DISMAL TEXAS JUSTICE

Re: "Justice Reviewed - State has chance to redress wrongs in Tulia," last
Monday's Editorials. I fail to see the "brilliance," as your editorial put
it, of a justice system that has taken almost four years to examine the
facts and circumstances surrounding the notorious drug sting that occurred
in Tulia in July 1999. This is nothing Texans should be proud of.

Previous law enforcement employers described Tom Coleman - whose
uncorroborated testimony led to multiple convictions and harsh sentences as
long as 90 years - as unprofessional, a discipline problem and a person in
need of constant supervision. In spite of these troubling reports about Mr.
Coleman's character and the fact that he had no previous undercover
experience, Mr. Coleman was hired by the Panhandle Regional Narcotics
Trafficking Task Force to perform sensitive undercover work. Most
astonishing of all, the task force allowed Mr. Coleman to work without a
partner, without wiretaps, without properly documenting his actions or
apparently accounting for drugs he had in his possession.

In testimony at evidentiary hearings in Tulia, called to examine whether
four men were denied due process, Lt. Michael Amos, a supervisor in the
task force, described Mr. Coleman as "an exceptional talent at being an
undercover officer." Lt. Amos made these comments fully aware of Mr.
Coleman's tactics in the Tulia sting. That's scary news for taxpayers who
think narcotics task forces know what they are doing.

The "brilliance" here has not come from the justice system, but in the
unrelenting pressure from grass-roots and other civil rights organizations
as well as columns by nationally syndicated columnist Bob Herbert of The
New York Times. To credit the Texas justice system with being responsive is
almost laughable. Justice delayed is surely justice denied.

Sherri Tullia, Plano