Earle Cabell

Feds Allege Local Doctor Behind "Largest Healthcare Fraud Case" in U.S. History

​We received a release this morning from the U.S. Attorney's Office inviting us to a noon-thirty press conference at the Earle Cabell, at which time U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldaña, Deputy Attorney General James Cole and a host of other federal officials would address "a major health care fraud enfor ... More >>

Lawsuit Has Everything You Wanted to Know About Cutthroat Business of Cell Tower Industry

​Digging through the federal filings this morning I came across this item of some intrigue: TriStar Investors, Inc., v American Tower Corporation, filed yesterday at the Earle Cabell and a surprisingly insightful and riveting read. Neither company's actually based in Dallas, but their dispute is: ... More >>

Titanium Metals Shareholder Sues Harold Simmons Over His "Rampant Abuse of Power"

Happy New Year to Annette and Harold Simmons​Radioactive-waste-burying, Rick Perry-money-giving, Swift-Boating Harold Simmons begins his new year with a federal lawsuit brought by a shareholder in LBJ Freeway-HQ'd Titanium Metals Corporation, where Simmons serves as chairman of the board -- the sa ... More >>

Almost Three Years After FBI Raided Downtown ISP, Its CEO Is Found Guilty of Conspiracy

​Way back in April 2009, you may recall, FBI agents raided Core IP Networks, an enormous Internet service provider HQ'd out of 2323 Bryan Street downtown. It made national news, in part because the feds' raid temporarily disabled some 50 clients' Web sites. At the time, the FBI would only say sear ... More >>

NCAA Antitrust Case Hits Dallas Federal Court After Conference USA Won't Turn Over Docs

Via.​Yesterday's massive drop-off at the Earle Cabell is but a pit stop. Sooner than later, more than likely, it will head back to Oakland, where, in July 2009, former UCLA basketball great Ed O'Bannon filed the shot heard 'round the sports world: the antitrust suit alleging that the NCAA steals ... More >>

Will Occupy Dallas Stay at City Hall? Will Its Case Be Heard in Federal Court? Who Knows!

Photo by Chris Howell​Right now we were supposed to be at the Earle Cabell for a federal hearing over Occupy Dallas's camp-out behind Dallas City Hall. Alas, that was not meant to be: Friday's agreement, which said the Occupiers could occupy City Hall's bathrooms and kept the city from making ... More >>

Heritage Auctions Asks Dallas Federal Judge: Tell Us Who Owns John Quincy Adams Letters

Via.John Quincy Adams by Ed Alstrom, 2003 ​Once again Unfair Park's cross-the-street neighbor Heritage Auction Galleries finds itself caught between two parties claiming to own historical missives -- in this case, letters written by John Quincy Adams, which are currently being kept in a vault on M ... More >>

In Dallas Federal Court, Three Strip-Club Dancers Demand Minimum Wage, Overtime

​Next time you roll into a gentleman's establishment, ask yourself one question: Is this place in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938? That's the law that established a national minimum wage and overtime pay. But the women who dance in topless and nudie joints don't make minimum wage ... More >>

City Cuts Deal With Occupy Dallas After Filing Brief Explaining Why They Can't Sleep in Public

Photo by Chris Howell​Well, we were going to go to Earle Cabell at 10 this morning for The Big Showdown: City of Dallas versus Occupy Dallas for the right to pitch a tent in Pioneer Park, in the shadow of the convention center. Because, as you recall, Occupy Dallas made its case Wednesday night in ... More >>

At Feel-Good Hearing, City and Occupy Dallas Hash Out Deal to Move Downtown Campsite

If you need one of Dallas's occupiers come Sunday evening, this is where they'll be.​A hearing this morning at the Earle Cabell could have been a First Amendment showdown over Occupy Dallas's right to remain in Pioneer Park in downtown. Instead, it became a simple formality after protesters ca ... More >>

Before This Morning's Constables Hearing in Federal Court, Let's Review the Filings

