DRUG CHARGE DROPPED IN CASE CRITICIZED BY RIGHTS GROUPS

HOUSTON, April 11 - Critics of a drug sweep in the tiny West Texas town of
Tulia won a victory this week when a felony cocaine charge against a woman
was dropped after she proved she was in Oklahoma City on the day that an
undercover police officer said he bought drugs from her.

The dismissal of the charge against Tonya Michelle White, 33, is the latest
development in a 1999 drug operation that is under investigation by the
Justice Department and has drawn widespread criticism from civil rights
groups.

The operation resulted in the arrests of 46 people, all but 3 of them black,
meaning that roughly 12 percent of the town's black population was arrested.

Police drug operations across Texas have drawn scrutiny for months. In
recent weeks, prosecutors in Dallas dismissed drug cases against more than
40 defendants after it was learned that evidence turned over by an
undercover agent was actually gypsum from wallboard, not cocaine. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the Dallas situation.

Jeff Blackburn, a lawyer for Ms. White, said the charge against her that was
dismissed on Tuesday further undermined the credibility of the undercover
agent in the Tulia operation, Tom Coleman. In nearly every case, Mr. Coleman
was the lone witness and provided the only evidence in winning convictions.
One case has been dropped because of false identification.

Critics say Mr. Coleman operated with almost no oversight.

Former colleagues described him in documents in a dispute over custody of
his children as a compulsive liar. Mr. Coleman has also been charged with
misdemeanor theft of gas from a government pump while he was a sheriff's
deputy.

"This is the first time that we have proven through direct evidence that he
made up an accusation against someone," Mr. Blackburn said of the White
case. Last year, state lawmakers passed legislation known as the Tulia law
that prohibits convicting a defendant solely on the testimony of an
undercover agent.

Ms. White, who lives in Louisiana, had been a fugitive for two years before
she turned herself in last November on a felony charge of selling 1.3 grams
of powdered cocaine. If convicted, she would have faced five years to life
in prison. But an investigator with Mr. Blackburn found that she had
deposited a $168 worker's compensation check in Oklahoma City on the day Mr.
Coleman accused her of selling drugs.

Because Ms. White had withdrawn $8 when making her deposit, the bank kept a
record of the transaction, with her signature.

"Eight dollars saved her life," Mr. Blackburn said.

Terry McEachern, the local district attorney, said the bank document
persuaded him to drop the charges against Ms. White. He characterized the
case as a mistake by Mr. Coleman. Mr. McEachern said he did not think it
suggested a pattern of deceit.

"I don't think he manufactured testimony intentionally," Mr. McEachern said
of Mr. Coleman. Mr. McEachern noted that none of the convictions had been
overturned by the state court of appeals.

Of the 46 people arrested, 22 were sentenced to prison. The rest received
probation.

Mr. Blackburn said the White case could provide grounds to overturn other
convictions. Already, national groups like the William Moses Kunstler Fund
for Racial Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union have gotten
involved.

Vanita Gupta, a spokeswoman for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Inc., said her group was representing two defendants in their appeals and
had found lawyers in Washington or New York for the other 18 defendants who
are in prison.