Free of Garbage or Full of Garbage?

Tom Coleman is on trial for perjury this week at my courthouse. We were expecting a huge media turnout (17 national news agencies had reserved seats in the courtroom) and honestly I wouldn't have been shocked to see rioting, but it turns out there hasn't been too much drama - at least not today.

Here's his long but fascinating story dating back to 1999. If you have a few minutes, it'’ll be worth your time:

Tulia, Texas (about 75 miles north of Lubbock) is the site of what's been called one of the worst miscarriages of justice in recent memory. An undercover narcotics officer named Tom Coleman arrested 46 people - nearly all of them black - on charges of being cocaine dealers, sending many of them to prison for a total of 750 years.

You won't believe the investigator’s background:

So who is Tom Coleman? He's a former rodeo cowboy with a spotty record in law enforcement, and no experience as an undercover narcotics agent. Nevertheless, he was hired by the local sheriff in 1998 to rout out drug dealers in Tulia, a desolate farm town of some 5,000 people who have fallen on hard times.

Coleman posed as a menacing ex-convict with a taste for drugs, and infiltrated Tulia's small black community. He reported to his bosses that he had bought more than a half a pound of cocaine during his 18-month investigation.

"There was a drug problem in Tulia, and there still is. They're selling drugs right now and I guarantee you they are," says Coleman. "Why did I do it for 18 months? Because I hate dope dealers and I hate dope. Period. That's it."

Early one morning in 1999, Coleman's efforts culminated in the arrests of 13 percent of Tulia's adult black population. They were rousted out of bed, paraded in front of local television cameras in handcuffs - many of them half-dressed - and charged with selling cocaine to Coleman at various times over the course of his investigation.

The town newspaper declared: "Tulia's streets cleared of garbage."

And these statements from the people who were arrested and charged:

Freddie Brookins, Jr., 26, a former high school star athlete with no criminal record was sentenced to 20 years in prison. “"It wasn't an investigation,"” says Brookins. “"It was just a roundup, a West Texas roundup, that's all it was.”"

Yul Bryant, a 33-year-old sales clerk, was charged with selling $160 worth of cocaine. "“I was getting dressed, and when they knocked on the door, I was still in my boxers. They told me where I was going I didn't need no clothes.”"

Billy Wafer, a 45-year-old warehouse foreman, was charged with dealing 2.3 grams of cocaine to Coleman. "“I guess they wanted to be on the map,"” says Wafer. “"They wanted to be on the map by arresting so many and making this the biggest drug bust that they ever had. Whether it was done right or wrong.”"

Why was nearly everyone that Coleman arrested black? Did he intentionally target the black community? It may be no coincidence that the road led Coleman to the town's black community. It was well known that he had used racial slurs in front of his superior officers in Tulia.

Don't stop now, it gets much worse:

"Everybody's making a big deal. ‘Oh, God, he said the word 'nigger' - like, let's put him in the electric chair,'” says Coleman. “"Well, yeah, that word nigger was bad back in the '20s, '30s, '40s, and '50s and '60s and '70s, but now it's just a common slang, you know? I mean you can watch TV and hear that word, you know? It's a greeting.” "

Are you fucking kidding me??!

Coleman, who doesn’t consider himself a racist, said he used the "N" word to fit in with blacks during his investigation. He admits he also used it among his white friends: "“The word nigger, yes sir, I've used that word. I've used it a lot. Yeah, '‘What's up, nigger'".’”

In court:

They were all given harsh sentences, ranging from 20 to 341 years in prison, even though the arrests had turned up no cocaine, no drug paraphernalia, no weapons, no money, or any other signs of drug dealing.

The convictions were based solely on the uncorroborated word of Coleman, who had followed none of the standard procedures routinely used in undercover drug operations across the country.

Coleman acknowledges that he wore no wire, had no partner to corroborate his testimony, collected no fingerprint evidence and had no surveillance video or still images to prove guilt. “[Such evidence] would have helped, but that’s not how the operation went.” The only records he made of the supposed drug buys were notes of the names, dates and places - which he scrawled on his leg.

