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The allegations that former narcotics investigator Tom Coleman committed perjury resulting in the wrongful prosecution of dozens of Swisher County citizens makes me want to vomit. Adding to my nausea is knowing Mr. Coleman isn't the only problem. As a 31-year federal law enforcement veteran, which included undercover narcotics investigation and assignment to a Washington, DC. - area Drug Enforcement Administration task force, I am appalled that a prosecutor(s) approved Mr. Coleman's cases for prosecution, when they apparently lacked prosecutorial merit. Why would you take a case with no corroborating audio, visual or chemical evidence from the case agent? And what about Mr. Coleman's supervisors? Undercover narcotics investigations are inherently dangerous, yet Mr. Coleman was out "making cases" without backup. That's a red flag. It's dangerous. It's stupid. It's Tombstone Courage. And what about his paperwork? Who was approving his investigative reports? Why wasn't someone asking, "Who authorized you to work alone?" Why didn't a supervisor challenge the quality of his cases? But Mr. Coleman wasn't alone. The rest of the courtroom workgroup contributed to this unfortunate miscarriage of justice. What was the public defender or other involved attorney thinking about when they let a defendant plead guilty to worthless charges with nobody else but the arresting officer listed in Mr. Coleman's reports or identified on the prosecutions witness list? No property custodian, no assisting officer, no expert chemist, no dope. Duh. And what about the judge? How could a judge be oblivious to the same officer showing up repeatedly with the same lame cases that only clogged up his docket? How a judge could read or listen to unsubstantiated probable cause statements submitted by the prosecution and allow the cases to go forward is profound. Swisher County has problems - and they exceed Tom Coleman. *Billy Zeh has more than 31 years of law enforcement experience in patrol, investigations, supervision and training. A retired U.S. Park Police Officer and former Senior Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, he now operates Integrity Education Systems in Brunswick, GA. |