Former Tulia drug agent found guilty of perjury

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2992665

The lone undercover agent in a sting that sent dozens of black people
to prison on bogus drug charges in Tulia was convicted today 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 today. Aggravated perjury is a third-degree felony and
carries a maximum 10-year sentence and $10,000 fine.

Coleman had no noticeable reaction as the verdict was read, but some
Tulia defendants in the courtroom bowed their heads as the verdict was
read.

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.

Gov. Rick Perry pardoned 35 of the defendants in 2003, after an
investigation into the drug cases was launched amid charges they were
racially motivated. It was during the investigation that Coleman made
his false statement in court.

Last year, 45 of those arrested split a $6 million settlement of a
civil rights lawsuit against Coleman and the 26 counties and three
cities involved with the drug task force for which he worked.

One former Tulia defendant, Kizzie White, criticized the verdict.

"I feel like the prosecutor, he had the proof of evidence that he was
guilty on both counts, but yet they acquitted him on the theft," said
White, 27, who spent four years in prison before her 2003 release.
"Really, I don't understand it."

The perjury charges stemmed from Coleman's testimony in hearings for
former Tulia defendants, during which he was questioned about an
arrest
for allegedly using a government-issued gasoline card to fill his
personal vehicle while he was working as a Cochran County deputy.

The theft charge was dropped after Coleman paid restitution, according
to testimony.

In closing arguments today, a defense attorney said the case was
merely a smear campaign against Coleman while a prosecutor branded the
defendant a "100 percent" liar.

"It's a smear campaign to bring everything the government thinks Tom
Coleman did in a negative way, because they want you to hate Tom
Coleman so much that all you can do is find him guilty," attorney Kirk
Lectenberger said.

Lectenberger indicated Coleman perhaps became flustered when giving
his testimony.

"He probably made a mistake; we all do," Lectenberger said.

Prosecutor Rod Hobson reminded jurors about the evidence, including a
waiver of arraignment showing Coleman knew he faced theft charges
before August 1998.

Hobson also reminded jurors of gas records that he says prove Coleman
stole gas. He also said Coleman embodies the adage about a tangled web
woven through deception.

"If I haven't persuaded you that there's lie upon lie, then I haven't
done a very good job," he said. "He lies when the truth would serve
him better."

Coleman built cases and made arrests for 18 months in the late 1990s
as part of a drug task force. Those convicted of selling small amounts
of cocaine and received sentences of up to 90 years, and many served
up to four years before they were pardoned.