​Today's The Big Day (well, all right, a big day) for Dallas County Constables Ben Adamcik, Beth Villareal and Roy Williams and many of the deputy constables who say Dallas County is eliminating their jobs because some of them blew the whistle on Dallas County Precinct 1 Constable Derick Evans and ... More >>

And Now, "Artists Slammin' Cointelpro for Our Man Downtown John Wiley Price"

​That's the full title of the latest JWP protest being staged by the National Black United Front, not to be confused with the Judean People's Front or the Popular Front of Judea, who will return to the Pan-African Connection Bookstore across the street from Fair Park, scene of last month's overhea ... More >>

And Now, On This Good Friday, We Come to the Very, Very End of the City Hall Corruption Case

All those who'd like to see us retire this picture, raise your right hand.​I was cleaning out the office last weekend and came across my copy of the 166-page indictment that eventually led a parade of people to the Earle Cabell thanks to that low-income housing development corruption case at Dalla ... More >>

What Did SEC Learn After Failing to Take Down Stanford Earlier? Um, It Did the Best It Could?

Spencer Barasch​We mentioned this morning that Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro was in town speaking to business journalists gathered on the SMU campus. Turns out, during her speech she mentioned something that rings a bell: The failure of the Fort Worth office to shut dow ... More >>

In Dallas Federal Court, Those Swindled by Allen Stanford Sue SEC For Failing to Stop Him

R. Allen Stanford​Spencer Barasch is a partner at the downtown Dallas law firm Andrews Kurth, where he is in charge of the corporate governance and securities enforcement team. But before that, and for close to 20 years, he worked for the Fort Worth office of the Securities and Exchange Commission ... More >>

Hey, City Hall, You Might Wanna Get Off Yer "S" and Fix That Thing Before Visitors Arrive

​This morning, the 7-year-old who lives in my house and I got way tangled in downtown traffic -- hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-choice protesters filled the streets, with Dallas police officers blocking off every other intersection between the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and t ... More >>

Friday-Morning Follow-Ups

This old photo of the Texas Theatre was among a stack of unsold pictures being auctioned off yesterday.​To begin the day, some housekeeping ...A happy ending to yesterday's story about the kidnapping of Eileen Loskot: She was found dehydrated but otherwise unharmed in New Mexico, and one of the th ... More >>

Take Cover, Sheriff: In Dallas Federal Court, a Suit Over the Sale of a $1.5 Million N.C. Wyeth

The June 1912 issue of Scribner's in which N.C. Wyeth's Sheriff appeared is for sale here for $50.​While we're perusing legal filings, here's an intriguing case filed only yesterday down at the Earle Cabell. It starts back in March 2008, about a year before the New Mexico-based Gerald Peters Galle ... More >>

Guilty! Guilty! And: Guilty! The Final Verdict of the Federal City Hall Corruption Trial.

Hey, Don Hill, how many verdicts left to come down in the City Hall corruption trial?​[Update at 10:23 a.m.: The judge's office sends word that Ron Slovacek was found guilty on all three counts of the superseding indictment -- counts 10, 12 and 19, to be specific. More details to come.]The staff's ... More >>

How One Disgraced Local Broker Kept Getting (and Keeping) Other People's Millions

​A couple of weeks ago we noted that 48-year-old Brion Randall is pleading guilty to bilking investors out of $6 million -- a plea he's expected to enter in Dallas federal court today, matter of fact. Hence this Wall Street Journal story today about Randall, yet another in a long string of pieces ... More >>

Two Months After Taking Guilty Plea, Terri Hodge Sentenced to Year in Prison

Sam MertenTerri Hodge​The staff was all tied up today and couldn't make it to the Earle Cabell for Terri Hodge's sentencing. But the guilty-plea-taking ex-state represenative got a year in federal prison, because U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn didn't really buy her story that, look, it was ... More >>

