A POWER SHORTAGE IN TULIA INJUSTICE?

We have 14 people from Tulia locked up in prison unjustly.

Gov. Rick Perry's PR person said the governor doesn't have the authority to
let them out unless the Board of Pardons and Paroles says he can.

Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said he can't get them out of prison
unless the Legislature changes the law.

These 14 folks in prison got busted in a 1999 drug sting in the small
Panhandle town of Tulia and were charged and convicted on the word of a
lone undercover cop. No video or audio tapes. No seized drugs or cash or
weapons. No other corroboration of any kind.

That cop, Tom Coleman, previously had worked in three other counties as a
jailer and a deputy but was employed as a welder when Swisher County hired
him for that Tulia job, under an arrangement with the Panhandle Regional
Narcotics Task Force in Amarillo. While working undercover he got arrested,
himself, on a theft charge out of Cochran County. He cleared it up by
paying off some back debts.

One example of the quality of his investigation is the arrest of a woman
who proved that she was depositing a check in an Oklahoma bank about the
same time Coleman claimed she was selling him drugs in Tulia. Charges in
that case and a few others were dropped.

Still in prison, despite flaws But some of the cases went to trial and the
accused got handed some brutally long sentences, and then others opted to
accept shorter terms offered in plea bargains. A few got probation. Some
have done some time and been released. Fourteen remain in prison.

Our Texas lawmakers recognized the Tulia deal was flawed and responded with
legislation to tighten requirements for convicting people of drug charges.

Our governor recognized the Tulia deal was flawed. In January of this year
he put the narcotics task forces under the control of the Texas Department
of Public Safety.

But those 14 people remain in prison.

Cornyn told me on the phone Thursday that the U.S. Department of Justice
civil rights division is conducting a criminal investigation into the Tulia
drug sting operation. If the investigation finds that civil rights
violations occurred, it would likely facilitate the release of anyone still
in prison.

(Back in July, in a letter to the American Bar Association, a Justice
Department official said: "An investigation of events in Tulia was
conducted by the Criminal Section and recently closed." But a Justice
Department PR person said Thursday that letter was in error and the
investigation continues and there's no telling how long it might take.)

Cornyn said the only way he could get involved under current laws is if
Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern invited him to get
involved. He also said McEachern could get the people released from prison.

But McEachern is in a tight spot. If he springs those 14 people now, it
might look to his voters like an admission the drug charges were flawed.
They might wonder why he took so long to come to that conclusion. I called
McEachern's office to ask if he will let the 14 people out of prison, but
his office said he is out until Monday.

Volunteers working on appeal Outside Texas, Vanita Gupta, of the NAACP
Legal Defense Fund based in New York, said many lawyers have volunteered
and are working on appeals to overturn all the felony convictions resulting
from the Tulia sting.

Cornyn said the state judge who presided over the trials could let the
people out of prison, and so could the federal judge in Amarillo. But he
can't do anything.

Isn't it amazing that neither our governor nor our state attorney general
have the power to deal with such an injustice. People don't get elected to
offices such as those without knowing how to wield power to get things
done. Looks like Gov. Perry could suggest the Board of Pardons and Paroles
study the situation and make a recommendation he could act upon. Looks like
Cornyn would know whose arm to twist.

He did say on Thursday that he would call McEachern to discuss the
situation. I guess he heard the same as I did that the DA is out of the
office until Monday. I hope he tries then.

Those 14 people are still in prison.