Pubdate: Wed,  4 Oct 2000
Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2000 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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Author: Ricky George, Morris News Service

AMARILLO'S NAACP CHAPTER SEEKS TO JOIN DRUG-BUST SUIT

AMARILLO - The Amarillo chapter of the NAACP will ask its national leaders
to allow the chapter to join a lawsuit against Swisher County officials,
chapter president Alphonso Vaughn said Tuesday night.

Vaughn spoke during a rally at Amarillo's Black Historical Culture Center in
support of Tulia residents affected by a large drug sting operation and
subsequent convictions of about 40 black Tulia residents.

''The significance of this meeting is to let you know that justice still has
not been served,'' Potter County Commissioner Iris Lawrence said.

A lawsuit filed Friday in Amarillo by the Texas affiliate of the American
Civil Liberties Union alleges that undercover agent Tom Coleman, Swisher
County Sheriff Larry Stewart and District Attorney Terry McEachern conspired
to violate the civil rights of blacks in Tulia.

McEachern and Stewart have both denied the allegations.

Coleman was the lone officer who conducted the 18-month drug sting
operation. The worth of Coleman's word was in dispute during the trial of a
24-year-old Tulia man who ultimately received a 60-year prison term.
Although described by some as an excellent lawman, others challenged
Coleman's character.

Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn filed the lawsuit on behalf of his client,
Yul Bryant, a man who proclaimed his innocence for seven months before the
charge was dropped, and he finally was released from jail, Blackburn said.

''I disagree with (Lawrence). The reason we're here tonight is because
justice will be served,'' Blackburn said.

The lawsuit asks for $1 million in actual damages and $1 million in punitive
damages from each of the three being sued.

The Amarillo chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People conducted its own investigation into the drug cases, Vaughn
said. The NAACP contacted Swisher County officials and examined court
documents and trial transcripts.

''It is perceived that there were discrepancies in the testimony from the
so-called undercover agent,'' Vaughn said. ''There are at least three
instances where we perceived perjured testimony.''

About 50 Tulia residents attended Tuesday's rally, many of whom arrived on
buses chartered by the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Injustice in
New York.

''We're not going to let anything stop us,'' Tulia resident Mattie White
said. ''We're going to fight this.''
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