SHERIFF GUARDED TULIA DRUG AGENT'S IDENTITY

Sheriff Says He Also Heard Agent Use Racial Epithet

TULIA -- Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart testified Wednesday that he
twice requested the sealing of a state agency file on Tom Coleman, the
undercover drug agent at the center of controversial 1999 drug cases in Tulia.

The testimony is part of a hearing in the cases of four defendants, in
which the court is trying to determine whether the state failed to turn
over information about Coleman's background that could have impeached his
testimony.

Stewart testified he wrote letters in April 1998 and February 1999 to the
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education in an
effort to protect Coleman's identity.

"It made sense to me," Stewart testified. "I had concerns about identifying
information. That was the only reason I did that."

Coleman, who is no longer in law enforcement, worked alone and used no
audio or video surveillance during the 18-month undercover investigation.
Little or no corroborating evidence was introduced during the trials.

His testimony led to prison sentences for many of the 46 people arrested --
39 of whom were black -- in the July 1999 Tulia drug busts. Civil rights
groups believe the busts were racially motivated.

Coleman was expected to testify today.

The convictions of four men, whose sentences were as long as 90 years, were
upheld on direct appeal. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last
year asked the trial court for clarification on whether Jason Jerome
Williams, Christopher Eugene Jackson, Freddie Brookins Jr. and Joe Moore
were convicted solely on Coleman's word and whether the state failed to
turn over information from Coleman's background that may have impeached his
testimony.

According to earlier testimony, some letters in the commission file were
critical of Coleman's law enforcement abilities. There were also documents
showing Coleman owed a large amount to businesses in Cochran County.

Coleman was charged with theft and abuse of official capacity by Cochran
County officials during the undercover operation. Coleman paid restitution,
and the criminal charges against him were dropped.

Stewart testified he never asked commission officials whether there was
anything negative in Coleman's file.

Stewart also echoed earlier testimony in which Coleman had been heard using
a racial epithet.

On Tuesday, one of Coleman's supervisors at the Panhandle Regional
Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, Lt. Michael Amos, testified that he heard
Coleman use the word and that he was chastised but not disciplined.

Amos, who returned to the stand Wednesday, also testified he encouraged
Coleman to "diversify" from the black population and make drug buys from
whites and Hispanics.

Stewart said he wasn't able to specify a time and place he had heard
Coleman say the word and that he could not recall whether he heard Coleman
use the word prior to the trials.

Stewart also testified that he had read over the depositions of several
others who have testified in the hearings or will, a revelation that
startled defense attorney Mitchell Zamoff.

"We're going to do the research tonight," said Vanita Gupta, a defense
attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "We're concerned about it."

Retired Judge Ron Chapman of Dallas, who is presiding over the hearings,
will make a recommendation to the appellate court after the hearings. A
ruling on the cases, which could result in new trials, is expected in May.