Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Dennis Michael Allen

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

18 years

Years Imprisoned:

4

Year Crime:

1999

Year Convicted:

2000

Year Cleared:

2003

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Texas

County or Region of Crime:

Swisher

City of Crime:

Tulia

Result:

Pardoned

Summary of Case:

"Dennis Michael Allen was one of the Tulia 38 wrongly convicted of selling and/or distributing cocaine in and around Tulia, Texas based solely on the word of a discredited Swisher County, Texas undercover sheriff's deputy. Texas Governor Rick Perry pardoned 35 of the Tulia defendants on August 22, 2003, including Allen. On August 29, 2007 the State of Texas awarded Allen compensation of $97,916.63 plus a monthly annuity for life of $1,592.02."

Conviction Caused By:

Perjured testimony of the prosecutions sole witness - a sheriff's deputy

Innocence Proved By:

Disclosure during an evidentiary hearing in March 2003 that the testimony of the prosecution's sole witness - Tom Coleman - is wholly unreliable.

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$228,000 plus total. $97,916.63 plus $1,592.02 monthly annuity (State of Texas, 8-29-2007) and, $130,435 (Swisher County and other defendants, May 2004)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

32

Age When Released:

36

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

"Travesty in Tulia, Texas - Frame-up of 38 Innocent People Orchestrated by a County Sheriff, Prosecutor and Judge, By Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied magazine, Issue 23, Winter 2004, pp. 3-5, 27"

Information Location 1:

http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_23/tulia_travesty.html

Information Source 2:

"Gov. Perry Grants Pardons to 35 Tulia Defendants, Press Release, Office of the Governor Rick Perry, August 22, 2003"

Information Location 2:

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/4995/

Information Source 3:

"Perry pardons 35 in Tulia case, By Greg Cunningham (staff), Amarillo Globe-News, August 23, 2003"

Information Location 3:

http://amarillo.com/stories/082303/new_perrypardons.shtml

Information Source 4:

"12 Tulia Drug Defendants Released From Jail, Jim Henderson, Houston Chronicle, June 16, 2003."

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

"Wrongful Convictions Have Cost Texans More Than $93 Million, By Johnathan Silver and Lindsay Carbonell, The Texas Tribune, June 24, 2016"

Information Location 5:

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/24/wrongful-convictions-cost-texans-over-93-million/

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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