DRUG CHARGES DROPPED AFTER TULIA CASE COLLAPSES

TULIA - Drug charges against a black woman from Tulia were dismissed
Tuesday after overwhelming evidence shot holes in criminal
allegations brought against her by a police undercover agent.

Jeff Blackburn, an attorney for Tonya White, said the evidence that
proved her innocence also casts doubt on the trustworthiness of Tom
Coleman, a white drug agent whose operations in 1998 and 1999 led to
the arrests of 43 people, 37 of whom are black.

Special FBI agent Tim Reid in Amarillo said Tuesday that he will add
White's dismissal to his investigation of the Tulia arrests, which
already has been sent to the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,
for review.

Coleman had accused White of selling him drugs on Oct. 9, 1998. White
has contended for three years that she didn't sell drugs to Coleman
because she was living in Oklahoma at the time. She now lives in
another state and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Bank records show that White was living in Oklahoma on Oct. 9, 1998,
and made a deposit at her bank that day for $168.

In a report made to the drug task force in Amarillo, Coleman stated
that he approached White in Tulia that day and asked her for drugs.

"Agent Coleman paid Tonya M. White ... $190 of Task Force money at
approximately 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 9, 1998," said the report, which was
signed by Coleman. "Tonya M. White gave agent Coleman a plastic
baggie containing a white powder substance believed to be cocaine."

Coleman, who lives in Waxahachie, did not return calls to The
Avalanche-Journal.

Blackburn said that White withdrew $8 that day and had to sign for
it, further proving that she couldn't have sold drugs to Coleman.

"What it says for the cases and all the cases that have been made in
Tulia ... we have absolutely solid evidence that can't be argued
with, that this man's a liar," Blackburn said. "That he's willing to
send innocent people to prison ... to further his own career."

District Attorney Terry McEachern, the man who prosecuted related
drug cases, said the recent developments should have no bearing on
other cases built by Coleman.

White has two brothers and a sister in prison based on Coleman's
testimony that they sold drugs to him.

Coleman spent 18 months working undercover in Tulia, 63 miles north
of Lubbock, and made drug cases against a large portion of the small
town's black population. Coleman worked alone and used no audio or
video surveillance. Little or no corroborating evidence was
introduced during the trials.

The cost of the drug trials spurred a 5.8 percent increase in Swisher
County's property taxes.

After going undercover in Tulia, Coleman was charged with theft and
abuse of his official position as a deputy in Cochran County, where
he previously worked. He was accused of stealing gas and leaving a
trail of debt. He paid nearly $7,000 in restitution and the charges
were dropped. Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and District
Attorney Terry McEachern have stood by Coleman and his testimonies
against the drug defendants.

On Tuesday, Stewart refused comment.

Of Coleman's credibility, McEachern said, "I believe everything that
he has told me. I believe that he has made some mistakes."

He added, "No, it's not OK to make a mistake. Are mistakes made
unintentionally? I'd say I've made mistakes in my life and I bet you
have, too."

McEachern signed papers dismissing the case.

"I do not feel like dismissing this case is going to affect the other
cases," he said. "I can see where a defense attorney might want to
use this in future trials to discredit the credibility issue of Tom
Coleman."

Blackburn said the dismissal is a significant step in proving that
Coleman, the star witness in the drug trials, lacks credibility.

"This is really huge," Blackburn said. "This is direct, solid
evidence this guy just lied. We have caught him lying about one of
the Tulia defendants, and we've caught him red-handed."