STATE SENATOR FILES BILL FOR RELEASE OF TULIA 13

AUSTIN -- A state senator on Thursday filed legislation to speed up the
release of the 13 people who still remain in prison from the controversial
Tulia drug sting, and he put the bill on a fast track.

"I kept thinking the process was going to work, but it's way too slow. They
shouldn't spend another day in prison," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston.

Whitmire's Senate Bill 1948 would permit a district judge in Swisher County
to release the 13 on bond while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
deliberates their cases.

Whitmire scheduled the legislation for a public hearing on Monday before
the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, which he chairs.

In Washington, meanwhile, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., has said he will investigate the
drug busts.

The investigation was requested by three Congressional Black Caucus
members, including U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston.

Forty-six Tulia residents, 39 of whom were black, were arrested in the 1999
drug sting, and 38 were convicted on the testimony of since-discredited
undercover officer Tom Coleman.

After civil rights advocates complained that the arrests were racially
motivated, evidentiary hearings were held in March but were halted early
when prosecutors stipulated that Coleman was not a credible witness.

Retired state District Judge Ron Chapman of Dallas, who was appointed to
examine the Tulia case, recommended that the Court of Criminal Appeals
overturn all 38 convictions and order new trials.

Citing Coleman's "blatant perjury" during the Tulia prosecutions, Chapman
told the appellate court that "it would be a travesty of justice to permit
the ... convictions to stand."

Special prosecutor Rod Hobson said the cases would be dismissed if new
trials were ordered. But the Court of Criminal Appeals hasn't ruled and
could take months to decide the cases while 13 people remain behind bars,
Whitmire said.

"It is clear to me that the only reasonable alternative at this point is to
release these individuals. Allowing them to remain incarcerated any longer
will only serve to undermine public confidence in our system of justice,"
he said.

Keith Hampton, lobbyist for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association,
said the Court of Criminal Appeals could take as long as two years to
decide the Tulia cases.

"I believe there will be delay everywhere," he said, citing the length of
Chapman's findings and conclusions, state budgetary cutbacks and the
court's own record of dealing with appeals.

Jeff Blackburn of Amarillo, the Tulia residents' defense lawyer, said
Whitmire's bill would ensure that a judge could set bond for the prison
inmates. He said he will testify for the measure.

Whitmire said his bill would apply only to the Tulia 13 and would expire
one year after becoming law.

The measure would go into immediate effect on the governor's signature if
it is approved by two-thirds votes in the House and the Senate. It would go
into effect Sept. 1 if approved by lesser margins.

Whitmire said Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, chairman of the House Criminal
Jurisprudence Committee and a former Travis County sheriff, will carry the
bill in the House.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Whitmire "believes strongly in the bill."

"If it accomplishes what he's outlined to me in general, I'll be
supportive," Dewhurst said.

Spokeswoman Kathy Walt said Gov. Rick Perry wanted to study the bill before
commenting.

Coleman has since been indicted on three counts of perjury stemming from
his testimony during the March hearings.

The drug busts in Tulia, a small town between Amarillo and Lubbock, also
have been investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and the Texas
attorney general's office.

The people arrested in 1999 were accused of possessing cocaine and crack
cocaine. Of the 38, some were convicted in trials while most pleaded
guilty, their defenders say, out of fear that conviction in a trial would
have resulted in longer prison terms.

In Washington, Sensenbrenner announced his plans for an investigation at a
civil rights forum on Capitol Hill.