Pubdate: Sat, 2 Aug 2003 Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX) Copyright: 2003 Austin American-Statesman Contact: http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32 Author: David Pasztor Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Terry+McEachern (Terry McEachern) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Tom+Coleman (Tom Coleman) DA FACES STATE BAR INQUIRY IN TULIA CASE If Investigation Finds Misconduct, Prosecutor Could Be Disbarred The West Texas district attorney who prosecuted those arrested in the controversial Tulia drug sting is under investigation by the State Bar of Texas for possible misconduct in his handling of the cases. Bar disciplinary officials, who ordinarily do not discuss ongoing cases, would not acknowledge whether they are investigating Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern. But McEachern revealed the existence of the investigation Thursday by asking the Swisher County Commissioners Court for $5,000 to help pay for his defense. Commissioners in the county, south of Amarillo, declined to give McEachern the money. "I'm concerned that Mr. McEachern's license is at stake. I wish him the best in this regard," Swisher County Judge Harold Keeter said. "But we just weren't able to help financially at this time. This was strictly about Mr. McEachern personally, and that's the reason that we declined to assist." Swisher County Clerk Brenda Hudson confirmed that State Bar investigators contacted her office seeking documents related to the case. McEachern did not return a call seeking comment. In a case that has become emblematic of Texas justice gone awry, 46 people, 39 of them black, were arrested during a 1999 drug sting in the small Panhandle town of Tulia. Many were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges built almost entirely on the word of undercover investigator Thomas Coleman. The cases have since fallen apart amid charges of racism, sloppy police work and suppressed evidence. Coleman has been indicted on a charge of perjury; he is accused of lying during a hearing into irregularities with the cases. A specially appointed state district judge and special prosecutors have agreed that all charges connected to the drug investigation should be thrown out. A special act of the Legislature allowed most of the defendants still in jail to be freed on bail in June while the state Court of Criminal Appeals considers overturning their convictions. The Board of Pardons and Paroles has recommended to Gov. Rick Perry that most of the Tulia defendants be pardoned. In a scathing report issued in April, visiting Judge Ron Chapman said Coleman was a liar and McEachern and other law enforcement officials covered up evidence of Coleman's perjury and his criminal past to bolster his credibility and win convictions. Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo lawyer who has spent several years fighting to clear the Tulia defendants, called the investigation of McEachern good news. Rarely does the bar take action against prosecutors for misconduct, he said. Even rarer, Blackburn said, the investigation appears to have been launched by the bar without a formal complaint. "It shows they are serious about what happened in Tulia and that they are genuine in a desire to see some justice done," he said. Blackburn said he hopes Coleman and McEachern are not made scapegoats for prosecutions that were driven by the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, which hired Coleman despite his checkered past and allowed him to work with little supervision. Regional drug task forces, which operate with federal money channeled through the governor's office, have been lightning rods for controversy across the state because they are not subject to the same scrutiny and accountability as city police departments and county sheriff's offices. A lawyer found guilty of misconduct by the bar faces punishment ranging from a private reprimand to disbarment. The bar does not have the power to remove an elected official. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin