Posted on 03/12/2004 4:42:05 PM PST by Bob Mc
Tulia suit settled for $5 million
Drug bust defendants hail step toward justice
BY GREG CUNNINGHAM
MORRIS NEWS SERVICE
AMARILLO — The road spanned five years and countless miles, but the 46 people arrested in the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting took a major step Thursday toward the end of their journey.
The news that the city of Amarillo would settle with the Tulia defendants for $5 million and the dissolution of the task force that conducted the sting was met with a combination of joy and introspection by people finally nearing their objective — justice.
"I'm feeling great," said Michelle Williams, who missed three years of her children's lives while falsely imprisoned.
"I'm kind of excited. I guess you could say I'm glad and proud that it's over with. This can't make up for all they took from us, but it's something to be proud of," she said.
Elation was tempered for many with a recognition that what happened Thursday was a truly significant event that could have far-reaching consequences.
"I think we got to see the wheels of justice turn at their fullest to get to this point, and right here's the last step of it," said Billy Wafer, who also was arrested in the sting. "I look at the real picture, and I hope America sits back and looks at the real picture."
The step toward justice was announced at a news conference held by attorneys representing Amarillo and the Tulia defendants, who had agreed to a settlement of the federal lawsuit filed over the drug bust.
The attorneys said the settlement, which was worked out over the past few months, serves the interests of all parties, as well as the interests of justice.
"What happened here today just shows that the city of Amarillo has a real interest in seeing that justice is done," said Jeff Blackburn, lead attorney for the Tulia defendants. "Amarillo is my hometown, and I've never been prouder to say I'm from here."
For the Amarillo city government, the settlement came down to protecting the city and its citizens from what could have been a devastating judgment if all 45 living defendants had prevailed.
"The lawsuit had the potential to cause many cities in the Panhandle to become insolvent," Amarillo Mayor Trent Sisemore said.
"It could've been a $200- or $300-million settlement. Who knows? The sky's the limit what it could've cost the city. We couldn't afford a hit that big," he said.
The settlement calls for Amarillo to pay $5 million to compensate the 45 defendants. The city also will pull out of the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, effectively dissolving it, on June 1.
Amarillo's position as lead agency in the task force, which has been headquartered in the Amarillo Police Department, is actually what exposed the city to the most danger from a large judgment.
City Attorney Marcus Norris said the case law relating to task forces is not at all clear, so determining who would be on the hook for a judgment was impossible.
A judgment could have been divided among the 30 member counties and cities, or it possibly could have fallen wholly on Amarillo as the lead member of the task force, he said.
Additionally, any defense of the lawsuit would have required Amarillo to defend the Tulia investigation, an operation the city has admitted was flawed, as was the agent who conducted it, Tom Coleman.
"This was not an APD operation, and it was not consistent with APD standards," said Mike Loftin, an attorney who represented the city in the case. "The city of Amarillo did not feel comfortable standing behind an agent who has been discredited numerous times and who is not the caliber that would be employed by the city of Amarillo."
Loftin's comments amounted to fighting words for Coleman's attorney, John H. Read, who said his client is being hung out to dry despite doing nothing wrong.
"That is nuts. That is just absurd," Read said when told of the settlement and statements made against his client. "They're always looking for a scapegoat, but Tom is not going to be it. We're not going to let them do it."
Few on the other side of the controversy will mourn the loss of the task force. In fact, many say the task force's dissolution, and the hoped-for domino effect with other task forces shutting down, could be the lasting legacy of the Tulia controversy.
"We have said all along that the task forces were the greatest evil in this whole mess," Blackburn said. "Hopefully, this will set an example for other counties and cities across this state, and even this country. We've got to rethink the way we've gone about this war on drugs."
No one can say whether the final outcome of the Tulia controversy will rise to that level, but on a smaller scale, the approaching finish is starting to look like a miracle to many of those involved.
"All of us, we give honor to God," Wafer said. "We thank God for coming in and doing what he did for us. There's so many people to thank, but you have to start with God."
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