CONTROVERSIAL TULIA DRUG TRIAL NEARS CLOSING

TULIA - The last of a series of trials stemming from a costly and
controversial drug bust last year in Tulia is expected to conclude today.

On trial is Kareem Abdul Jabbar White of Tulia, accused of selling cocaine
to an undercover officer.

Many of the 43 defendants in the case have plea bargained. Others went to
trial in this small community.

The cases have rested largely on the evidence provided by the undercover
officer who conducted the 18-month undercover operation, Tom Coleman. He
has testified that he used no recording devices or videotaping devices
during the drug busts. Coleman also has testified that no other officers
aided him during the busts.

His credibility has been challenged in court.

While working undercover in Swisher County, Coleman was charged with theft
and abuse of his official position in Cochran County, records show. The
charges later were dropped.

Mike Culwell, a longtime farmer and rancher northeast of Tulia, has said he
is suspicious of the operation.

"They're taking the word of one undercover agent who's been in trouble
himself to lock these kids away forever, and I'm not sure that's too
appropriate," he said this year.

District Judge Jack Miller placed a gag order on attorneys and witnesses
associated with White's case.

In an April interview, Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern
said that of the 43 people arrested during the sting, one was Hispanic and
two were white. The rest were black.

The Amarillo chapter of the National Association for Advancement of Colored
People has promised to examine the case.

McEachern said in April that one of the harsher sentences fell on a white
man, William Cash Love, who was sentenced to 434 years in prison for eight
drug-related charges.

One of the lighter sentences was given to Vickie Fry, a black woman who
received five years' probation for delivery of cocaine, McEachern has said.

The drug bust last summer has garnered controversy among taxpayers in
Swisher County, which has a population of about 9,000. The drug bust was
expected to use about $230,000 of the county's annual budget. As a result,
taxpayers saw a 5.8-percent property tax increase in October.

"There's going to be a taxpayers' revolt before it's all over," Culwell
said in April.

The drug bust has been criticized by some area residents for its racial
overtones.

White is the son of longtime Tulia resident Mattie White. She has two other
children and several relatives who were charged in connection with the bust.

"It's all around town. They don't want blacks living around town," she said
in April. "The police have always targeted my family. It's terrible here."

The drug cases have caught national attention.

On Wednesday, representatives of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial
Justice from New York City attended the trial. Attorney William Kunstler
died in 1995. He represented seven men in Chicago in 1968 who were charged
with forming riots to protest the Vietnam War. Five of the men were
convicted of rioting, but their sentences were overturned.

Randy Credico, a representative of the Kunstler organization, attended
Wednesday's trial and described it as a "modern day, small town witch hunt."

He said all of the drug trials should have been moved out of Swisher County
for trial.

"Part of our mission statement is to oppose racism in the judicial system,"
Credico said. "This is as racist as it gets.

"Everyone's wondering why we're here. Well, they were caught doing
something racist that belongs in the 1880s, not 2000. In that courtroom,
there is no justice for black people."

The suspect's attorney, Dwight McDonald of Lubbock, pointed out during
court Wednesday that Coleman gave conflicting statements about when he
allegedly purchased drugs from White.

The defense attorney also brought in four witnesses - a district attorney,
a narcotics investigator, a former sheriff for whom Coleman worked and a
retired banker who did business with Coleman - who testified that Coleman
is a liar.

McEachern brought in witnesses including a Texas Ranger, Swisher County
Sheriff Larry Stewart and a narcotics official for whom Coleman worked
during the undercover operation who said Coleman is a truthful person.