Pubdate: Sun,  6 Apr 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

TULIA DEFENDANTS STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE

For the Tulia 46, justice has been elusive as well as blind.

Even today, nearly a week after prosecutors admit they made a huge mistake 
in relying solely on the uncorroborated testimony of an unreliable 
undercover officer, many remain in prison.

Those convicted on the tainted testimony are still incarcerated despite the 
extraordinary declaration by retired state District Judge Ron Chapman last 
week that "Tom Coleman (the undercover law enforcement officer) is simply 
not a credible witness . . ."

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said its hands are legally tied in 
establishing bail for wrongfully convicted Tulia folks. The court 
apparently must await formal recommendations from Chapman, who presided 
over new hearings in the case last month, before taking action.

Maybe so, but the state that didn't waste time indicting and trying the 
defendants should move quickly to rectify this insult to justice. The Tulia 
defendants should be freed as quickly as possible. There is widespread 
agreement that they shouldn't have spent one day in jail -- much less years 
- -- and every day they stay in jail adds to the insult and pain they've endured.

Moreover, Coleman should be held accountable for his perfidy and his role 
in assaulting the lives and characters of the defendants his lies ensnared. 
Coleman's manufactured testimony sent 38 Tulia residents -- nearly all of 
them black -- to prison for drug trafficking charges. A grand jury 
investigation into the conduct of Coleman's activities is certainly 
appropriate, as is prosecution for any criminal conduct that may have occurred.

There is no shortage of blame for this train wreck of a case. Begin with 
Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart, who hired Coleman to work undercover 
in Tulia. The idea that a Panhandle hamlet of 5,000 harbors major illicit 
drug activity is amusing. If that's the belief, however, you'd think the 
sheriff would look for someone who had not been forced out of two law 
enforcement agencies and rejected by others.

During the 18-month sting operation, Stewart had to arrest Coleman on 
charges of theft and abuse of authority filed in another county. Incredibly 
enough, Coleman continued to work undercover with Stewart's apparent blessing.

Then there is the original prosecutor, Terry McEachern. He mounted a 
zealous prosecution despite a lack of evidence. No drugs, weapons or large 
sums of cash were found on defendants. No fingerprints were uncovered on 
drugs Coleman claimed he bought from them. Coleman did not tape-record drug 
buys. Though he said he bought drugs in public places, no witnesses 
corroborated the drug buys.

Then there is the question of whether McEachern concealed Coleman's spotty 
law enforcement record from defense lawyers. The State Bar of Texas or 
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott should look into the prosecutor's 
conduct. And if the state fails to act, federal authorities certainly 
should investigate whether the civil rights of the Tulia defendants were 
violated.

The Tulia case also raises questions of fairness about a jury system that 
strives to seat all-white juries in cases involving black defendants. It 
appears that in this case, jury after jury was willing to convict solely on 
the say-so of shaky testimony of a white officer, raising obvious questions 
of racial bias.

Questions go higher. In 1999, then-Attorney General John Cornyn awarded 
Coleman the Texas Lawman of Year award for his sting operation in Tulia. As 
Coleman's evidence cracked, then crumbled, under scrutiny from civil rights 
organizations and the media, Cornyn, running for the U.S. Senate, opened an 
investigation into Tulia. That investigation, still open under Abbott, has 
gone nowhere.

Freedom for Tulia defendants now rides on the Court of Criminal Appeals. 
The path to restoring the shattered credibility of the Texas criminal 
justice system starts with opening the cells that still hold the Tulia 
defendants.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom