Pubdate: Sat,  2 Aug 2003
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2003 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32
Author: David Pasztor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Terry+McEachern (Terry McEachern)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Tom+Coleman (Tom Coleman)

DA FACES STATE BAR INQUIRY IN TULIA CASE 

If Investigation Finds Misconduct, Prosecutor Could Be Disbarred

The West Texas district attorney who prosecuted those arrested in the
controversial Tulia drug sting is under investigation by the State Bar
of Texas for possible misconduct in his handling of the cases.

Bar disciplinary officials, who ordinarily do not discuss ongoing
cases, would not acknowledge whether they are investigating Swisher
County District Attorney Terry McEachern.

But McEachern revealed the existence of the investigation Thursday by
asking the Swisher County Commissioners Court for $5,000 to help pay
for his defense.

Commissioners in the county, south of Amarillo, declined to give
McEachern the money.

"I'm concerned that Mr. McEachern's license is at stake. I wish him
the best in this regard," Swisher County Judge Harold Keeter said.
"But we just weren't able to help financially at this time. This was
strictly about Mr. McEachern personally, and that's the reason that we
declined to assist."

Swisher County Clerk Brenda Hudson confirmed that State Bar
investigators contacted her office seeking documents related to the
case.

McEachern did not return a call seeking comment.

In a case that has become emblematic of Texas justice gone awry, 46
people, 39 of them black, were arrested during a 1999 drug sting in
the small Panhandle town of Tulia.

Many were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges built almost entirely
on the word of undercover investigator Thomas Coleman.

The cases have since fallen apart amid charges of racism, sloppy
police work and suppressed evidence.

Coleman has been indicted on a charge of perjury; he is accused of
lying during a hearing into irregularities with the cases. A specially
appointed state district judge and special prosecutors have agreed
that all charges connected to the drug investigation should be thrown
out.

A special act of the Legislature allowed most of the defendants still
in jail to be freed on bail in June while the state Court of Criminal
Appeals considers overturning their convictions. The Board of Pardons
and Paroles has recommended to Gov. Rick Perry that most of the Tulia
defendants be pardoned.

In a scathing report issued in April, visiting Judge Ron Chapman said
Coleman was a liar and McEachern and other law enforcement officials
covered up evidence of Coleman's perjury and his criminal past to
bolster his credibility and win convictions.

Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo lawyer who has spent several years
fighting to clear the Tulia defendants, called the investigation of
McEachern good news. Rarely does the bar take action against
prosecutors for misconduct, he said.

Even rarer, Blackburn said, the investigation appears to have been
launched by the bar without a formal complaint.

"It shows they are serious about what happened in Tulia and that they
are genuine in a desire to see some justice done," he said.

Blackburn said he hopes Coleman and McEachern are not made scapegoats
for prosecutions that were driven by the Panhandle Regional Narcotics
Trafficking Task Force, which hired Coleman despite his checkered past
and allowed him to work with little supervision.

Regional drug task forces, which operate with federal money channeled
through the governor's office, have been lightning rods for
controversy across the state because they are not subject to the same
scrutiny and accountability as city police departments and county
sheriff's offices.

A lawyer found guilty of misconduct by the bar faces punishment
ranging from a private reprimand to disbarment. The bar does not have
the power to remove an elected official.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin