JAILED DEFENDANTS IN TULIA DRUG CASE TO BE FREED ON BOND

TULIA - Preparations, legal and personal, have been under way for days to
welcome back a dozen men and women to the community that sent them to
prison four years ago following the now discredited 1999 drug sting.

The welcome will happen today as opponents of the drug bust, who have
concentrated for years on how to free the defendants, shift focus on how to
integrate loved ones into a life without bars.

"I think there is a certain mixture of joy and apprehension," said Alan
Bean, who helped found the Friends of Justice to support the defendants.
"There's a general recognition that they're going to need a lot of support
to work their way back into a free society."

The 12 people will appear in the Swisher County courtroom at 1 p.m., when
visiting judge Ron Chapman will grant them personal recognizance bonds,
allowing them to go free until their cases are resolved, said attorney Jeff
Blackburn.

"The orders will be signed from the bench in a brief but formal
proceeding," Blackburn said. "Then they will walk out the door of the
courtroom."

Chapman stopped a series of hearings in March after he found the testimony
of the sting's undercover officer, Tom Coleman, to be unreliable. He, with
the agreement of prosecutors and defense attorneys, agreed to recommend to
the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that all cases from the drug bust be
tossed out.

Coleman has since been indicted for perjury.

Action by the appeals court could take months or even years, which led the
legislature to pass a bill this session allowing the defendants to be
granted bond while they await their fate.

Those being bonded today are slightly fewer in number than the 14
originally expected.

One defendant, William Cash Love, cannot be bonded because his case is in
direct appeal and not under Chapman's jurisdiction. A second defendant,
Daniel Olivarez, also will not be bonded because he has a charge out of
Potter County that is not under Chapman's jurisdiction.

For the 12 who will receive bond, the court process will be followed by a
reception with friends and family, Bean said.