CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST KEY PLAYER IN TULIA DRUG CONTROVERSY

TULIA - In a pivotal move that may shed some doubt on the credibility of an
undercover officer involved in a controversial 1999 drug bust here, the 7th
District Court of Appeals in Amarillo dismissed charges this week against a
man arrested during the bust.

The court's ruling will prevent Billy Wafer, 41, from being tried on charges
that he sold drugs to an undercover officer during the 1999 bust.

Of the 43 people arrested during the bust, 40 of them were black.

The arrests were based on an 18-month undercover investigation conducted by
officer Tom Coleman, who worked alone and had no surveillance. While his
credibility has been challenged by some, he's been praised by others as an
outstanding lawman.

The drug bust has prompted a lawsuit against the local sheriff, the district
attorney who prosecuted the cases and Coleman. The U.S. Justice Department
is conducting an investigation into the undercover operation.

The court's decision to dismiss Wafer's charges could have some impact on
others convicted in the bust.

"Legally, my theory and my belief is no," the court's ruling would not
impact the other cases, said Brent Hamilton, Wafer's attorney. "But, from a
factual standpoint ... the evidence was just totally uncredible against Mr.
Wafer, so I think it does cast at least a little bit of doubt on the
credibility of Mr. Coleman."

Prosecutor Terry McEachern was out of the office until Monday and could not
be reached for comment Thursday.

In 1990, Wafer was placed on probation after being arrested in nearby Hale
County for possession of marijuana and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

In 1999, one year short of completing probation, Wafer was accused of
selling cocaine to Coleman near a playground in Tulia.

When the 1999 allegations arose, the prosecutor asked Hale County District
Judge Ed Self to revoke Wafer's probation and send him to jail.

The judge, however, didn't revoke Wafer's probation because he was not
convinced by the evidence presented that the allegations in the 1999 charges
were true, according to court documents from the 7th District Court of
Appeals.

Attorneys planned to prosecute Wafer for the 1999 charges, but the appeals
court's ruling this week will prevent that from happening, Hamilton said.

The court ruled that prosecuting Wafer for the 1999 crime would be similar
to double jeopardy, which prevents someone from being tried twice for the
same crime, Hamilton said.

Wafer could not be reached for comment Thursday, but his wife, Carolyn, said
she and her husband were elated with the court's ruling.

"Everybody around us said don't worry, it's going to be dismissed, but we
got the news today and it's like ah, thank God," she said. "It's just the
best news we've had since this whole ordeal began."

She said her husband was going to try to come home early from work on
Thursday to celebrate.

"He said that we deserve to go out and eat somewhere," she said.