CORNYN OPENS STATE PROBE INTO TULIA DRUG ARRESTS

AUSTIN -- With a federal investigation dragging on, Texas Attorney General
John Cornyn has opened a state investigation into a 1999 Tulia drug bust
that civil rights groups say was racially motivated.

"There has been some confusion over whether there even was an ongoing
investigation," Cornyn said. "I became concerned things had gotten bogged
down."

In a letter Monday to R. Alexander Acosta, deputy assistant attorney general
for the U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division, Cornyn said he
told his staff to open an investigation and has asked the Texas Department
of Public Safety to join.

Cornyn said he didn't want to interfere with a federal investigation but
said a state review is needed.

In his letter, Cornyn asked that state investigators be allowed to review
the federal case. A Justice Department spokeswoman would say only that the
federal investigation is still open and declined further comment.

Swisher County authorities arrested 43 people in a drug sting, including 37
blacks. Of those arrested 11 were found guilty and another 17 accepted plea
agreements.

Civil rights groups have vigorously protested the Tulia bust, which raised
questions about the state's drug task forces.

Many of the cases against black Tulia residents were based solely on the
testimony of officer Tom Coleman, who said he spent 18 months working
undercover to make drug cases against a large portion of the town's black
population.

Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo attorney who represents several of the Tulia
defendants, said the investigation is long overdue.

"We have demanded an investigation for well over a year now," Blackburn
said. "However, it's one thing to investigate, it's another to take real
action. And Mr. Cornyn is in a position to take action. His office needs to
take over these cases and see to it that some justice finally starts getting
done."

Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and the district attorney, Terry
McEachern, have denied allegations of racial bias and stand by the arrests
and convictions. So has Coleman, who no longer works in law enforcement.