Tyrone Brown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tyrone Brown is an African-American Texan who was serving a life term in Texas maximum security prison for stealing two U.S. dollars and smoking marijuana while on probation. He was recently granted a conditional pardon by Texas Governor Rick Perry. (Under Texas law, the pardon had to first be approved by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles; Perry could not grant a pardon on his own initiative, though he could have rejected the Board's recommendation.) He was released from prison on March 16, 2007.
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[edit] Original crime
He initially took part in a $2 robbery in which no one was hurt and Judge Keith Dean in Dallas, Texas sentenced him to ten years of probation. During that probation he tested positive one time for marijuana and the judge changed his sentence to life in prison.
[edit] Public outrage
Public outrage came about when this story was aired on 20/20. Additionally, a series of articles appeared on him in 2006 in the Dallas Morning News.
Perhaps even more than the unjust sentence, public outrage came about when the news program contrasted Tyrone's story with a white man named John Alexander Wood.[1] Wood also appeared before Judge Dean and pleaded guilty to shooting an unarmed male prostitute in the back. Wood was also sentenced to probation. However, Mr. Wood repeatedly tested positive for cocaine while on probation and committed other violations. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a car, which was owned by his brother-in-law who also happened to be a United States Congressman. Prosecutors there didn't press charges because of unspecified evidence problems. He smashed a woman's door in a dispute over a dog, but again the case was dropped.
Judge Dean let Mr. Wood stay free and eventually exempted him from most standard conditions of probation: no drug tests, no ban on gun ownership, no meetings with a probation officer. He was even allowed to move freely about the state. Mr. Wood completed his sentence in May, leaving him with no conviction on his record.
[edit] References
- ^ Egerton, Brooks (2006-04-48). Scales of justice can swing wildly. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
