TULIA DRUG ARREST HEARING PROCEEDS QUIETLY

TULIA - A hearing that could be a precursor to a major showdown in the
controversy over the 1999 drug arrests in Tulia passed relatively quietly
Wednesday.

Tonya Michelle White, 32, was in Swisher County Court on Wednesday for a
pretrial hearing in the delivery of a controlled substance case made
against her by undercover agent Tom Coleman.

The hearing had the makings for a big clash, with a veritable who's who of
people involved in the controversy, including Coleman, subpoenaed to
testify. But the defense team and district attorney were able to hash out
most of the issues themselves, and none of the major players took the stand.

White is one of 46 people - 39 of whom were black - arrested in Swisher
County during the 1999 drug sting.

The arrests were made on the testimony of Coleman, who spent a year and a
half in Tulia buying cocaine undercover.

Zury Bossett and Tonya Michelle White are scheduled to go to trial Feb. 5.

The sting brought national attention to Tulia after allegations of racial
injustice were made, resulting in civil lawsuits and a Department of
Justice civil rights investigation.

White and fellow defendant Zury Bossett were fugitives until last year when
Bossett was arrested in Odessa after a traffic stop and White turned
herself in.

Most of Wednesday's pretrial hearing was dedicated to resolving defense
motions for discovery of evidence.

The majority of the defense motions were granted by Judge Ed Self, with
orders for the evidence to be turned over within two weeks.

The most contentious issue was an effort by defense attorney Jeff Blackburn
to dig deeper into alleged misconduct in Coleman's background, which
Blackburn said may color the former agent's testimony at trial.

Blackburn submitted a sweeping request for information about personal,
financial and professional problems in Coleman's background that District
Attorney Terry McEachern opposed as being too broad and not relevant.

Self denied the motion but stated the defense would be allowed to gather
such information if it is covered by standard discovery rules.

After the hearing, Blackburn and McEachern both said they were satisfied
with the outcome.

"I thought it was a pretty standard pretrial hearing," McEachern said. "I'm
comfortable with all the rulings."