The Latest From Tulia

By Bob Herbert
New York Times| Opinion
26 December, 2002

Some tentative, very preliminary steps are being taken to address one of the great miscarriages of justice in the country -- the roundup and prosecution of dozens of black men and women on specious drug trafficking charges in the Texas Panhandle town of Tulia.

There is no reason to believe that any of the people arrested in the humiliating roundup on July 23, 1999, were guilty of trafficking. No drugs, money or weapons were found. Several defendants have already been proved innocent. All were arrested solely on the word of a clownish undercover cop named Tom Coleman who had a penchant for making up charges, throwing his ''evidence'' into the garbage, scrawling important investigative information on his arms and legs, changing his testimony from trial to trial, making false statements while under oath, referring to black people as ''niggers'' and stumbling into legal trouble himself. On the uncorroborated, unsubstantiated testimony of this officer, defendants arrested in Tulia on that shameful summer day were convicted and given prison sentences of 20 years, 60 years, 90 years and more. When the first astonishingly harsh sentences were handed down, the remaining defendants quickly began agreeing to plead guilty in return for more lenient punishment. Thirteen defendants remain in prison, serving sentences of up to 99 years.

In the bleak and twisted world of criminal justice in Texas, this case was considered cause for celebration. Mr. Coleman was hailed as a hero and given the state's ''Lawman of the Year'' award.

Local officials had every reason to believe that no one would pay attention to the terrible doings in Tulia. But the media spotlight has remained on the fiasco and the case has become a Texas-sized embarrassment. The offices of the U.S. attorney general, John Ashcroft, and the Texas attorney general, John Cornyn, have said they are investigating. But the investigations have been extremely quiet and so far no developments have been reported.

There has been a significant development in the courts, however. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, responding to petitions filed by a local attorney, Jeff Blackburn, and lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has sent a number of the cases back to the trial court for additional fact-finding.
Among other things, the appeals court wants to know if there was evidence available to impeach Mr. Coleman's testimony, and if there had been any knowledge by the prosecution of such evidence.

Ordinarily the original trial judge would handle the response to the request by the appeals court. But District Judge Ed Self, who presided over most of the Tulia trials, recused himself after defense lawyers called his impartiality into question. The judge, who had leaned heavily in favor of the prosecution during the trials, defended his rulings in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper last month. He was also quoted as saying that local residents were ''tired of all the talk about the drug bust.''
A new judge from an entirely different judicial district -- Judge Ron Chapman of Dallas -- has been assigned to the case. This is a very hopeful sign. The criminal justice crowd in and around Tulia worked as a team to perpetrate this outrage. And these good ol' officials have shown no inclination to blow the whistle on their own bad behavior. A pair of fresh and impartial eyes is in order.

Meanwhile, the district attorney who prosecuted most of the Tulia cases, Terry McEachern, has a problem of his own to deal with. He was arrested in New Mexico the day before Thanksgiving on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. Police said he was pulled over after his Jeep Cherokee was spotted weaving from lane to lane. He reportedly said he had consumed some alcohol and also the prescription drug Valium. But he said he was not drunk. He refused to take a blood alcohol test.
John Cornyn, the state attorney general whose office is supposed to be investigating the Tulia arrests, had a much better November. Mr. Cornyn, who actually presented Tom Coleman with his Texas ''Lawman of the Year'' award, was elected to the United States Senate. He will take his seat as part of the Republican majority in January.