TULIA JUDGE STEPS ASIDE FROM CASE

TULIA - The judge who presided over most of the cases from the
controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting recused himself from two of the cases
Thursday.

District Judge Ed Self filed the order removing himself from the writ of
habeas corpus cases of Jason Jerome Williams and Christopher Eugene
Jackson, and he requested that another judge be appointed to hear the cases.

Defenders of those arrested in the bust hailed the action as a major step
toward their long-stated goal of securing what they consider to be fair
hearings.

"It's a pretty big deal," said Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn, who heads
the local Tulia Legal Defense Fund. "It's pretty clear that officials in
Swisher County are heavily invested in the outcome of these Tulia cases. It
would really be almost too much to ask for any of them to review their own
actions and decide that they were unfair. It makes a lot more sense to have
a new judge hear the cases."

The recusal is limited to the writ of habeas corpus cases of Williams and
Jackson. Those two cases were remanded to Self's court in September by the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which asked for clarification on whether
the two defendants were convicted based solely on the word of undercover
agent Tom Coleman and whether the state failed to turn over evidence that
would have impeached Coleman's testimony.

Williams and Jackson are two of 46 people - 39 of whom are black - who were
arrested in 1999 after an 18-month undercover narcotics investigation by
Coleman. The bust led to accusations of racism, lawsuits and investigations
by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General's office.

Attorneys for Williams and Jackson filed motions this month asking Self to
remove himself from the cases because they claim comments he made to the
media, including the Amarillo Globe-News, during his recent election
campaign show a lack of impartiality.

In his statements to the Globe-News, Self said he felt his victory in
Swisher County meant voters were probably tired of the Tulia cases and had
confidence in their elected officials. Self also sent a letter to the Tulia
Herald in which he explained the rationale behind his ruling on the
admissibility of Coleman's background.

Self on Monday denied that his statements to the media showed bias, saying
that his words do not disqualify him from hearing the cases.

"It's not a big deal, as far as I'm concerned," Self said. "None of the
allegations they made in their motions are correct."

Self said that although he didn't feel legally obligated to recuse himself,
he thought it prudent to go ahead with the action to eliminate the ability
of the defense to claim bias.

"I don't think that the defense would have ever been satisfied, regardless
of what ruling I would have made," Self said. "It's probably best to let
somebody come in fresh who's never had anything to do with these cases and
let them take a look at it."

Defense attorneys also filed motions to remove District Attorney Terry
McEachern, who prosecuted the Tulia cases, but no action on those motions
has been taken.

Self's recusal means Kelly G. Moore, presiding judge of the 9th
administrative judicial region, will have to appoint another judge to
preside over the cases.

Moore said Monday that he will probably choose a judge from outside this
region because of the publicity surrounding the Tulia cases.