Posted on 01/14/2005 12:57:25 PM PST by george wythe
The lone undercover agent in a sting that sent dozens of black people to prison on bogus drug charges was convicted Friday of one of two perjury counts.
Tom Coleman was acquitted of testifying falsely in a 2003 hearing that as a sheriff's deputy he never stole gas from county pumps, but he was found guilty of saying that he didn't learn about the theft charge against him until August 1998.
Jurors were to begin hearing evidence in the penalty phase of the trial later Friday. The perjury charge carries a maximum 10-year sentence and $10,000 fine.
Coleman arrested 46 people, most of them black, in the small, mostly white farming community of Tulia. He worked alone and used no audio or video surveillance, and no drugs were ever found, but 38 defendants were convicted or reached plea deals
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Well then, you'll be very happy to hear that this won't be happening again anytime soon in Tulia, Texas.
No matter how nice they ask.
So we are to conclude that since you haven't heard it, well then, it just didn't happen, huh?
No, we shouldn't assume, as you did, that it did happen.
it is undeniable that, despite this "slipshod manner", the investigation resulted in 11 unanimous court convictions by a jury of peers and 27 confessions of drug dealing.
Confessions and convictions have been known to accompany innocence.
With results like this, maybe we ought to have more cops operating in such a slipshod fashion. Pretty effective, wouldn't you agree?
No more than we should blind pigs to help them find acorns.
I didn't assume he wrote notes on his leg -- numerous news stories pointed out this fact. Maybe you need to get familiar with the case before you start your petty sniping.
Even Coleman admitted in one instance, "That could have been a typo, but Tania White did sell me drugs, I handwrote the notes and I handed them to a secretary to be typed."
Someone screwed up. Nobody's perfect. Charges were dropped against Tania White. The system works. What's your beef?
Yes they have. Are you stating for a fact that's the case here?
Of the 38 sent to prison, how many are innocent, MrLeRoy? 4? 14? 24? All of them?
I have yet to hear his apologists cite any evidence that any other cop ever operated in this slipshod manner.
So we are to conclude that since you haven't heard it, well then, it just didn't happen, huh?
No, we shouldn't assume, as you did, that it did happen.
I didn't assume he wrote notes on his leg
You assumed that he wrote notes on his leg simply because "he was a white law enforcement officer operating undercover, without backup, buying drugs in a black neighborhood, who would have been executed had he been found out," which logically implies that other cops in such circumstances would do the same.
Charges were dropped against Tania White. The system works. What's your beef?
I have no beef---you seem to be beefing that Tom Coleman was punished at all for his piss-poor police work and perjury.
Yes they have. Are you stating for a fact that's the case here?
No, I'm stating that the confessions and convictions don't prove your claim that Coleman's actions were effective or deserving of imitation.
Prove my claim? The confessions and convictions are real. What would dispute "my claim" is some kind of proof from you that these people were innocent.
Without that, the confessions and convictions indicate to me that Coleman's actions were effective or deserving of imitation.
For the second time, I did not assume he wrote notes on his leg. That was reported in the news.
"which logically implies that other cops in such circumstances would do the same."
What kind of convoluted logic implies that?
"you seem to be beefing that Tom Coleman was punished at all"
Tom Coleman? You mean Texas' "Outstanding Lawman of the Year" for his work in Tulia? That Tom Coleman?
I said he was railroaded. I said he was scapegoated. I said it was political correctness at work.
He was found guilty of perjury in a 2003 trial because he testified that an incident happened in August five years before, when it was actually July. An incident totally unrelated to his work in Tulia which began a year later.
For the second time, I did not assume he wrote notes on his leg. That was reported in the news.
Your dishonesty knows no bounds.
which logically implies that other cops in such circumstances would do the same.
What kind of convoluted logic implies that?
It's straightforward logic; if anyone but you professes not to understand it, I'll eat my hat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.