Everybody knew it was about “pay-to-play” at City Hall. Don Hill, a former city council member and 13 alleged confederates are accused of strong-arming real estate developers for money.But nobody knew…1. Carol Reed’s name would come up. Reed is the top political guru and campaign consultant to the old Dallas…
O.K., this morning I think we are getting a more clear look at the government’s case in the Dallas City Hall bribery case, in which former city council member Don Hill is accused of using racial affirmative action and “fair share” requirements to squeeze bribe money out of real estate…
[Editor’s note: Jim’s on deadline, and Sam’s on vacation. So Trey Garrison’s down at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse live-blogging the City Hall corruption trial for Unfair Park today. Jim’s back tomorrow; till then, take it away, Trey.]Don Hill’s defense attorney, Ray Jackson, spent the morning building on…
Once again, we found former council member Al Lipscomb in the courtroom at the City Hall corruption trial yesterday, and he predicted the jury will “dump” the case. “The jury’s gonna say, ‘You’ve taken our time up on all this crap here. There’s a hell of a lot of involvement…
A couple of weeks back, we mentioned that the U.S. Trustee handling Bob’s Steak & Chop House’s Chapter 11 reorganization wanted Judge Harlin D. Hale to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to replace owner Bob Sambol. Because, see, as far as Willliam Neary’s concerned, Sambol — operating here as Silveroak…
Let’s start this item over — clean and shorten this sucker up. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission finally sent over the 32-page report detailing the events of the raid on the Rainbow Lounge raid in Fort Worth; it’s below, as you can see. But Tameka Harris, the agency’s legal secretary,…
Moments ago, folks standing outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse got a sneak peek at the prosecution’s next witness in the City Hall corruption trial: former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, accompanied by her husband, former State Rep. Steve Wolens. Finally.Federal prosecutors continued to gain little traction Wednesday in…
Every local media outlet’s been waiting for it, but KTVT-Channel 11 managed to get its hands on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s internal investigation concerning the raid on the Rainbow Lounge, and it isn’t pretty. Right, Fort Worth State Rep. Lon Burnam? “I think there’s been a foul up that…
At 7 tonight, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins will speak to an audience at Irving City Hall about the county’s budget cuts — specifically, those cuts affecting his office. He has invited Dallas County Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield to join him, but if last night’s jam-packed town hall-style meeting at…
Since the 2006 elections, when the courthouses were flooded with Democratic judges, many of those very same barristers have been trying to put the kibosh on the Dallas Bar Association’s judicial evaluation poll. Why come? Well, they claim, among other things, that it’s unfair, overtly political, a popularity contest, a…
It may not be election time, but tonight at 7, two politicians will duke it out at Friendship-West Baptist Church: In this corner … Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins. And in this corner … Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price — well, maybe as the commish has been extended…
Yesterday’s Austin American-Statesman provided a lengthy sneak preview of Judge Sharon Keller’s defense in advance of her August 17 special trial: The Greenhill and SMU grad is going to claim the defense attorneys lied, maybe just a little but maybe a whole lot, about having computer problems on September 25,…
The Courthouse News Service this morning has this lawsuit outta Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport — specifically, the Vanguard Car Rental locations at the airport (Vanguard operates National and Alamo). The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board’s Fort Worth office has filed suit against the car rental company in…
Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder held a press conference this morning during which they doled out $1 billion in federal money to back the blue. And from the look of the list of cities due to receive Community Oriented Policing Services grants, Dallas fared pretty, pretty…
Low-income housing developer Brian Potashnik appeared frustrated and confused Monday in the federal City Hall corruption trial as a trio of defense lawyers rattled the prosecution’s star witness while attacking his previous testimony. Near the end of a long day on the stand, he asked and answered his own question:…
The second full day of testimony from affordable housing developer Brian Potashnik strengthened the prosecution’s case against former city plan commissioner D’Angelo Lee in the City Hall corruption case, but federal prosecutor Marcus Busch concluded his direct examination of Potashnik Thursday without directly linking former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill…
A Dallas County security officer who worked at the Frank Crowley Courts Building was fired on Monday for a number of reasons, including being a morale-buster. But Charlotte Hardy insists the real reason she was fired was because she told higher-ups that officers at the Crowley are sleeping on the…
Back at the end of June, the U.S. Attorney’s Office sent word that it has arrested 25-year-old Jesse William McGraw — otherwise known as “GhostExodus,” founder and ostensibly the leader of the Electronik Tribulation Army — for threatening to cause serious damage to the computer systems at the Carrell Clinic…
Nearly all of the 16 jurors grabbed their notebooks and focused on Brian Potashnik as the prosecution Wednesday morning called the witness expected to provide the most damning evidence in the City Hall corruption case. But while Potashnik’s testimony raised concerns about the ethics of some of the five defendants,…
Below you’ll find the order from the Texas Court of Appeals concerning the fate of convicted killer Roderick Newton, who was scheduled to be executed tomorrow some time after 6 p.m. As you’ll see, the court has stayed that execution and ordered a new hearing — not only for the…
How much does the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office agree with defense attorneys that convicted murdered Roderick Newton had his rights violated during his 2000 trial? So much so that District Attorney Craig Watkins has agreed to a stay of execution in order to litigate the Brady violation involving the…
An admittedly nervous Steve Williams spent all of Tuesday afternoon on the stand discussing his eight-year tenure as Don Hill’s administrative assistant, pushing the anticipated debut of developer Brian Potashnik to this morning. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham paused his redirect examination of Williams as U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn…
