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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
By PAUL STONE
H-P Associate Editor

Persons visiting the Anderson County Courthouse this week will notice increased security as a handful of trials relating to more than 70 drug defendants arrested last fall have begun.

On Monday, juries were seated in the trials of three defendants among those arrested last October at the conclusion of a two-year investigation into an alleged crack cocaine distribution ring operating in Anderson County.

Fifty-six of those arrested last fall were indicted on state charges, while the remaining 16 were named in federal indictments.

Claude Beavers, 46, of Palestine is scheduled to be tried today at the Anderson County Courthouse, while the trial of Ditasha Calhoun, 22, of Palestine is set to begin on Wednesday.

On Monday, Billy Lee Page, 23, of Palestine will go to trial.

All three defendants will be tried before 369th State District Judge Bascom W. Bentley Ill.

This morning Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor said officials have received some "word of mouth" and "street level" threats relating to some individuals involved at different levels of last fall's arrests.

"We don't have any confirmed actual threats," Taylor said. "There have been some veiled threats, but nothing we can substantiate.. .We felt it would be better safe than sorry."

In response, only two entrances to the Anderson County Courthouse will be open this week, the sheriff said.

Those entrances are the basement entrance on the West Lacy Street side of the courthouse and the first-floor entrance on North Perry Street, according to Taylor.

Persons will be required to pass through metal detectors at both entrances, Taylor said. A third metal detector is situated near the entrance of the second-floor district courtroom where the upcoming trials are being held, he added.

Cell phones, pagers, pocket knives, other sharp instruments, purses, large bags and brief cases are among items which will not be allowed in the courthouse this week, according to Taylor.

In light of recent tragedies at courthouses throughout the country, including the Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, the sheriff pointed out that Anderson County is "not immune" to the possibility of violence.

The sheriff said most citizens entering the courthouse Monday were understanding of the increased security.

"We haven't had too much grumbling," Taylor said. "Most have been gracious." Also relating to the upcoming trials, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas ran a full-page ad in Sunday's edition of the Herald-Press criticizing the efforts of narcotics task forces in this case and others.

In the ad, a confidential informant utilized by law enforcement authorities in last fall's drug arrests was named.

Bentley sharply criticized the ACLU this morning, saying he has "a real problem" with the organization's tactics.

"They are clearly trying to influence our system and try it (the cases) in a newspaper instead of a courtroom," Bentley told the Herald-Press this morning. "We have public trials. They're welcome to come in here and watch the trials.

"They want to be judge and jury, instead of the citizens of Anderson County," the judge added. "All of us should feel pretty insulted."

Bentley also took a stab at the ACLU's use of its financial resources.

"They should save their money on newspaper ads and invest it in classes on legal ethics and constitutional law," Bentley said.