EAST TEXAS DA FACES CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT WITHOUT GOVERNMENT HELP

AUSTIN - James Morrow was driving to Houston to visit his cousin when
he was pulled over in the East Texas town of Tenaha for "driving too
close to the white line."

The officer, Barry Washington, searched the vehicle and asked Morrow
if he had any money, according to court records. Morrow, who is
black, had $3,900. He said the officer took the cash and drove him to
the Shelby County Jail.

That's where authorities threatened to prosecute him for money
laundering unless he agreed to forfeit the money, Morrow said. He was
never charged with a crime in the 2007 incident, and when he pursued
legal action, he got the money back.

Now, local officials are ensnared in a lawsuit, and it may become
personally costly for at least one of them.

The federal civil rights lawsuit accuses Shelby County District
Attorney Lynda K. Russell, Washington, and other Tenaha law
enforcement officials of running a "stop and seize" practice.
Motorists, most of them black and from out of state, were threatened
with felony money laundering charges unless they signed over cash,
cars, jewelry and other valuables, the suit alleges. When they signed
the forfeiture documents, they were not charged with crimes.

This week, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released an opinion
saying Russell couldn't use money from the forfeiture fund to defend
herself against the federal lawsuit filed in 2008. Russell sought the
opinion after Shelby County and the state rejected her requests for
legal representation.

Russell has been left "high and dry," her attorney says.

"She'll have to pay for her defense out of her own resources, which
are limited," said Tom Henson, Russell's attorney. "This whole thing
has kind of fallen into a never-never land.

"She feels very strongly that she has done nothing wrong and she's
not liable, and neither are the other defendants. They had good cause
for whatever they did," Henson added.

Russell and Tenaha officials have defended their practices, saying
they have used Texas' asset forfeiture law to combat drug trafficking
and other crimes. Officials have not responded to the allegation that
minorities were targeted under the program.

Under state law, law enforcement agencies can seize cash and other
assets after showing by a "preponderance of evidence" that they were
used in a crime, and then use those funds to supplement their budgets.

Washington, the Tenaha police officer, who is black, didn't respond
to messages seeking comment on the federal lawsuit, which is pending.
His attorney declined to comment.

David Guillory, a Nacogdoches lawyer, said he and a paralegal began
to review court documents after hearing about Morrow's story.

They said they found that from mid-2006 to mid-2008, about 150 people
had money or valuables taken from them by police after traffic stops
in Tenaha and then were named as respondents in civil forfeiture
lawsuits filed in Shelby County.

Most were not charged with a crime and nearly all of them were black,
said Guillory, who is now representing plaintiffs in the federal
lawsuit and seeking to certify it as a class action.

"The police just took the money. They've profiled African-Americans
with out-of-state plates," he said.

Casino Route

Tenaha is a town of 1,112 along a U.S. highway that links Houston
with several gambling destinations in Louisiana. Several motorists
had large amounts of cash because they were en route to or returning
from Shreveport casinos, Guillory said.

Other plaintiffs include an elderly black woman from Ohio who said
that after being threatened with money laundering charges, she signed
a document authorizing the seizure of $4,000; and an interracial
couple from Houston who alleged that authorities said they would
place their two children in foster care if they didn't hand over $6,000.

In the opinion released Wednesday, Abbott also said that the county
Commissioners Court has no duty to defend Russell, and the state also
isn't obligated to pay.

Guillory, the attorney representing the motorists, said Abbott's
opinion "tries to distance the state from Miss Russell."

"She has stink all over her," he said.

A spokesman for Abbott said the attorney general would not comment
beyond the text of the opinion. His decision makes no comment on the
allegations posed in the lawsuit.

On Her Own

Henson, Russell's attorney, said she has been sued in her official
capacity and as an individual, and the government has abandoned her.

"Neither the county nor the state has said it has a duty to defend
her or indemnify her. It seems to me, politics aside, that our system
needs to be provide protections for its employees when they get sued," he said.

The state and the county disagree over whose responsibility it is to
protect Russell. And if plaintiffs receive a judgment, they may not
be able to collect without some level of government taking the hit,
said Vanita Gupta, an attorney with the ACLU's Racial Justice
Program. Other defendants are covered by "risk pools" that are paying
their attorneys and would cover any judgments.

Gupta said Abbott's opinion also could have an impact beyond the
federal lawsuit against Tenaha officials and Russell.

The ACLU says it is investigating possible abuse of the state asset
forfeiture law in seven other Texas counties, and similar practices
in other states.

"There needs to be a signal sent to other communities that officials
will be held accountable for abuses," Gupta said.

Morrow, the 30-year-old Pine Bluff, Ark., resident, spent a night in
the Shelby County Jail after the traffic stop in August 2007.

A judge released Morrow the next day. Morrow's mother hired an
attorney, and about two months later, Tenaha officials returned the
money to him.

But Morrow, who had planned to use the money to buy gold grills for
his teeth, said he ended up with only $400 after paying his legal bill.

"I feel I got a raw deal. I hope justice is finally served in this
matter and no one has to go through an ordeal like this again," he said.