Judge Hands Down Two More Lengthy Sentences in City Hall Corruption Case

Sam MertenBetween the four of them -- from left to right: D'Angelo Lee, Sheila Hill, Darren Reagan and Don Hill -- you're looking at 55 years of federal prison time.​And speaking of the U.S. Attorney's Office ...Jim and Sam were otherwise occupied this morning and couldn't make it back to the Earl ... More >>

After Being Indicted by Federal Grant Jury on Two Counts, Smadi's Back in Court Next Week

​Earlier this week, federal authorities were in a Dallas courtroom laying out the case against 19-year-old Jordanian Hosam Maher Smadi, arrested two weeks ago for allegedly trying to blow up Fountain Place in downtown Dallas. We didn't know when Smadi would again appear in court, but moments ago t ... More >>

How Much Did You Pay to Defend Don Hill?

Sam MertenFormer Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill outside the Earle Cabell, moments after the guilty verdicts were handed down​Schutze and Merten are off in darkened corners finishing their City Hall corruption trial wrap-up (as in, What does it all mean?), so I'll refer you to KXAS-Channel 5's piece ... More >>

After Hubby's Rocky Day on the Stand, Sheila Hill's Attorney Says He Has "No Concern Whatsoever" About Putting Her Up There Too

Sam MertenWe caught up with Sheila Hill's attorney, Victor Vital, after the cross-examination of Don Hill Wednesday afternoon in the City Hall corruption trial, to find out if he had any concerns about putting his client on the stand. "Oh, not at all," he says. "Don did wonderfully today. The truth ... More >>

Let's Make a Deal! Don Hill's Back on the Stand, and Schutze is Back at the Courthouse.

Sam MertenDon Hill had quite the, um, rough day yesterday. And now he's got Jim to contend with.​Judge Barbara Lynn, Ms. Punctuality, is 15 minutes late getting the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial started at the Earle Cabell this morning. Usually she keeps the jury informed about every ... More >>

At City Hall Federal Corruption Trial, Former DHA CEO Says Hill Wanted a Lott of Love

Former Dallas Housing Authority CEO Ann Lott​This morning at the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial at the Earle Cabell, we are getting insight into the involvement of Ann Lott, former CEO of the Dallas Housing Authority, in this whole sorry mess. I'm not sure where we're headed. But so f ... More >>

Jim and Sandra's Affairs

What you'll find below is the first episode of what we hope will become a weekly series starring Jim Schutze and former Dallas City Council member Sandra Crenshaw, who've been spending way too much time together in an auxiliary courtroom at the Earle Cabell during the Dallas City Hall federal corrup ... More >>

Jim's Play-By-Play From the Inside Baseball Coming From City Hall Corruption Trial

New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection/Library of CongressAt this point, Schutze is like the Mel Allen of the City Hall federal corruption trial.​Today at the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial at the Earle Cabell, defendant John Lewis, who has pleaded guilty and is testifying for the ... More >>

Federal City Hall Corruption Trial Gets a Little National Attention, Courtesy The WSJ

Sam MertenDon Hill and wife Sheila. Like you didn't know that.This morning, The Wall Street Journal recaps the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial for outsiders and others not glued to Schutze's riveting running narration from the Earle Cabell, where Bill Fisher takes the stand yet again this ... More >>

Hill Gets a Second Court Date to Follow the Long, Hot Summer of a Public Corruption Trial

Kimberly ThorpeSeriously, we have dozens of pictures like this one from last night's prayer vigil. And by the end of the summer, we'll have run every one.This morning, a Very Special Unfair Park Correspondent -- which is to say, Herschel Wilonsky, my dad -- found himself in U.S. District Judge Barba ... More >>

Sin City, Circa 1963

Been There, Done That

For supporters of an improved and expensive Trinity River, everything old is new again

Officer down

Thirty-five years ago, Jesse Curry was Dallas' respected, popular police chief. Then Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, and Curry became just one more victim of the Kennedy assassination.