Pubdate: Sat, 23 Aug 2003
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2003 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  http://amarillonet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13
Author: Greg Cunningham
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas)

PERRY PARDONS 35 IN TULIA CASE

TULIA - A four-year legal odyssey that engulfed an entire Panhandle town in a
firestorm of controversy came to an end Friday when Gov. Rick Perry pardoned 35
men and women convicted in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting.

Perry's office announced the pardons in a low-key press release, with the
governor giving no statement other than a brief comment in the release.

"Questions surrounding testimony from the key witness in these cases, coupled
with recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, weighed heavily on
my final decision," Perry said in the release. "Texans demand a justice system
that is tough but fair. I believe my decision to grant pardons in these cases
is both appropriate and just."

The subdued tone from the governor's office stood in stark contrast to the mood
in Tulia, where many of those swept up in the drug arrests celebrated with
friends and family.

"All I can say is it feels great," said Freddie Brookins Jr. "I'm just so
excited, I really can't explain how it feels."

Brookins was among the 46 people, 39 of them black, arrested after an 18-month
undercover investigation conducted by itinerant lawman Tom Coleman. The arrests
resulted in accusations of racial bias and focused the national spotlight on
Tulia.

The cases broke down in March when Coleman gave contradictory statements during
evidentiary hearings in Tulia. The testimony led the judge to stop the hearings
and recommend the cases of everyone convicted in the bust be overturned.
Coleman has since been indicted on perjury charges.

All but a few of the 46 were free before Friday's action - either because
charges were dropped, they served prison time or they were freed on bond under
the auspices of a legislative bill passed this session.

The involvement of the courts, legislature and now the governor in bringing an
end to this phase of the struggle against the bust was striking to the leader
of the legal defense team, Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn.

"This is the culmination of a gigantic campaign of legal, political and
legislative action," Blackburn said. "It took all of those things coming
together to free these people."

Blackburn singled out Perry for praise. He compared Perry's action to that of
the U.S. Department of Justice, which initiated a civil rights investigation
more than three years ago and has yet to release a report. "The DOJ has gone
nowhere fast in three years," Blackburn said. "It took Perry to cut through all
that. He could have dragged his heels like the DOJ has. This guy did not have
to do what he did today."

Friday's pardons came as good news to the legal team, but was also celebrated
by folks on the social side of the fight, who have been involved in the battle
even longer than the lawyers.

"We're just very, very relieved," said Alan Bean, who helped found Friends of
Justice to fight the bust at the beginning of the controversy. "It has been a
very long fight. It's been very hard on defendants and their families, and on
the entire city of Tulia. I think everybody in Tulia is sort of heaving a sigh
of relief today."

That sigh could be coming from a number of Tulia residents who have formed a
nascent recovery movement, seeking to reunite the town regardless of differing
opinions on the bust.

Freddie Brookins Sr., who is participating in the movement, said the pardons of
his son and the others could be key to getting people on both sides of the
controversy to put aside their differences and work for the good of Tulia.

"It's a big step," the elder Brookins said. "This is something that we needed
in order to go ahead and move forward. At this point, if we do not move
forward, nothing has been accomplished. This all has to have happened for a
reason."

Although the pardons signal an end to the criminal aspects of the Tulia
controversy, several new phases are just getting underway.

One of the most important new fights will focus on using Tulia as a tool to
make substantial change in the way this country fights its drug war, according
to Vanita Gupta, a New York attorney with the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund.

"Tulia has become a model for what's wrong with the criminal justice system,"
said Gupta, who helped line up prominent attorneys to join the fight. "It's
been so compelling nationally because of the story it tells. What is now needed
is for local, state and federal authorities to examine what happened there and
put into effect reforms that will keep it from happening again."
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MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk