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Turmoil in Tulia
Aired June 16, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turmoil in Tulia, the justice system is being called into question in this small farming community in Texas. The State Court of Appeals is expected to free at least a dozen suspected drug dealers from prison after questions surfaced about the way they were convicted.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now live from Tulia, Texas with the details - Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the parking lot here of the Swisher County Courthouse in Tulia, Texas is filling up, normally a rather quiet place but as satellite trucks and members of the community, not only here in Tulia but from across the state.
In New York, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has been instrumental in helping many of these defendants out over the course of the last four years. They have all shown up here so it's quite a scene.
In about an hour, there will be a hearing where 12 of the Tulia defendants are expected to be released on bond while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Texas Parole Board review these cases.
It dates back to July of 1999. On that morning 46 people were arrested on drug charges, many of them, almost all of them really were African-American and that led to the allegations in these cases that these arrests were racially motivated.
The law officer, the undercover agent that brought forth most of these cases has been discredited in a large way over the course of the last four years, although his attorney does tell me that he still stands behind the work that he has done in these cases and still thinks that what is actually happening here today is just more drug dealers being released onto the streets of Tulia. That officer now stands indicted on aggravated perjury charges as well.
But back here in this courtroom, 12 of these people who arrived here at the courthouse this morning, brought from all of the prisons where they've been held over the course of the last couple of years, being brought back here to this courthouse.
And in about an hour they will be released on bond and this is a day where one defense attorney described it to me as a photo opportunity, a symbolic gesture of what has gone wrong with these cases and they say that they will continue working until all of the people who were arrested on July 23, 1999, that all their names be cleared - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, with such little evidence how were they convicted in the first place, Ed?
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, I get that question a lot from people who have asked me as we've been covering the story for quite a while now, but the defense attorneys say that what happened was as the first seven or eight cases went to trial that the sentences that were handed down were so stiff, one person got 90 years, another defendant got 60 years, largely in part based on the testimony of Tom Coleman (ph) who is that undercover officer.
There were no notes, very few notes, no surveillance video or wiretaps used in this case and many of the defense attorneys say that it just boiled down to that in the end that these people, the jury wanted to believe that these people were drug dealers and thought they were cleaning up the streets so they just say that they erred on the side of caution but they wanted to believe a law enforcement officer over someone who was accused of drug dealing, simple as that - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera live from Tulia, Texas, thank you - Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 16, 2003 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turmoil in Tulia, the justice system is being called into question in this small farming community in Texas. The State Court of Appeals is expected to free at least a dozen suspected drug dealers from prison after questions surfaced about the way they were convicted.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now live from Tulia, Texas with the details - Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the parking lot here of the Swisher County Courthouse in Tulia, Texas is filling up, normally a rather quiet place but as satellite trucks and members of the community, not only here in Tulia but from across the state.
In New York, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has been instrumental in helping many of these defendants out over the course of the last four years. They have all shown up here so it's quite a scene.
In about an hour, there will be a hearing where 12 of the Tulia defendants are expected to be released on bond while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Texas Parole Board review these cases.
It dates back to July of 1999. On that morning 46 people were arrested on drug charges, many of them, almost all of them really were African-American and that led to the allegations in these cases that these arrests were racially motivated.
The law officer, the undercover agent that brought forth most of these cases has been discredited in a large way over the course of the last four years, although his attorney does tell me that he still stands behind the work that he has done in these cases and still thinks that what is actually happening here today is just more drug dealers being released onto the streets of Tulia. That officer now stands indicted on aggravated perjury charges as well.
But back here in this courtroom, 12 of these people who arrived here at the courthouse this morning, brought from all of the prisons where they've been held over the course of the last couple of years, being brought back here to this courthouse.
And in about an hour they will be released on bond and this is a day where one defense attorney described it to me as a photo opportunity, a symbolic gesture of what has gone wrong with these cases and they say that they will continue working until all of the people who were arrested on July 23, 1999, that all their names be cleared - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, with such little evidence how were they convicted in the first place, Ed?
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, I get that question a lot from people who have asked me as we've been covering the story for quite a while now, but the defense attorneys say that what happened was as the first seven or eight cases went to trial that the sentences that were handed down were so stiff, one person got 90 years, another defendant got 60 years, largely in part based on the testimony of Tom Coleman (ph) who is that undercover officer.
There were no notes, very few notes, no surveillance video or wiretaps used in this case and many of the defense attorneys say that it just boiled down to that in the end that these people, the jury wanted to believe that these people were drug dealers and thought they were cleaning up the streets so they just say that they erred on the side of caution but they wanted to believe a law enforcement officer over someone who was accused of drug dealing, simple as that - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera live from Tulia, Texas, thank you - Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
