SENATE APPROVES BILL TO RELEASE 13 IN TULIA DRUG BUST

AUSTIN (AP)- The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation that
would allow for the release of the 13 people who remain jailed from the
1999 Tulia drug bust, which stemmed from an investigation by an undercover
agent who later was deemed not credible.

"The only piece of evidence against these individuals was an officer in a
task force who has since been indicted," said bill sponsor Sen. John
Whitmire, D-Houston.

The bill's passage comes a day after Gov. Rick Perry asked the Texas Board
of Pardons and Paroles to immediately review the arrests of the Tulia
residents in the drug bust.

Dozens of mostly black Tulia residents were arrested in the bust following
an investigation by undercover agent Tom Coleman, who was indicted in April
on three counts of aggravated perjury for allegedly lying on the witness
stand during evidentiary hearings involving the busts.

Whitmire's bill would allow the Swisher County District Court to release
the 13 on bond pending final action by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

A filing to the appeals court, prompted by the evidentiary hearings the
court ordered in four of the cases, concluded that Coleman was not a
credible witness.

The filing said Coleman's "blatant perjury" during the prosecutions "so
undermines the court's confidence in the validity of the convictions that
it would be a travesty of justice to permit the applicants' convictions to
stand."

Whitmire told the lawmakers that it could take up to two years for the
Court of Criminal Appeals to act in the matter.

"In the meantime, these Texans are still in prison," Whitmire said.

Coleman's 18-month undercover operation led to the arrest of 46 people, 39
of who were black. Coleman did not use audio or video surveillance in the
undercover operation. Civil rights advocates have claimed the busts were
racially motivated.

Coleman's uncorroborated testimony resulted in prison terms for many of the
38 people who were prosecuted. Some of the cases went to trial while some
of the people took plea agreements after seeing the lengthy sentences given
in early trials.

The Texas Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Justice Department have
also been investigating the case.

Coleman, who is no longer in law enforcement, has an unlisted telephone
number and could not be reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The bill now goes to the House.

The Tulia bill is SB 1948.