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Wade Goodwyn: Despite Calloway's confession, the other five members of the Richardson family present that night were also charged with manufacture, intent to distribute and organized crime. They faced life in prison and suffered the consequence of being suspected drug dealers.

Vergil Richardson who was the head basketball coach at a high school in Texarkana was fired immediately. Although the family was stunned, the Richardson brothers were not penniless. They hired well-known East Texas trial attorney Mark Lesher, and Lesher’s first order of business was to get the District Attorney Val Varley off the case. That’s because Varley was with the police when they broke down the door.

Mr. Lesher: Not only is he dressed up — he's got a flak jacket on and an assault rifle. He's part of the raid.

Wade Goodwyn: Val Varley declined to speak to NPR about the case. But the DA’s(district attorney) decision to participate in the raid ended up having far-reaching consequences. By making himself a witness to the arrests and the gathering of evidence, Varley eventually had to step aside. So the judge in Clarksville, John Miller, asked the state attorney general's office to prosecute the case.

But state prosecutors became wary. One problem was that it appeared the search warrant had been issued after the raid — after Vergil Richardson had repeatedly asked the sheriff if he could see it.

Mr. Lesher: On three different sections in the discovery, it stated that the search started at approximately 10:30 [p.m.]. And the search warrant was signed at 10:49 [p.m.]. And the search was conducted before the search warrant was signed. It's just illegal, period.

Wade Goodwyn: The search warrant issue potentially compromised the drug evidence found in the shed.

Then, Mark Lesher, the trial attorney, sent a shock wave through the small Red River County courthouse. On behalf of the Richardson brothers, he filed a $2 million civil rights lawsuit against the district attorney, the sheriff and the Clarksville chief of police, all of whom participated in the raid.

Then the news got even worse for Red River County. The AG's(attorney general) office told judge Miller that except for Kevin Calloway who had already confessed, prosecutors were going to dismiss the charges against the Richardson family. Prosecutors wrote the judge they were dismissing the charges "in the interest of justice."

But the judge in the case made it clear to the prosecutors and the defense lawyers both that he had no intention of backing off.

Mr. Lesher: A judge can sit a case, but the judge can't force that case to trial. I've never seen a motion to dismiss signed and executed by the DA(district attorney) that's never been signed by the judge. It's always just pro forma(形式上的，估计的).

Wade Goodwyn: State Judge John Miller refused to accept the attorney general's decision to drop the case. That ruling was so unusual that it lifted legal heads around the state.

But the judge was just getting started. He told defense lawyers that he was going to replace the attorney general's office and appoint a new special prosecutor, someone who would agree to prosecute all of the members of the Richardson family, not just their half-brother.

The judge approached one of Vergil Richardson's defense lawyers and asked him to step into a deserted jury room. Judge Miller told lawyer Clyde Lee that he wanted to cut a deal.

Mr. Lee: He then started referring to the way he still had in his hand: the dismissal orders the attorney general had sent to him, and informed that he would be more inclined to send those with respect to Vergil if Vergil weren’t in love of the civil rights lawsuit.

Wade Goodwyn: Lee says Miller was offering a quid pro quo(补偿物，交换条件). Vergil, the now former high school basketball coach would dismiss his civil rights lawsuit, in return the judge would dismiss the criminal charges. But Vergil said no. So a few weeks later, the judge offered up a different deal.

Mr. Lee: He then got real specific in saying that my client should testify against the other co-defendants with respect to their drug activity and what he knew had to be true.

Wade Goodwyn: While it is standard for prosecutors and defense lawyers to negotiate plea deals, that is not usually the judge's role. Judge Miller did not respond to repeated requests by NPR for comment.

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