Pubdate: Fri,  8 Sep 2000
Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2000 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Contact:  http://www.lubbockonline.com/interactive/edit.shtml
Website: http://www.lubbockonline.com/
Forum: http://chat.lubbockonline.com:90/eshare/
Author: Linda Kane

CONTROVERSIAL DRUG TRIAL ENDS WITH 60-YEAR TERM FOR 24-YEAR-OLD TULIA 
MAN  

TULIA -- A Tulia man was sentenced to 60 years in prison Thursday for
selling nearly five grams of cocaine last summer to an undercover
officer whose credibility was attacked in court.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar White, 24, a black man, was among 43 people --
including 40 blacks -- arrested last summer after an 18-month
undercover operation in Tulia, about 75 miles north of Lubbock.

The racial makeup of the sting operation caught the attention of 
members of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice from New 
York. The group's mission is to oppose racism in the judicial system, 
said member Randy Credico, who attended this week's trial with one 
other member.  

Credico was outraged that White was convicted of the charge of
delivery of cocaine and sentenced to six decades.

''They shouldn't have had a trial,'' Credico said Thursday. ''They
should have just taken (White) out in the middle of the night and
hanged him.''

White's conviction rested largely on the testimony of Tom Coleman, a 
white undercover officer who conducted the investigation for the 
Swisher County Sheriff's Department and the Panhandle Narcotics Task 
Force in Amarillo.  

Although Coleman has been described as an outstanding lawman at times,
his character was challenged throughout the trial.

Four defense witnesses -- a prosecutor, a narcotics investigator, a
former sheriff for whom Coleman worked and a retired banker who did
business with Coleman -- testified that Coleman is a liar.

However, witnesses for the prosecution -- including Texas Rangers,
Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and a drug task force officer for
whom Coleman worked during the undercover operation -- testified that
Coleman is truthful.

Coleman gave conflicting statements during his testimony about the
time frame in which he bought drugs from White.

White's attorney, Dwight McDonald of Lubbock, said during closing 
arguments Thursday that Coleman could not be trusted.  

''Any way you look at this case, it boils down to Tom Coleman,'' he 
said. ''This case is really simple. Do you believe Tom Coleman or do 
you not?''  

It took a jury one hour and 45 minutes to convict White.

In addition to the prison sentence, White was ordered to pay a $5,000
fine.

The judge would not allow attorneys and witnesses associated with the
trial to talk about the case.

Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern, who prosecuted
White, told The Avalanche-Journal in April that he believes Coleman
acted lawfully and truthfully in the undercover operation.

''If I did not 100 percent believe Tom Coleman was telling the truth, I
would not be trying these cases,'' he said.

The A-J has requested interviews with Coleman, but he has declined,
except to say Thursday, ''The jury has spoke for itself.''

White faces four more trials for delivery of cocaine. Because of the
judge's order, McEachern could not comment Thursday on whether he's
going to pursue those charges against White.

Several people who attended White's trial Thursday gathered outside the
courthouse afterward to voice their disgust.

As McEachern was leaving the building during the noon recess, Credico
told him, ''Nice lynch job, pal.''

White is the son of Tulia resident Mattie White, who had three other
children charged in connection with last summer's bust.

Two of her children were already sentenced to 12 and 25 years in
prison. Another child has not gone to trial.

''I've never seen my kid (Kareem White) cry until he said, 'You know 
I'm not guilty,' '' she said. ''I knew he'd be found guilty.  

''It's just killing me.''

Kathy Curry, a member of a watchdog group in Tulia called Friends of
Justice, attended the trial and said that in a county with only 9,000
residents, she thought the trial should have been conducted elsewhere.

''Even if there were two people (on the jury) who didn't believe him
(Coleman), they have to live here,'' she said. ''This is a small town.
You let one person know you hung the jury and you have to deal with it
because you live here.''

Representatives of the Amarillo Chapter of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People have promised to look at the fairness
of the undercover operation.

White's trial was among the last of a series of trials stemming from 
the sting operation. The majority of the 43 people who were arrested in 
the operation have entered into plea deals or have been convicted after 
trials.  
- ---
MAP posted-by: John Chase