cannabisnews.com: Fight Goes National Fight Goes National Posted by FoM on March 21, 2001 at 15:37:21 PT By Greg Cunningham, Globe-News Staff Writer Source: Amarillo Globe-News The end of September brought a flurry of activity in Tulia as the Friends of Justice stepped up its campaign against the arrests of 46 people, most of them black, following an 18-month undercover narcotics investigation. Several dozen Friends of Justice members left Tulia on Sept. 28 for Austin to stage a protest at the state Capitol. The trip originally included only a few people, but plans quickly ballooned into a bus full of adults and children making the trip. The protest was part of the Journey for Justice, a multi-city demonstration against current state and federal drug policy that wrapped up in Austin. The demonstration was sponsored by the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, which opposes the war on drugs. The protesters stood on the steps of the Capitol in their black and yellow Friends of Justice T-shirts and made their case about the unfairness of the arrests. R.L. "Butch'' Bryan was one of a handful of jurors who sat down with "20/20'' for a 21/2-hour interview, hoping to get their side of the story out. When he saw the interviews cut down to only a few sentences, which he said made the jurors look narrow-minded, Bryan shared the sentiment of many Tulia residents - shock. "Oh man, did I ever feel betrayed,'' Bryan said. "They came in and said they were going to be fair, but they weren't even close.'' The "20/20'' report caused supporters of law enforcement to become even more distrustful of outsiders, but many say it strengthened their resolve to weather the storm despite the blows against them. "I know it (the controversy) has brought us closer as a community,'' said Trey Morgan, minister at Central Church of Christ. "I have never seen a community rally and get this strong. Nobody is glad this happened, but you have to look at our unity as a positive part of it.'' Meanwhile, the trials and plea bargains kept rolling along in Tulia. The final two trials - those of siblings Kizzie Rashawn White, 23, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar White, 24 - took place in April and September, respectively. Kizzie White was sentenced to a total of 52 years on seven charges. Kareem White's trial easily attracted the most attention, with numerous media outlets on hand to cover the proceedings. Tensions were high in the courtroom, resulting in a gag order from 64th District Judge Jack Miller. The jury found Kareem White guilty, and Miller sentenced him to 60 years in prison. Kareem White's sentencing left only Billy Wafer's case to be decided. Eight of the 46 arrested had been convicted by Tulia juries. Thirty-four accepted plea bargains. One case was dropped, and two suspects remained fugitives. Wafer stood accused of one count of delivery of cocaine for allegedly arranging a buy on Jan. 18, 1999. Wafer maintained his innocence, and with the help of his Plainview lawyer, Brent Hamilton, set out to prove he didn't do it. Their first court appearance came Feb. 11, 2000, at a Hale County hearing to decide whether to revoke Wafer's probation for a 1990 possession of marijuana conviction based on the new charge. The defense presented time cards and witnesses to prove Wafer was working at the time Coleman said he arranged the buy. The state presented Coleman and two witnesses to testify about the handling and testing of the drug evidence. At the end of the hearing, 242nd District Judge Edward L. Self decided not to revoke Wafer's probation, stating he wasn't convinced of Wafer's guilt. Self rejected a motion to drop the charges, however. Hamilton appealed to the 7th District Court of Appeals in Amarillo, asking the case be dismissed. The court granted the motion in January, ruling the probation revocation hearing amounted to a trial, thereby preventing Wafer from being tried again under double jeopardy rules. The court's decision cleared the way for Wafer to file his own civil lawsuit, and last month, Blackburn obliged. At the same time, Bryant agreed to withdraw his suit, allowing attorneys to focus on Wafer's action. Wafer's lawsuit is nearly identical to Bryant's, but only Stewart and Coleman are named as defendants. Blackburn said McEachern was dropped from the second suit because prosecutorial immunity provides strong protection from lawsuits. Wafer said he chose to file the suit because his case is a perfect example of what he sees as the illegitimacy of Coleman's investigation. He said he hopes the suit can become a tool to get justice for the other defendants. "I'm hoping that it will open the doors for these others that are incarcerated,'' Wafer said. "I'm hoping that they will get retrials. My main objective is to get trials for those others in a court of law that's going to be fair and do it by the book.'' Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)Author: Greg Cunningham, Globe-News Staff Writer Published: March 21, 2001Fax: (806) 373-0810Copyright: 2001 Amarillo Globe-NewsAddress: P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166Contact: letters amarillonet.comWebsite: http://amarillonet.com/Forum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action=4Related Articles & Web Sites:Drug Policy Forum of Texas: http://www.dpft.org/Journey For Justice: http://www.journeyforjustice.org/Drug War Reveals Racial Disparity: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8267.shtmlJustice Department To Probe Tulia Bust: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7472.shtmlTulia Drug-Bust Critics Taking Journey for Justice: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7183.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: