Pubdate: Sun, 06 April 2003
Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
Copyright: 2003 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Contact:  http://www.lubbockonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/841
Author: Linda Kane

TULIA WANTS TO PUT DRUG CONTROVERSY TO REST

TULIA - No matter the stance on a controversial drug bust here in 1999, one 
thing is clear among many residents in this small West Texas town - they're 
ready for the glare of the national spotlight to be shined elsewhere. The 
spotlight has shown brightly on this town of 5,000 since a massive drug 
bust in which an estimated 10 percent of the town's black population was 
arrested.

Last week, retired appeals court justice Ron Chapman from Dallas said he 
would recommend to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that 38 de fendants 
in the cases get new trials.

Chapman said the officer who conducted the 18-month undercover operation 
resulting in the arrests of 46 people, 39 of them black, was not a credible 
witness under oath.

Should the court send the cases back to Tulia, the state has said it won't 
prosecute.

Many of the townsfolk were reluctant to talk about the matter last week. A 
few did speak out, however.

"We hope to just get it done with and get it over with," said Pat George, 
59, a lifelong resident of Tulia. "Put it behind us."

He said the situation was "blown out of proportion by all of the media." 
The story has appeared in numerous newspapers nationwide including the New 
York Times, The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. It's also been 
televised nationally.

Tulia has been earmarked by the national media as a divided town that's 
highly racist.

"Divided? I don't think so," George said. "We're upset because of all the 
bad publicity."

George's family was one of the first to settle in Tulia in 1890, he said, 
and he chose to raise his family there. A fourth-generation farmer, Ge or 
ge said his three grandchildren are now growing up in Tulia.

He called his hometown a Christian, loving community.

"If you were around to know when there's people in need, there's always 
people to step forward and help," he said.

Gwen Powell, 39, who is black, has lived in Tulia for 18 years and said she 
doesn't see it as a racist community.

"I wish this was over because Tulia isn't as bad as they make it," she said.

Powell's ex-husband was among those arrested during the infamous bust. 
Still, Powell said she hasn't experienced prejudice or racism.

"I have opportunities to be around people that are Spanish or white. They 
love me," she said.

Judge Chapman's announ ce ment came after five days of evidentiary hearings 
held to determine if four black men arrested in the bust received fair trials.

The undercover officer, Tom Coleman, contradicted himself many times while 
testifying.

During his investigation, Coleman used no audio or video surveillance to 
record his alleged drug transactions. His character came under severe 
attack during the evidentiary hearings.

Chapman said Tuesday in court, "It is stipulated by all parties and 
approved by the court that Tom Coleman is simply not a credible witness 
under oath."

Alan Bean, an organizer of a local watchdog group called Friends of Justice 
and a proponent of the defendants in the drug cases, helped host a 
celebration Tuesday night.

At least two dozen defendants were among the more than 100 people who 
attended, Bean said.

"When Judge Chapman spoke those words earlier in the day, you just felt 
stunned. There wasn't much of a reaction, everyone was quite still," Bean 
said. "When we all got together and celebrated, then the feelings started 
to come to the surface."

It's not easy to voice opposition in communities like Tulia, he said.

"The moral of the Tulia story is not that we have this one particularly 
racist town in the Panhandle," Bean said. "The moral is that what happened 
here is pretty much business as usual. It happens everywhere."

"It's really unfortunate the town of Tulia has been labeled a hotbed of 
racism. It's no different than any other Texas town that I can tell."

Taking a stand against the majority results in painful social, religious 
and professional repercussions, he said.

"Most of the elements of life in Tulia haven't changed," Bean said. "People 
still go to church on Sunday morning and they go to their jobs on Monday 
mornings ... but I think what has changed is there has been a real cleavage 
between a vocal minority who feel that our officials have committed a huge 
blunder and the majority who have decided that our officials were only 
trying to keep drugs out of our town."
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