Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Kareem Abdul Jabbar White

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

60 years

Years Imprisoned:

4

Year Crime:

1999

Year Convicted:

1999

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:

"Kareem Abdul White 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. Kareem White was the brother of Tonya White, who had charges dropped when she was able to prove she was in Oklahoma City, 200 miles from Tulia, at the same time Tom Coleman claimed he was buying drugs from her in Tulia. Texas Governor Rick Perry pardoned 35 of the Tulia defendants on August 22, 2003. Awarded share of $6,000,000 settlement of federal civil rights lawsuit against Texas Panhandle cities and counties divided amongst the 46 people wrongly arrested as a result of Coleman's "investigation." Awarded $100,000 under Texas wrongful conviction compenation statute. First $50,000 paid on August 2006."

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:

"$230,000 plus total. $99,999.96 lump sum payment plus $1,503.78 monthly annuity (State of Texas, 8-22-2007) and, $130,435 (Swisher County and other defendants, May 2004)"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

23

Age When Released:

27

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:

"More Tulia sting defendants could get money from Texas, by Betsy Blaney, Houston Chronicle, August 28, 2006"

Information Location 5:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4147492.html

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

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