Questions Remain In Community Angie Trevino, Cindy Hurt, Rudy Moreno, Max Stephens, Larry Hawthorne and Barbara Yarbrough are carrying a burden. The group represents Tulia's six-member civilian review board, announced last week as part of the ongoing attempts to reconcile and improve community relations in the Panhandle town of just over 5,000 people. Tulia has been rocked since the controversial 1999 drug sting that resulted in the arrests of 46 people, 39 of them black. [continues 256 words]
TULIA - Hog farmer Joe Moore was wrongly convicted of selling cocaine and sent to prison for 90 years. He lost more than his freedom. He lost his livelihood and he lost his health, as his diabetes worsened while he was behind bars. A high-profile legal battle discredited the accusing police officer and led to pardons for Moore and 34 others this summer. Some found bitterness in their return to Tulia. Many still struggle to rebuild. Moore begins anew in this small Panhandle farming town of about 5,000 residents where the testimony of undercover agent Tom Coleman put him and others in prison. [continues 464 words]
TULIA, Texas -- Hog farmer Joe Moore was wrongly convicted of selling cocaine and sentenced to serve 90 years in prison. He forfeited more than his freedom. Moore said he lost his livelihood and his reputation. He also lost his health, as his diabetes worsened while he was behind bars. A legal battle led to pardons for Moore and 34 others this summer after the police officer who accused the group was discredited. Some former inmates are still bitter; others are struggling to rebuild the pieces of their lives. [continues 584 words]
The movement to free the Tulia residents convicted of drug offenses in 1999 finally played out, not as the promised judicial drama, but as political farce. What happened to the Court of Criminal Appeals which, according to the Globe-News, was expected to exonerate the 35? As a guess, the court which initiated the unprecedented hearing to discredit the key prosecution witness was unwilling to do even more damage to the rule of law by exonerating the 27 people who pleaded guilty. In any case, don't expect your local guardians of the First Amendment to tell the story. [continues 445 words]
AMARILLO LAWYER Jeff Blackburn didn't ask Rick Perry to pardon the Tulia 35, but he's delighted the governor did. It means his clients, having been victimized by a bottom feeder of the Texas law enforcement establishment, wouldn't face being victimized by those at its top. Most Texans, including Perry, are appalled at the fact that dozens of citizens were sent to prison based on little more than the testimony of an apparently lying undercover agent with a sleazy history. [continues 701 words]
Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2003/ds03.n315.html * This Just In (1) Canadian Govt Begins Selling Pot (2) Abstinence Is For Quitters (3) Drug USe Seen On Rise In Iraq (4) Data Not Showing 'Ice' Effect On Fetuses * Weekly News in Review Drug Policy (5) Pardons Let Texas Panhandle Drug Defendants Get On With Their Lives (6) Federal Lawsuit Filed Over 1999 Tulia Drug Raid (7) GOP Bill Would Add Anti-Terror Powers (8) Seized Car Drives Legal Dispute (9) Thief Makes Off With Lots Of Urine [continues 166 words]
Critics Call It PR Ploy; Supporters Hope For Better Communication TULIA, Texas - In an effort to turn aside a national reputation for racism and intolerance, the people of this small Panhandle community put their city and county judicial system under citizen review Monday. It was, they said, time to move on. Critics called it a public relations trick. Proponents, including parents of some of the 35 people pardoned last week by Gov. Rick Perry, said citizens' review was a necessary step to attract businesses and remove the taint from Tulia and the rest of Swisher County. [continues 916 words]
More than four years after the infamous Tulia bust, Gov. Rick Perry finally has allowed justice to be served by acting on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles' recommendation to pardon the 35 convicted defendants whose cases were pending before the State Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Perry's action offers a rare opportunity to feel proud of our state leaders after a summer of bitter partisan battling. We are grateful to the governor for doing the right thing. But our battle is far from over. [continues 548 words]
WASHINGTON -- Amid the increasing turmoil that surrounds the nation's criminal justice system, from the Patriot Act to the debate over the death penalty, few things in memory have shaken the faith in its basic fairness as has the monumental travesty that took place in Tulia. Even though Gov. Rick Perry has pardoned the 35 mostly black residents of this small town of alleged drug dealings, the reverberations from the injustices perpetrated by legal authorities will be felt for a long time -- as a warning, we hope, of what can happen when the process goes wrong. [continues 667 words]
TULIA - Attempting to recover from an international avalanche of negative news generated by the 1999 drug sting that saw most of the 46 primarily black suspects pardoned last week, Swisher County has formed a Civilian Review Board that will address community needs and another panel that will work to bring much-needed jobs to the area. Announcement of the formation came during a news conference Thursday afternoon outside the courthouse where many of the arrestees were convicted and sentenced to prison on questionable testimony from former undercover drug agent Tom Coleman, who has since been indicted for perjury in the case. [continues 377 words]
