BILL AUTHORIZES BOND FOR STING DEFENDANTS

Thirteen Tulia residents who remain in prison from a controversial
drug sting edged closer to freedom Wednesday.

The Texas House sent Gov. Rick Perry legislation that would allow a
Swisher County district judge to release the defendants on bond until
the Court of Criminal Appeals decides whether they were wrongfully
convicted.

Perry spokesman Gene Acuna indicated the governor supported the Tulia
bill but stopped short of saying he would sign it into law.

"We'll review the bill. The principle behind the bill is one the
governor supports," Acuna said.

The bill by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, stems from the 1999 drug
sting in which 46 Tulia residents, 39 of whom are black, were
arrested, and 38 were convicted solely on the testimony of an
undercover officer who was later found to be not credible. Thirteen
are still in prison.

Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, the House sponsor, said he is certain that
the governor supports the legislation, which shows the need for review
of the criminal justice system.

"The integrity of the criminal justice system is at stake on this,"
Keel said. "I think this is a small part of fixing the problem."

Perry recently called on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to
review all 38 Tulia convictions. He asked the board to "recommend
whether a pardon, commutation of sentence or other clemency action is
appropriate and just."

In his report to the appeals court, retired state District Judge Ron
Chapman, who presided over evidentiary hearings in March, found that
the only witness against the defendants, undercover officer Tom
Coleman, was guilty of "blatant perjury."

Special prosecutors hired to help Swisher County with the cases
stipulated during the evidentiary hearings that Coleman -- who has
since been indicted for perjury based on his testimony at the
evidentiary hearings -- was not a credible witness.

Prosecutors have said the cases would be dismissed if the Court of
Criminal Appeals orders new trials. But the appellate court's review
could take as long as two years, some officials believe.

If Perry does sign the bill, Will Harrell, spokesman for American
Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said lawyers will ask Chapman to set
the bonds. However, it still could take some time with lengthy
procedural matters and defendants being spread out in different
prisons across the state.

"It's not like the bill passed the House today and they are going to
be home by dinner," Harrell said. "We've overcome the biggest hurdle,
and that was a political one."

Harrell said the defendants and their families have waited a long time
to get to this point.

"It has restored their faith in the Legislature," Harrell said. "We
regret that this Legislature didn't have the vision to enact measures
to prevent this."

Harrell said situations similar to the Tulia case happen on a daily
basis.

"We never hear about other cases, only when 16 percent of a town's
black population gets caught up and arrested based on one person's
word," Harrell said. "Everyone knows this is the right thing to do."

Alan Bean, a semi-retired Baptist minister and member of Friends of
Justice, a group that has helped the families of the Tulia defendants,
said his faith led him to believe the 13 would be released.

"It's been a wild ride," Bean said. "I have always felt that this day
was going to come; I have never doubted it."

Bean said he contacted many of the inmates' families on Wednesday to
tell them the good news from Austin.

"I think people are finally allowing themselves to believe that this
is real," Bean said. "For so long, so many people were saying that it
would never happen."

One relative, Ida Mary Smith, said she can't wait to see her younger
brother, Willie Hall, free again.

"It's been a long time," said Smith. "We all have had hope that maybe
sooner or later it would straighten itself out."