HoustonChronicle.com - Ex-agent indicted in Tulia drug cases, By JIM HENDERSON, Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle: The undercover officer who ran a controversial drug investigation in Tulia four years ago was indicted Thursday on charges of lying under oath during recent hearings to determine if the convictions he obtained were legitimate. A three-count indictment handed up by a Swisher County grand jury accuses Tom Coleman, 43, of making false statements about legal problems he faced in another county while working for the Panhandle Drug Task Force. "These were the three strongest cases," said Rod Hobson, a Lubbock attorney who is working as a special prosecutor on the Tulia investigation. Coleman could not be reached for comment. [...] Last month, in evidentiary hearings ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to determine whether the convictions should be reconsidered, Coleman was questioned about when he knew he was facing a criminal charge and his actions afterward. The indictment alleges that he gave conflicting testimony. At one point, he testified that he did not learn of the Cochran County theft charge until August 1998, but other testimony indicated he knew about it three months earlier but continued working as an undercover agent. The indictment also alleges that he lied about stealing the gasoline in Cochran County and about contacting the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education to notify it of the charge against him.
No, I shouldn't imagine that he could be. If he's got lawyers worth a plugged nickel and pays attention to what they say, we won't hear another word from Coleman for quite some time to come.
CNN indicates that Coleman was in fact charged with three counts of aggravated perjury.
Assuming that Coleman is convicted -- not really a sure thing -- the results could be sincerely fascinating. The individual lies and things about which he lied, in and of themselves, are fairly picayune (if you ignore the fact that the police aren't supposed to do such things, never mind lie about it). Then again ...
Under Chapter 37 of the Texas Penal Code Coleman was charged with aggravated perjury because the false statements are alleged to have been made "during or in connection with an official proceeding," and said statements were "material" (although that would be determined as part of the trial). Aggravated perjury is a third degree felony punishable "punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than 2 years." (Just a bit of a sentencing range, there.) So if he does get convicted, he'll be a crooked ex-cop sent to prison where everyone will know that he sent nearly 40 probably innocent people to jail.
He'll be in protective custody for his entire sentence. Even then, given Texas' notorious prison system, one expects that he'll probably be dead, or wish he were, within a year of sentencing.
However, the fun is still not over for those wrongly sentenced, oh no no no.....
The innocent keep waiting for justice By THOM MARSHALL, Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle, April 24, 2003, 10:46PM: ... Meanwhile, up in Swisher County, Tom Coleman was indicted by a grand jury Thursday. Three counts of aggravated perjury. That is a third-degree felony with a penalty range of two to 10 years, if he's convicted. Coleman was the lone undercover cop responsible for a 1999 drug bust in Tulia that resulted in the wrongful convictions of 38 people, 13 of whom still are locked up. A judge recommended a few weeks ago that all 38 convictions be overturned, including all who were coerced into accepting plea bargains, because Coleman's testimony was not credible.
I called the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin to ask whether there was some way to let those 13 people out immediately, like maybe on personal recognizance bonds, pending completion of all the paper shuffling and red tape. The high court's staff attorney, Richard Wetzel, said he knows of no provision in the law that would allow for such a release, but if their defense attorneys have some idea how to do it, the defense attorneys could file a request. We had a spirited discussion. He kept explaining to me how the court operates and how the law is working as it is supposed to work in keeping those people locked up. I kept asking him how that is serving justice. "Precedent," he said, "would indicate there is not a means to release them on bail." I suggested that, considering the recent developments in the Tulia drug bust cases, someone surely could take this dilemma by the horns and find a means to set those people free. They've already been unjustly locked up almost four years. Every additional minute of delay is another minute of justice denied.
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