Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
3 days in jail |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.01 |
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: |
"Marilyn Joyce Cooper 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. Sentenced to 3 days in the county jail, $2,000 fine, plus court costs and attorney fees. 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: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$130,435 (Swisher County and other defendants, May 2004)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
Black |
Information Source 1: |
"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 1: |
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Information Source 2: |
"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 2: |
http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_23/tulia_travesty.html |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org