Ah, the kingpin's story:

One of the harshest sentences of all - 90 years - went to Joe Moore, a 60-year-old hog farmer who has lived much of his life in this one-room shack. Authorities described him as the drug kingpin of Tulia.

“"I didn't even know nothin' about a kingpin. I don't even know how a kingpin lives or nothing,"” says Moore. "“I don't know nothin' 'bout that. But I know they live 30 times better than this. No, a 100 times better than this.”"

The cases that were dismissed:

Defendant Billy Wafer, who had his case dismissed when he was able to show - with timecards - that he was at work at the local seed processing plant at the same time that Coleman testified Wafer was selling him cocaine. Case dismissed.

Bryant had witnesses who said he was at a fair 50 miles away at the time Coleman said he sold him drugs. And that's not all. “"In my police report he said I was a tall black man with bushy type hair,"” says Bryant. "“I'm 5 foot 7, I don't have, I haven't had any hair in like six, seven years. It wasn't me."” Case dismissed.

And then there's the case of Tonya White. Coleman says she sold him $190 worth of cocaine in Tulia on Oct. 9, 1998, at 10:15 a.m. “"That's not possible because I was at the bank in Oklahoma City at 9:45 a.m. withdrawing $8. And they got my signature on my withdrawal slip,”" says White.

Dr. Alan Bean said it best, "Poor drug dealers smoke tiny “rocks” of crack cocaine that can be purchased on the street for between $5 and $20. Powder cocaine is known as a “rich man's drug” because it costs well over a hundred dollars to buy a little baggie of powder the size of your thumb. Poor users turn to crack because they can't afford to buy powder cocaine. You can't sell what you can´t afford to buy."

What the jury never heard about Coleman:

Police officers he had formerly worked for said he needed constant supervision and had possible mental problems. They also said that he had abruptly walked off a previous job, leaving behind $7,000 in unpaid debts -- prompting the sheriff in that town to warn that, "Mr. Coleman should not be in law enforcement."

What's more, in the middle of Coleman's undercover investigation in Tulia, the man who hired him, the sheriff, arrested him on charges of stealing from a county where he had previously worked. He was permitted to continue his undercover operation in Tulia.

Why he was allowed to get away with this shoddy work:

The U.S. Justice Department has spent billions of dollars over the years funding drug task forces in small towns like Tulia. The more arrests and convictions a task force makes, the more money it receives the following year, which can be used in virtually any way it sees fit. In 1999, Coleman was rewarded for his efforts in Tulia.

The Attorney General of Texas named him outstanding officer of the year, but just six months ago, Coleman was called upon to defend his conduct before a state judge who was hearing appeals from some of those convicted in the Tulia sting.

The judge said Coleman’'s testimony was “absolutely riddled with perjury,” and that he was "the most devious, non-responsive law enforcement witness this court has witnessed in 25 years on the bench in Texas."

“"Yes sir. But that's his opinion. A lot of the juries during the trials, they spoke their verdict,"” says Coleman. “"And that was a lot of juries. And that's just one judge.”"

But that one judge set the Tulia defendants free this summer. Among them were Joe Moore, Kizzie White, and Freddie Brookins, Jr. Then 35 defendants were pardoned by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, after the judge accused Coleman of being a liar, thief and racist.

The Tulia defendants later settled a civil suit against the officials they say were responsible for their wrongful convictions. They will share a $6 million settlement. They'll never be able to get back the years they spent in prison, but the money will surely help ease some of their pain.

Tom Coleman is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on each of three felony charges of aggravated perjury.

Today the court heard testimony related to Coleman's alleged theft of gasoline. I wasn't able to sit in on the testimony today, but evidently he's screwed because the prosecution is proving up the fact that Coleman lied on the stand. Perjury is a bitch, and 30 years in prison for a dishonest, incompetent, corrupt, irrational and racist cop will be just what he deserves.