Coleman's conviction upheld

Tom Coleman, the undercover cop whose testimony led to the unjust convictions of dozens of citizens of Tulia, Texas, lost his last appeal.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Tom Coleman's aggravated perjury conviction in 2005 should stand.

In 2006, the 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo upheld the conviction.

Coleman was sentenced to 10 years probation after a jury found him guilty of falsely testifying in a 2003 hearing that he did not learn of a theft charge against him until August 1998. Court documents showed that Coleman had earlier learned of the accusation that he stole gasoline while working for the Cochran County Sheriff's Office.

Not much else out there, but this KVII story says "His appeal was based on many things but the biggest is whether or not the state had the right to use special prosecutors in Coleman's trial." I noted other issues in my last entry. I presume this will be the last we hear from Tom Coleman for awhile, at least until the Tulia movie hits the screens. And while I'm glad that Coleman will finally face justice, I still think he got off too easy.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 11, 2008 to Crime and Punishment