Pubdate: Fri, 25 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 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?118 (Perjury) AG'S OFFICE TO SHARE DOCUMENTS FROM TULIA BUSTS TULIA, Texas (AP) -- Documents and other materials gathered by the Texas attorney general's office during its investigation of the Tulia drug busts will be shared with prosecutors who are handling perjury cases against Tom Coleman, the lone undercover agent in the controversial cases, a news release from the AG's office said Friday. A grand jury in Swisher County on Thursday indicted Coleman, 43, on three counts of aggravated perjury for allegedly lying under oath during evidentiary hearings last month in Tulia. The statute of limitations for potential instances of perjury during trials at which Coleman testified has expired for most of those cases. Material from the AG's probe includes diagrams and time lines prepared by investigators, three boxes of documents, court filings and transcripts of dozens of interviews, including one with Coleman, the release states. The AG began its investigation in August 2002 and it is not yet completed, Jane Shepperd, spokeswoman for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said. The U.S. Department of Justice also has an investigation ongoing. Earlier this month, a judge appointed to preside at the hearings announced he was recommending to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that the convictions of 38 mostly black defendants be thrown out and new trials ordered. Rod Hobson, a special prosecutor assigned to assist the state, has said he will dismiss cases if the appeals court orders new trials. Forty-six people - 39 of them black - were arrested in 1999 after Coleman's 18-month undercover operation during which he worked alone and used no audio or video surveillance. It was his uncorroborated testimony that led to convictions at trials. Others who took plea agreements did so because they saw the lengthy sentences - one as long as 90 years - meted out in the initial trials. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl