Trials

Republicans Heart the Defense

Oklahoma Railroad

Accused of killing a cop's son, Emily Dowdy learns the hard way that in Oklahoma City justice isn't blind. It works for the prosecution.

Fruit of the Poison Tree

In a Dallas court, Costa Rican banana workers claim a banned pesticide left them sterile

Psycho Mom

Lisa Diaz had to save her "precious babies" from an evil world. She drowned them.

Counsel for the Defense

At 76, flamboyant criminal lawyer Racehorse Haynes keeps doing what he does best--winning

Slave Wages

The fight for slavery reparations takes on a local twist

Yippie-yi-o-ki-yay

Mesquite Rodeo facing sexual harassment lawsuit

Enough to Make You Sick

In the struggle for a shrinking pot of money from asbestos litigation, the sickest victims are getting nickels and dimes while lawyers get their millions

Echoes of Hate

Bobby Frank Cherry is one of the most notorious racist killers in American history. To Tom Cherry, he was just "Dad."

Open Season

Border authorities fear a return to the law of the Wild West as Texas homeowners take up guns against illegal Mexican immigrants

Divided She Stands

Is controversial DISD trustee Lois Parrott a champion of the little guy, or the bitter core of the board's infamous civil wars?

Home At Last

A fugitive's extradition from France brings a Texas family closer to peace of mind

Buzz

DISD wins its case defending Edison Schools. Now the district wants payback. Lots of it.

Win, Lose or Draw?

Dallas' long-running battle with a slumlord grinds to a murky end

With Friends Like These...

CompUSA and Latin America's richest man get a $450 million lesson from a Dallas jury: Friendship and business don't mix.

Homefryin' with Fred Baron

Dallas' largest plaintiff's firm, Baron & Budd, cultivates friends, punishes enemies and beats allegations it prompts clients to lie and win

Dallas' Kangaroo Court

In municipal court, they'll plead you guilty when you don't even know you're on trial

A Killer Abroad

In 1977, Tyler native Holly Maddux was murdered by Earth Day creator Ira Einhorn. More than two decades later, her family is still waiting for the fugitive to return.

Sects and Lies

Did the isolated, unhappy life of an Arlington family of Jehovah's Witnesses breed false charges of sexual abuse? Absolutely, says a family member who never got a chance to tell her side of the story.

Innocent as Charged

After his acquittal on an assault charge, Clark Birdsall questions the system he once embraced

Victimless crime

Bungling thieves, piles of gold, jailhouse snitches, and bloody clothes. Prosocuretors in Madalyn Murray O'Hair's disappearance had everything -- except three corpses

Buzz

Not yet begun to fight

Parting shots

A triple murderer freed from prison runs into his old nemeses on the way back to the pen

Hash Over

No Fork over; Gorman gallops

Sweating it out in Saipan

While other major retailers settle sweatshop lawsuits, J.C. Penney insists everything's cool

Fur flies

A Dallas-based anti-fur group is targeted in a free-speech battle

Good time Charlie

The don of Dallas criminal lawyers, Charles Tessmer reshaped justice through decades of hard-fought cases and hard drink

Dissed robes

On the prosecution-biased Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, justice isn't blind. It's dumb.

Found money

Dallas County pays dearly for collecting an illegal $30 fee from lawsuit filers

A woman scorned

A suspect in Madalyn Murray O'Hair's disappearance is sentenced, but for which crime?

Innocence Lost

Railroaded onto death row, Kerry Max Cook endures rapes, beatings, and suicide attempts while waiting for justice

Innocence lost

Prosecutors lied and cheated to put Kerry Max Cook on death row for 16 years. He's out of prison now, but still not quite free.

Pay up?

Dan Morales' pal faces questions over his demand for millions in tobacco-suit fees

The Fugitive

Child psychiatrist Robert Gross claims malicious federal prosecutors unfairly charged him with fraud and forced him to flee to England. Is it the doctor or the judicial system that is out of touch with reality?

Smoke-filled room

When Dan Morales brokered Texas' $17.3 billion tobacco settlement, he blew away Governor Bush. He also made sure his friends got a few puffs.

Cowtown Babylon

When Fort Worth oil tycoon Tex Moncrief accused his secretary of embezzlement, she says, he left out one important detail: their 16-year affair

Toxic Justice

Lawyer Fred Baron says he's one of the good guys, fighting a war against evil asbestos manufacturers. But some former employees claim his firm is a factory that mass-produces lawsuits by implanting memories and inventing testimony.

Defending Darlie

Wealthy Waco businessman Brian Pardo spends his time and money helping death-row inmates he believes are innocent. His efforts on behalf of Darlie Routier have raised suspicions about her husband--and about Pardo's motives.

Unreasonable Doubts

Justice may be blind, but Dallas jurors aren't--particularly when it comes to race

No joke

County Commissioner Ken Mayfield isn't laughing anymore about sexual harassment charges

Who ya gonna call?

Lawyer Kenneth Mayfield racks up a winning record in the courts he helps oversee as a county commissioner

Temper, temper

Judge John Henry McBryde ruled his court like a minor despot, angering lawyers and fellow judges. Now they're lined up to depose him, and the Constitution be damned.

Publicity Paul

U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins loves feeding his name to the papers. But what's he done that's news?

The lies that BIND

A Dallas jury is forced to sift through the wreckage of a family destroyed by the infamous Norplant rape case

Feeling the Burn

Unpaid Taxes, missing money, and a bitter business divorce threaten the empire of fitness guru Larry North

"I'll Fight for You!"

You want Brian Loncar on your side, all right. Ask anyone who's made the mistake of crossing him.

The Dope Bowl

Lawyers, goons, money--and some very curious sex toys. Laura Miller does the post-game analysis of the Michael Irvin trial.

Playing Hardball

The Feds pitch a shutout in the area's first 'three strikes' case

Fit to be fried

Idaho's potato king accuses a dead Dallas oilman and his sons of a multimillion-dollar scam

Pickup Games

How a giant lawsuit against General Motors could leave lawyers with millions - and Texas truck owners breathing fumes