BAR SEEKS SANCTIONS IN TAINTED DRUG STING

The Texas state bar has brought a petition for disciplinary action, which
could include disbarment, against a district attorney who prosecuted the
drug cases in 1999 in Tulia, Tex., that have since been discredited.

The bar's filing, on Thursday, contended that the district attorney, Terry
D. McEachern, had failed to inform defense lawyers that the undercover
officer who developed the cases had an arrest record. The bar also said
that during the trial, Mr. McEachern had failed to correct testimony by the
officer that Mr. McEachern knew to be false. He has 60 days to respond to
the petition, which will be subject to a court trial.

All of the 46 people arrested were from Tulia, a largely poor town of 5,000
between Amarillo and Lubbock.

Last year, Gov. Rick Perry granted pardons to 35 of the 46 people
implicated by the officer, Tom Coleman, who has been charged with perjury.
The City of Amarillo, which led a regional narcotics task force that made
the arrests, agreed to a settlement of $5 million last month for those who
had been arrested.

Mr. McEachern was defeated for re-election in March after serving 19 years
as a district prosecutor.