Lawyer for Assistant DA Coleman Demands Enterprise Print a Retraction, LIVINGSTON, June 29, 2020 - On Friday, an attorney representing Polk County Assistant District Attorney, Tommy L. Coleman, served the Polk County Enterprise with a written demand requesting that the newspaper print a retraction. The demand centers around an article published by the Editor of the Enterprise, Valerie Reddell, on June 18, 2020. In the article, Reddell inexplicably alleges that Coleman was somehow involved with the wrongful conviction of a man that occurred more than 30 years ago. According to Coleman’s lawyer Tanner Franklin,
“…[the] case was prosecuted in 1987. At the time Coleman was 17 years old. Mr. Coleman did not even acquire a law license until 2002-fifteen years after the case was prosecuted. Therefore, it would have been impossible for Mr. Coleman to have assisted with the prosecution of the case.”
Coleman, through his attorney, not only is demanding that Valerie Reddell retract and correct the false statements she made in her article, he requests that she print an apology, directed to both him and the citizens of Polk County for publishing the obviously false information. “As a career prosecutor, I like to think I am pretty good at convicting guilty defendants, but even I must admit that as a junior in high school, it would have been an astonishing accomplishment for me to secure the conviction that Ms. Reddell accuses me of,” stated Coleman.
In addition to serving Reddell, Coleman served the owner of the Enterprise, Alvin Holley and its publisher, Kelli Barnes with the demand, which is provided for under Chapter 73 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Chapter 73 also provides for a libel lawsuit and the award of civil damages. “make no mistake, my attorney and I are considering all of our legal options, including civil litigation,” Coleman added. “A little bit of research, a check of the clerk’s records and some simple math would have made it readily apparent that I had nothing to do with the prosecution of that case.” Coleman concluded.
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