Troy Benard

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Charge:	Drug Related (Possession or sale)
Sentence:	10 years
Years Imprisoned:	2
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:	"Troy Benard was one of the Tulia 38 wrongly convicted of selling and/or distributing cocaine in and around Tulia, TX 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."
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:	"$182,000 plus total. $52,083.33 (State of Texas, 4-13-2007) and, $130,435 (Swisher County and other defendants, May 2004)"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	29
Age When Released:	31
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:	"Tulia, Texas, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern School of Law"
Information Location 4:	http://www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/exonerations/txtuliasummary.html
Information Source 5:	"Sting Docket From Amarillo Globe-News, provided by Alan Bean, Exec. Dir of Friends of Justice in Tulia, TX, on July 25, 2003"
Information Location 5:
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Troy Benard

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

10 years

Years Imprisoned:

2

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:

"Troy Benard was one of the Tulia 38 wrongly convicted of selling and/or distributing cocaine in and around Tulia, TX 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."

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:

"$182,000 plus total. $52,083.33 (State of Texas, 4-13-2007) and, $130,435 (Swisher County and other defendants, May 2004)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

29

Age When Released:

31

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:

"Tulia, Texas, Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern School of Law"

Information Location 4:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/exonerations/txtuliasummary.html

Information Source 5:

"Sting Docket From Amarillo Globe-News, provided by Alan Bean, Exec. Dir of Friends of Justice in Tulia, TX, on July 25, 2003"

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

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