DA IN TULIA CASES FOUND GUILTY OF DWI

LUBBOCK, Texas -- A West Texas prosecutor was found guilty Tuesday of
aggravated driving while intoxicated in New Mexico and sentenced to two
days in jail.

The verdict by Judge Frank Wilson brings into question the professional
future of Terry McEachern, who also was fined $300.

"As a public official, I'm sure it would probably be best if he stepped
down," Swisher County Commissioner Billy Settle said of the 18-year prosecutor.

McEachern, who is district attorney for Swisher, Hale and Castro counties
and who prosecuted many of the Tulia drug bust trials, was stopped on
suspicion of drunken driving by a police officer in Ruidoso, N.M., on Nov. 27.

He failed a series of field sobriety tests and refused to take a breath test.

In finding the prosecutor guilty, Wilson cited McEachern's failure to
perform the sobriety tests, which were captured on video.

"We have the benefit not of a scientific test but the benefit of a
videotape that shows what happened," Wilson said, according to Wednesday
editions of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "I regret the consequences this
holds for you personally and professionally."

The 14 Tulia residents still imprisoned on drug charges are to return to
the Swisher County Courthouse on Monday, when they are expected to be
released on personal recognizance bonds. Their prosecution was brought by
Mr. McEachern, drawing on the testimony of a now-indicted undercover agent.

Retired District Judge Ron Chapman of Dallas County signed a recommendation
to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seeking dismissal of convictions
involving 38 Tulia residents because Mr. McEachern relied on testimony that
wasn't credible.