FREE AT LAST

Judge Releases 12 Convicted Of Drug-Dealing After They Served Nearly Four
Years Indicted Former Narcotics Officer Who Built Cases Called 'Cancer' On
Justice System

TULIA - Applause broke out in a packed courtroom Monday after 12 people
convicted of dealing drugs -- 11 of whom are black -- were released without
bail by a judge who was told they had spent nearly four years behind bars
because of a racist policeman who was a "cancer" within the justice system.

"It's good to be out," said a smiling Jason Jerome Williams, standing
outside the Swisher County courthouse after being freed by visiting state
District Judge Ron Chapman. "I'm going to see my little girl tomorrow,"
Williams said.

Williams, 10 other men and one woman were released on personal recognizance
bonds by Chapman while a state appellate court decides whether their
drug-related convictions should be overturned. Their accuser, former
undercover narcotics officer Tom Coleman, is now suspected of lying while
testifying in the cases, and witnesses say he exhibited racist behavior
during his investigation of drug crimes in Tulia. Coleman was employed by
Swisher County as part of a regional narcotics task force.

A 13th defendant, Daniel Olivarez, 22, remains in custody on an unrelated
charge.

Gov. Rick Perry, who signed a bill that allowed the defendants to be freed,
at least temporarily, could also issue pardons in the cases.

The convictions made national news after the prosecutors' cases -- all
built around uncorroborated accounts by Coleman -- began to fall apart
during appeal. In all, 46 people, 39 of them black, were arrested in a July
1999 drug raid because of the work of Coleman, who has been indicted for
aggravated perjury.

Thirty-eight people were convicted or pleaded guilty. Those who entered
guilty pleas said they were scared into doing so, fearing longer prison
sentences if they contested Coleman's evidence. The punishments ranged from
probation to 90 years in prison.

Before Chapman made his ruling, he was told by Washington-based defense
attorneys that the 13 defendants were pursued by Coleman mainly because of
their ethnicity. The state's special prosecutor, Rod Hobson of Lubbock,
agreed, telling the judge it would be "in the interest of justice" to allow
the defendants to be freed.

Defense attorney Mitch Zamoff argued that Coleman, although he wore a
badge, acted as a "cancer" within the justice and judicial systems.
Pointing to the defendants as they sat quietly in a jury box, Zamoff added:
"All these convictions were poisoned by 'Tom Coleman cancer.' "

Vanita Gupta, a New York-based attorney for the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, said Coleman has caused "years of
unspeakable loss" for the small minority community in Tulia, including "the
loss of sons and daughters, the loss of mothers and fathers, and the loss
of sisters and brothers."

Not everyone in this West Texas community agreed.

Shopkeeper Pat Devin, who watched the media throng from across the street,
said she believes that although Coleman was overzealous in his police work,
he was on the mark in fingering some of the defendants as drug dealers. "I
know some of them are innocent," said Devin, who is white, as she sat in a
ceramic shop. But, she said, "I could probably name five of them that are
known by our community, and by our children and grandchildren, as dealers."

The botched prosecutions will set police back in their efforts to fight
drug trafficking in Tulia, Devin said. "How are we going to solve the drug
problem if we can't do anything about it?" she asked, adding: "I am ready
to get rid of the bad publicity."

This town of 5,000, including 400 black residents, has been rattled by the
years of police controversy. And national media accounts have branded it as
a backward rural community where whites rule and minorities serve.

Mattie White, mother of the defendants Kizzie White and Kareem White, said
she does not blame the young whites in Tulia for her children's legal
problems. "It's not the whole town. It's just the old people set in their
ways," White said.

Charles Kiker, 69, a Tulia native and retired minister, is happy the
defendants are winning freedom. Kiker, who is white, said he does not
believe the town's racial problems are any greater than many other rural
communities in West Texas.

But, he added, "We are isolated out here. And perhaps the civil rights
movement passed us by."

After Chapman adjourned court, the defendants leapt from the jury box and
embraced their family, friends, attorneys and even some members of the media.

Kizzie White held tight to her son, Cash, 6, and daughter, Roneisha, 9.
"I'm just happy to be home with my family again," White said. Her son
looked up at her and said, "I want to go to Wonderland," referring to an
amusement park in nearby Amarillo.

The boy thought for a moment, then added: "I want to go to Six Flags, too."

Calvin Klein, the only white defendant to appear before the judge on
Monday, said he was "real glad that the wheels of justice are finally
turning." Klein said he was not angry that nearly four years of freedom had
been snatched from his life.

Joe Moore, 60, the first defendant to stand trial and be convicted, said he
also holds no grudge, even toward the cop who caused him to lose his job
and send him to prison, where he folded socks in an inmate laundry room.

Moore, who was sentenced to 90 years in prison, hopes he will never grow a
day older behind bars. Instead, he said he plans to "go home, watch TV and
stay out of trouble."