Author Topic: Equal Justice For All?  (Read 891 times)

Offline rpm

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 15661
Equal Justice For All?
« on: January 15, 2005, 08:28:01 AM »
source
Quote
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- An undercover agent in a sting that sent dozens of black people to prison on bogus drug charges was convicted of one of two perjury counts, and a jury recommended he serve probation.

Tom Coleman was acquitted Friday 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 did not learn about the theft charge against him until August 1998.

The charges stemmed from Coleman's testimony in hearings for former drug defendants to determine whether they got fair trials. He could not be prosecuted for testimony he gave at the trials because the statute of limitations had expired.

Jurors deliberated his punishment for less than an hour before recommending probation. They sentenced him to seven years in prison, but because he didn't have any prior felony convictions decided that he could serve the time on probation.

The judge agreed and will rule Tuesday on the length and terms of the sentence.

Coleman shut his eyes and dropped his head when the judge spoke of the seven-year prison sentence. He started to fight back tears when hearing that jurors said he could serve it on probation.

John H. Read II, Coleman's defense attorney, said probation "is punishment enough."

But prosecutors said he deserved a harsher punishment, going into detail about the drug busts in Tulia for the first time in the trial.

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.

Freddie Brookins Jr., one of the people sent to prison on Coleman's word, told jurors that he was bitter about being convicted of something he didn't do.

"I missed seeing my kids grow up," said Brookins, 27, who was pardoned by the governor.

Prosecutor Rod Hobson said Coleman deserves prison time because "people went to prison, Freddie Brookins went to prison, because of his worthless words. He should be held accountable for that."

Last year, 45 of those arrested in the Tulia busts 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.

Probation? He should get the maximum sentence allowed under the law. He put a stain on every law enforcement officers word.
My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Stay thirsty my friends.

Offline DiabloTX

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9592
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2005, 08:37:25 AM »
Yeah I saw this on 60 Minutes a while back.  While cops will always have my support those that abuse thier power should be sentenced to the full allowance of the law.  What happened to Coleman just sends the wrong message and the abuse continues...
"There ain't no revolution, only evolution, but every time I'm in Denmark I eat a danish for peace." - Diablo

Offline lasersailor184

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8938
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2005, 09:11:08 AM »
Speaking of which...


A white man kills a black man.

A white man kills a white man for the same reasons.


In which situation will the sentence be MUCH longer?  Does this change by region?
Punishr - N.D.M. Back in the air.
8.) Lasersailor 73 "Will lead the impending revolution from his keyboard"

Offline eskimo2

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 7207
      • hallbuzz.com
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2005, 09:19:54 AM »
"Freddie Brookins Jr., one of the people sent to prison on Coleman's word, told jurors that he was bitter about being convicted of something he didn't do.

"I missed seeing my kids grow up," said Brookins, 27, who was pardoned by the governor.

Prosecutor Rod Hobson said Coleman deserves prison time because "people went to prison, Freddie Brookins went to prison, because of his worthless words. He should be held accountable for that." "

The guy should get life.

eskimo

Offline Crumpp

  • Parolee
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3671
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2005, 09:20:07 AM »
It changes region to region judge to judge because of the US legal system.

I am sure that the prosecutor will appeal and eventually justice will be done.

Our legal system is far from perfect but it's about the best system I have seen in the world IMO.

The other side to this is there maybe other facts we are not aware of but the jury certainly was when they said "this is fair".

Crumpp
« Last Edit: January 15, 2005, 02:01:45 PM by Crumpp »

Offline Maverick

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 13958
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2005, 01:51:10 PM »
IMHO he should have served the 7 behind bars. It's only fair for what he did denying freedom for others.:mad:
DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown

Offline genozaur

  • Parolee
  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 562
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2005, 04:03:09 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Crumpp
It changes region to region judge to judge because of the US legal system.

I am sure that the prosecutor will appeal and eventually justice will be done.

Our legal system is far from perfect but it's about the best system I have seen in the world IMO.

The other side to this is there maybe other facts we are not aware of but the jury certainly was when they said "this is fair".

Crumpp


Legal system, you say.
What about the 'mind crimes' prosecuted in the US (and the Great Britain?) when people got busted not for the crime itself but for the intention to commit the such.
I am talking about the active provocation practices of the undercover police agents who lure innocent people into nonexistent crime activity by posing as drug dealers, prostitutes, terrorists. When you buy some pot-grass from an undercover police officer it can't be a crime because he is the guy who is responsible for supplying you with this stuff. Even it you consider this provocation to be a crime, who should get longer sentence, the buyer or the seller?

In most of the so-called civilized countries such a situation is called 'police provocation' and the judges throw these cases into the waste-paper buckets. But in the "fortress of the democracy"
these cases are legit !??? As well as the trial of a French couple for performing oral sex behind the closed doors of their hotel room during the Olympic games in Atlanta !

So much for the "about the best" legal system in the world.
I wish I could have the statistics on the number of people put into the jails here in the USA as the result of these police provocation practices which are exactly the same as the Gestapo methods. Even without this particular statistics a reasonable man can question the qulity of the American legal system when he learns about the number of people behind the bars in the US jails (second after Russia, as I remember). :( :rolleyes:

Offline Lizking

  • Parolee
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2502
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2005, 04:22:07 PM »
Unless the officer throws you to the ground, puts a gun against your head and makes you buy pot or *****, then you are a willing participant in the act.  The act is what is against the law, so your willingness to participate makes you guilty.

Offline Gunslinger

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10084
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2005, 04:22:19 PM »
If I read the article correctly all he was "CONVICTED" of is purgery?  We ALL know that's not a crime nore should it demand a prison sentence.  (See:  William Jefferson Clinton)

Offline Holden McGroin

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 8591
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2005, 04:33:18 PM »
The federal prosecuter can still bring him up on denial of civil rights.  He can still get prison.
Holden McGroin LLC makes every effort to provide accurate and complete information. Since humor, irony, and keen insight may be foreign to some readers, no warranty, expressed or implied is offered. Re-writing this disclaimer cost me big bucks at the lawyer’s office!

Offline Crumpp

  • Parolee
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3671
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2005, 04:45:58 PM »
Quote
What about the 'mind crimes' prosecuted in the US (and the Great Britain?) when people got busted not for the crime itself but for the intention to commit the such.


You need to educate yourself on "entrapment".

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/e024.htm

Crumpp

Offline Maverick

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 13958
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2005, 09:43:24 PM »
Well there is a precedent for perjury at the Federal level with no punishment......
DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown

Offline Gunslinger

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 10084
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2005, 10:00:49 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Maverick
Well there is a precedent for perjury at the Federal level with no punishment......


yup :D

and not to be a totally insesitive bellybutton I think this guy is a disgusting human being and should spend the same amount of time in prison of the people he wrongly got convicted.

Offline Lizking

  • Parolee
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2502
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2005, 10:16:36 PM »
He needs to be in jail for the aggregate of all those people's terms.

Offline genozaur

  • Parolee
  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 562
Equal Justice For All?
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2005, 11:11:56 PM »
off topic/inflammatory
« Last Edit: January 17, 2005, 02:48:51 PM by Skuzzy »