JUSTICE REVIEWED: STATE HAS CHANCE TO REDRESS WRONGS IN TULIA

The brilliance of the American criminal justice system is not that it never
makes mistakes, but that it contains a built-in mechanism for correcting
them. That is what the appeals process is all about. That's why judges pore
over cases that have already been decided, review trial transcripts and
scrutinize the behavior of lawyers and other judges - all to assess whether
the accused got what the Constitution guarantees: due process.

That is the question at the heart of an ongoing evidentiary hearing in the
5,000-person town of Tulia in the Texas Panhandle. Ordered by the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals, the hearing is meant to determine whether due
process was given to four individuals convicted after a now infamous drug
sting in July 1999: Joe Welton Moore, Christopher Eugene Jackson, Jason
Jerome Williams and Freddie Brookins Jr.

Two things helped make the sting infamous. One was that it landed almost 10
percent of the town's black population in jail. Even in a town that is
overwhelmingly white, 39 out of the 46 people arrested in the sting were
black. The other was that the investigation, as well as the prosecutions
that followed, was based entirely on the uncorroborated testimony of one
police officer. Hired by the sheriff of Tulia and paid with state grant
money, Tom Coleman had no undercover experience and no interest in wearing
a wire, taking notes or adhering to supervision. What Mr. Coleman did have
was a checkered past, which included being known to use the "n-word" in
casual conversation.

Some of the convicted turned out to have alibis, prompting concern that
these cases were more about racism than drug enforcement. If that turns out
to be the case, what occurred in Tulia is a miscarriage that must be corrected.

The responsibility for getting to the bottom of this rests in the able
hands of retired Dallas Judge Ron Chapman, who was appointed by the state
criminal appeals court to oversee the fact-finding process and report back
to the court by May 1. When the time comes, Judge Chapman should speak
clearly and let the chips fall where they may.

The brilliance of the American criminal justice system demands nothing less.