TULIA, Texas (AP) - Residents and elected officials in this town with the motto "The richest soil and the finest people" announced steps Thursday to improve its image after controversial drug busts by a now-indicted undercover agent in 1999. Thursday, the town appointed a six-member civilian complaint review board called "Tulia: Proving Our Motto." The board includes two Hispanics, two blacks and two whites but does not have any legal authority. "Our main concern is to look to the future and forget the past," board member Angie Trevino said. [continues 433 words]
In its Aug. 21 editorial "Big trouble in Tulia," The Journal discusses how in Tulia, Texas, over 10 percent of the town's black population was arrested in a drug sting based solely on conjecture. Such racism, lying and injustice is an integral part of the War on Drugs everywhere it rears its ugly head. The drug war was founded on racism, and is racist in its application. For more information on the racial disparities in drug-law enforcement, visit www.drugwarfacts.org Warwick [end]
Gov. Rick Perry's pardon Friday of 35 people victimized in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting is not the final chapter, but it does mark an end to a quest for justice. In June, Perry signed legislation releasing 12 of the defendants still in prison, and his pardon followed the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The shoe is now on the other foot for undercover agent Tom Coleman. Coleman, whose word was the sole piece of evidence against the defendants, faces his own legal trouble. He was indicted for perjury in April for his testimony in an evidentiary hearing. [continues 228 words]
TULIA, Texas (AP) - Gov. Rick Perry on Friday granted pardons to 35 people who were convicted of drug charges based on the testimony of an undercover agent later charged with perjury. "Texans demand a justice system that is tough but fair," Perry said in a statement. "I believe my decision to grant pardons in these cases is both appropriate and just." Perry said he was influenced by questions about the testimony of Tom Coleman, the only undercover agent involved in the busts. In June, Perry signed a bill allowing the release of the 12 Tulia defendants who were still in prison. [continues 480 words]
TULIA, Texas (AP) - When Kizzie White applies for a job this week, the information on her application form will be different. The mother of two was one of 38 defendants convicted in a drug sting on the word of an undercover agent who later was charged with perjury. She and 34 other involved in the bust were granted pardons Friday by Gov. Rick Perry. "We actually can put on our application 'never been convicted of a felony'" said White, 26. "I'm really free, and I thank God I am." [continues 402 words]
TULIA - Gov. Rick Perry on Friday granted pardons to 35 people who were convicted of drug charges based on the testimony of an undercover agent later charged with perjury. "Texans demand a justice system that is tough but fair," Perry said in a statement. "I believe my decision to grant pardons in these cases is both appropriate and just." Perry said he was influenced by questions about the testimony of Tom Coleman, the only undercover agent involved in the busts. In June, Perry signed a bill allowing the release of the 12 Tulia defendants who were still in prison. [continues 341 words]
TULIA, Texas - Gov. Rick Perry on Friday granted pardons to 35 people who were convicted of drug charges based on the testimony of an undercover agent later charged with perjury. "Texans demand a justice system that is tough but fair," Perry said in a statement. "I believe my decision to grant pardons in these cases is both appropriate and just." Perry said he was influenced by questions about the testimony of Tom Coleman, the only undercover agent involved in the busts. In June, Perry signed a bill allowing the release of the 12 Tulia defendants who were still in prison. [continues 432 words]
TULIA - When Kizzie White applies for a job next week, the information on her application form will be different. The 26-year-old mother of two was one of 38 defendants convicted in a Tulia drug sting on the word of an undercover agent later charged with perjury. Friday, she and 34 other involved in the bust were granted pardons by Gov. Rick Perry. "We actually can put on our application 'never been convicted of a felony, " White said. "I'm really free, and I thank God I am." [continues 472 words]
Amidst the increasing turmoil that surrounds the nation's criminal justice system, from the Patriot Act to the debate over the death penalty, few things in memory have shaken the faith in its basic fairness as the monumental travesty that took place in Tulia, Texas. Even though Gov. Rick Perry has pardoned the 35 mostly black residents of this small town of alleged drug dealings, the reverberations from the injustices perpetrated by legal authorities will be felt for a long time - hopefully as a warning of what can happen when the process goes wrong. [continues 586 words]
Gov. Rick Perry pardoned 35 people on Friday who were arrested in Tulia in 1999 on the word of a white undercover agent who has since been indicted on perjury charges. Thirty-one of those pardoned are black. "Questions surrounding testimony from the key witness in these cases weighed heavily on my final decision," Perry said, referring to the agent, Tom Coleman. The arrests in Tulia, the Swisher County seat of 5,000 residents between Amarillo and Lubbock, attracted national attention, in part because the Swisher County sheriff invited the media to photograph disheveled suspects being rounded up early on the morning of July 23, 1999. Of the 46 people initially charged, 40 are black. They were accused of dealing cocaine in the small Panhandle farming community. Drug trafficking is often lucrative, but none of the suspects appeared to be living beyond his or her means. Eventually, 38 people went to prison, meaning that one of every 11 African-Americans in Tulia was behind bars based on one man's uncorroborated word. Freddie Brookins Jr., 26, served 3 1/2 years of a 20-year sentence. [continues 1004 words]
