THE PLOT THICKENS IN TULIA

Swisher Sheriff Takes Stand In Tulia

TULIA -- Defense attorneys continued to hammer away at the supervisors of
the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting in evidentiary hearings Wednesday.

The highlight of the testimony came toward the end of the day when Swisher
County Sheriff Larry Stewart took the stand and faced a barrage of
aggressive questions from defense attorneys. Stewart and defense attorney
Mitchell Zamoff butted heads for two hours in testimony that was a bizarre
mix of clashing questions and answers finished with polite "sirs" on each side.

Stewart entered the courtroom at the end of the third day of testimony in
the cases of Jason Jerome Williams, Christopher Eugene Jackson, Freddie
Brookins Jr. and Joe Moore,

The four men were among 46 people, 39 of whom are black, arrested after an
18 month undercover investigation by Tom Coleman. Cases against the four
men - who received sentences ranging from 20 to 90 years - were upheld on
direct appeal, but their writ of habeas corpus appeals were returned to
Swisher County for further hearings.

The morning testimony featured slow, repetitive questioning of Lt. Mike
Amos and Sgt. Jerry Massengill, both of whom supervised Coleman at the
Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force. The two men faced
similar lines of questioning about the methods used to hire Coleman and the
manner in which he was supervised.

That slow, steady approach was sharply contrasted by Zamoff's questioning
of Stewart. Zamoff asked pointed, rapid-fire questions of Stewart, who sat
calmly on the stand with his hands crossed, generally refusing to be drawn
into the verbal jousting. Stewart repeatedly stated he did not remember
events that stretched back as long as five years ago, answers which
appeared to frustrate Zamoff.

In one typical exchange, Zamoff tried over and over to get Stewart to
commit to saying he had the final say in hiring Coleman, but Stewart
repeatedly paused for a few seconds, then stated it was a joint decision
with the task force.

The questioning went on in that vein for about an hour until Stewart made a
startling statement. Asked whether he had seen Coleman's complete file from
the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education,
Stewart replied that he hadn't seen it until that morning when it was
handed to him by one of the state's attorneys.

The admission clearly upset defense attorneys and caused an audible gasp
from the nearly full courtroom.

Jeff Blackburn, one of more than a dozen attorneys representing the
defendants, questioned the propriety of giving evidence that will be
admitted during the hearing to a witness on the morning of his testimony.

"We're going to talk amongst ourselves to decide what we're going to do
about this creative witness preparation," Blackburn said. "This is a pretty
disturbing development. I've never heard of this going on, and I've
certainly never seen it happen."

Special Prosecutor John Nation, who is representing the state, played down
the matter, however.

"I don't think this was being done to - quote - get his story straight,"
Nation said. "There is simply a vast amount of information in this case,
and it's nearly impossible for anybody to keep it all straight without a
reminder."

Courtroom observers let out another gasp when Zamoff asked Stewart if he
had ever used the racial epithet "nigger," and Stewart replied that he was
sure he had at some point in his life. Nation quickly objected to the
question, and Judge Ron Chapman sustained the objection.

Zamoff moved on to ask Stewart if he'd ever heard Coleman use the term, to
which Stewart replied yes, as had the two earlier witnesses.

Stewart said he couldn't remember how many times Coleman had used the term,
but he guessed it was two or three times.

Stewart testified that there are times when a person can use the term
without being racist, which put Zamoff back on the attack, grilling Stewart
about how the term could not show racial bias.

The day wrapped up with a powwow about scheduling. The hearings were
supposed to last only a week, but the defense's lengthy questioning of
witnesses has made that highly unlikely. Chapman told attorneys he may
extend the hearings into Saturday, but believed more hearings would have to
be scheduled at the end of March or the middle of April.

Stewart is expected to continue testimony today and will likely be followed
by Coleman if time allows.