “happens occasionally,” Kimbrough said. A third trial is “not very common,” she said.
The three trials in nearly as many years took their toll on Coe, who was fired from Diamond Cabaret, was unable to find other employment with charges pending and spent “more than the average American makes in a year” defending himself.
At one point, he had to decide between being homeless while in Denver or — with permission from a district court judge — moving in with his brother back home in Albuquerque.
He is careful not to minimize the loss that the Pico family experienced or the fact that a man’s death is a serious tragedy. He repeated the sentiment at least three times in the course of a recent interview.
But it’s clear that his years in court have left him broke, starting from scratch and with a new suspicion of others.
“I have no understanding as to why they would go at me three times,” Coe said. “It was very hard. Financially, emotionally, everything. It really was. Of course, that’s not discounting . . . the loss that the family and loved ones felt at the loss of Mr. Pico.”
Pico and his friend Michelle Baez stopped at Diamond Cabaret around 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2008. Pico, a tribal leader from California, was in town for the Democratic National Convention.
Exiting the club at the time were three men whose racially charged remarks eventually led to a fight with Pico, reports show.
Coe said he grabbed Pico to pull him away from the altercation and yelled to club employees for help with the others.
Pico hit the ground face down. Coe fell face down on top of him.
Witness accounts varied. One man at the scene said Coe wrapped both arms around Pico’s shoulders from behind. Another witness, a club employee, described Coe’s move as a choke hold.
Coe said he was both restraining Pico and trying to shield him from the kicks and punches the three men were still throwing at the pair while they were on the ground.
Pico died the next day at Denver Health Medical Center. The county coroner would attribute his death to “complications of hypoxic encephalopathy complicating asphyxia” from “pressure applied to the neck” while Coe was restraining Pico.
The first jury to hear the case voted 8-4 to find Coe not guilty. A second jury, hearing the same evidence, voted 11-1 to convict him.
So, standing in court May 13, Coe said he didn’t know what to expect. His heart was pounding, and he was scared.
The two previous juries had voted counter to his expectations both times.
Then came the verdict: Not guilty.
“I asked (my attorney), ‘Is that really true?’ It was hard to believe,” Coe said. “I felt like I didn’t know what to do. I’d been doing that for so long. It was almost, ‘Oh my God. Now what?’ “
Coe is working to get his record sealed, find a job and get his own apartment. As for his dream of owning a lounge of his own someday, he’s having doubts.
“It almost makes me choose not to get involved with anything,” Coe said. “You worry about things that can happen. I acted on good faith. But it can come out negative for you.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com.
