ONE MAN'S LIES ENOUGH TO CONVICT 38 PEOPLE

Thirty-eight residents of Tulia were railroaded on a train of lies.

No fewer than two dozen instances of "perjured and misleading testimony"
are detailed in the "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law" filed this
month with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The findings represent facts and recommendations by special prosecutors,
defense lawyers and a district judge regarding the 38 Tulia residents who
were convicted of drug trafficking in 1999 and 2000. The findings -- and
their stark revelations -- stem from court-ordered evidentiary hearings in
March. Even special prosecutors are convinced that Tulia residents were
wrongly convicted. All agree that convictions of the 38 should be thrown out.

That towering conclusion was built on former undercover police officer Tom
Coleman's deceit. Coleman provided testimony that resulted in the arrests
of 46 Tulia residents on drug trafficking charges in 1999. Thirty-nine of
those are African American, about 10 percent of Tulia's black population.
After the arrests, 38 people were convicted, and many were sentenced to
prison from 20 years to 90 years.

All the convictions hinged on Coleman's word. There was no corroborating
evidence or witnesses to back up Coleman's allegations. Coleman, who was
indicted last month on felony perjury charges in connection with the case,
is free while awaiting trial. Meanwhile, 13 Tulia defendants have suffered
in prison since their arrests.

We again urge the Legislature to quickly approve Sen. John Whitmire's bill,
Senate Bill 1948, which would authorize bail for the Tulia 13. Their
continued imprisonment is a cruel insult to justice.

The 12 men and one woman have suffered enough in the 4 1/2 years they've
been unjustly severed from the lives that Coleman's lies destroyed. It is
simply incredible that the government that was so quick to lock them up is
so slow to set them free.

We welcomed Gov. Rick Perry's call last week for the Texas Board of Pardon
and Paroles to review the convictions and determine whether the Tulia 13
should be pardoned, granted clemency or have their sentences commuted. An
unconditional pardon is in order, and it shouldn't take the parole board
much longer than the time it takes to read the legal findings to reach that
conclusion.

Legal findings erase any lingering doubts about the Tulia convictions. None
of the 38 would have been found guilty without Coleman's testimony. Much of
that was false, the findings show:

* In 2000, Coleman testified that he had never been arrested except for a
traffic ticket as a youth. The truth was that Coleman had been arrested in
1998 by Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart on theft charges because he
used a credit card issued to a county where he had worked to buy gas for
his personal vehicle. Coleman made $7,000 restitution and the charges were
dropped.

* Coleman lied during a 2003 hearing when he denied that he was prejudiced
against African Americans. Coleman routinely referred to African Americans
as "niggers" in his private life and was reprimanded by superiors for using
the term in their presence. At one point, he was counseled by a superior to
"stop targeting the African American community in his undercover work."

* Coleman "stood by his fictitious story" that he bought drugs from Tulia
defendant Tonya White even though White was in Oklahoma City when Coleman
said he bought drugs from her. Charges were dropped.

With so many apparent lies, it's no wonder that Coleman had trouble keeping
his stories straight and ultimately was snared by his own deceit. But
there's more. Coleman also falsified reports and misrepresented facts about
his undercover work -- even misidentifying various defendants.

This matter shouldn't end with Coleman. He never would have gotten away
with this scam, which transformed him from loser to Texas Lawman of the
Year in 1999, without help from Stewart. The sheriff knew Coleman had a
dubious record as a cop but turned him loose on a hapless community anyway.

And there are facts in the legal findings that raise serious questions of
whether Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern and other members
of the prosecution team concealed and suppressed facts that would have
outed Coleman's lies.