Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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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:

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

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