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Wade Goodwyn: But the question remains: Why would a judge insert himself so provocatively into a case?

Bill Hankins is a reporter for The Paris News in nearby Paris, Texas.He has covered the story more closely than any of the other. Hankins believes this is about more than just race.

Mr. Hankins: This is a poor county, Red River County, and I think, this is my opinion. But I think he is concerned about the lawsuit eating up funds that they don't have.

Wade Goodwyn: As for the repeated overtures from Judge Miller to defense lawyer Clyde Lee outside the confines of court, Hankins says it has to be understood in the context of a small town.

Mr. Hankins: I'm going to say that it has been done many times before, but it is not the proper way to do it. And I'm going to say that Red River County has a history of doing things probably in ways that don't follow the book.

Wade Goodwyn: In Hankins' view, the Richardsons are actually bit players in their own drama. The leading roles go to the two powerful political interests in the white community — the judge and DA on one side, and the high-profile trial lawyers on the other.

If that’s true, at this point, the trial lawyers began to gain the upper hand. Alleging judicial bias, they allege Judge Miller be removed. And in a case of unlikely allies, state prosecutors supported the defendants' request to recuse the Judge Miller.

When a new judge was appointed, that judge didn’t even bother to hold the dismissal hearing. He told the Texas attorney general's office to mail him its motions to dismiss and last month he signed them.

And oh, so quietly, the Richardson's three-year nightmare was over. But for them, it’s not really over.

Mr. Mark Richardson: I said the other day I told my wife that I might need to go see a psychiatrist because every time a cop gets behind me, they'll run my license plate. They are going to stop me, because those charges will show up.

Wade Goodwyn: Like his brother, Mark Richardson had never been in trouble with the law. He had always thought African-Americans in East Texas exaggerated when they told stories about local law enforcement. He's a different man now.

correspondent: Do you think this is about being black?

Mr. Mark Richardson: Yes,yes, I mean, I didn’t want. I think so. I think it’s so sad because I didn't really believe that at first. That's why it's so hard for me to say that, but it's true: They don't like blacks.

Wade Goodwyn: Mark Richardson puts the heels of his hands up to his eye and weeps.

It will take time for the Richardsons to get their lives back. Vergil hopes to once again coach high school basketball. Two years after he was fired, his team went on to win the state championship without him. As for Mark, he would like to sell the house in Clarksville and put his hometown in his rearview mirror（车辆后视镜）.

Now it is the Richardsons’ turn to seek justice in East Texas courtroom. Their civil rights lawsuit against the Red River County district attorney, the sheriff and the chief of police begins early next year.

Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.

Mary Louise Kelly: Wade also had a disturbing encounter while he is interviewing the Richardson brothers on the sidewalk behind their former high school. He writes about that in his reporter’s notebook at

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