Tulia: Race, Cocaine and Corruption in a Small Texas Town - Hardcover

This is one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in recent American history, vividly told by the award-winning reporter who broke the story. In the summer of 1999, in the tiny west Texas town of Tulia, thirty-nine people, almost all of them black, were arrested and charged with dealing powdered cocaine. The operation, a federally-funded investigation performed in cooperation with the local authorities, was based on the work of one notoriously unreliable undercover officer. At trial, the prosecution relied almost solely on the uncorroborated and contradictory testimony of that officer, Tom Coleman. Despite the flimsiness of the evidence against them, virtually all of the defendants were convicted and given sentences as high as ninety-nine years. Tom Coleman was named a Texas Lawman of the Year for his work. "Tulia" is the story of this town, the bust, the trials and the heroic legal battle that ultimately led to the reversal of the convictions in the summer of 2003. Laws have been changed in Texas as a result of the scandal, and the defendants have earned a measure of bittersweet redemption. But the story is much bigger than the tale of just one bust. As "Tulia" makes clear, these events are the latest chapter in a story with themes as old as the country itself. It is a gripping, marvellously well-told tale about injustice, race, poverty, hysteria and desperation in rural America.

Nate Blakeslee, a former editor of the Texas Observer broke the story for the paper in 2000. He has won awards for his work, which has also appeared in Texas Monthly and The Nation. Born and raised in Texas he now lives in Austin.