Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana continued her disjointed closing argument in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial this morning, focusing on the prosecution’s belief that former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and others masked the alleged bribe payments from affordable-housing developer Brian Potashnik. Saldana asked: What kind of legitimate business…
Here we sit, waiting for closing arguments to begin in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial in federal court. Judge Barbara Lynn is listening to the lawyers on both sides as they tell her what instructions they think she should or should not give the jury after the closing arguments,…
As Don Hill took the stand earlier this month in the City Hall corruption trial, we checked in with his wife’s attorney, Victor Vital, to find out if Sheila would also testify in her defense. Vital told us that she was in fact one of his witnesses, claiming she aimed…
So, the third-string team is in to cover what will probably be Don Hill’s last day of testimony. Appropriate, then, that the morning’s starting off with technical difficulties with Hill’s mic and computer monitor. Buzz!Hill’s being questioned about $18,000 and $12,000 payments from Brian Potashinik’s Arbor Wood development to his…
We 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…
Since it’s been a couple of weeks since the Daytime Juvenile Curfew went into effect, we thought it might be a good time to find out how many kiddos the Dallas Police Department’s done rounded up for skipping school. But as it happens, that’s easier requested than done: We called…
As testimony concluded yesterday in the City Hall corruption trial, it appeared as though the prosecution would begin its cross-examination of Don Hill after Doug Greene, D’Angelo Lee’s attorney, finished what is expected to be his relatively short questioning of Hill, especially after Victor Vital told us he had no…
Don Hill’s third day on the stand in the City Hall corruption trial began with his attorney, Ray Jackson, asking about statements he made in wiretaps about fairness concerning developer Brian Potashnik’s decision to reject bids from Ron Slovacek and Andrea Spencer because they were too high. Hill says the…
After speculation Thursday followed by a statement from Judge Barbara Lynn this afternoon regarding a potential appearance by defendant Sheila Hill as a witness in the City Hall corruption trial, we asked her attorney, Victor Vital, if she will take the stand in her defense. Vital tells us he indeed…
Back in March we told you the story of Frank Farias, the airman arrested for murder after running over a man outside a Lower Greenville nightclub in January. There’s an update: The 23-year-old is awaiting his first hearing in front of a military panel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he’s…
Attorney Ray Jackson resumed the direct examination of his client, former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, this morning at approximately 8:45 a.m., as Jackson continued to ask Hill about his accomplishments as a Dallas City Council member. Hill says former council member Maxine Thornton-Reese urged him to accomplish two goals:…
State Rep. Rafael Anchia filed House Bill 1736 in February; Governor Rick Perry signed the Dallas Democrat’s legislation, which ups compensation for the wrongfully imprisoned, in late May; it took effect Tuesday. Which means all those exonerated by DNA evidence in recent years will receive $80,000 per year they spent…
Of course, Hill couldn’t actually answer the question as he’s restricted from speaking to the media, but this photo we snapped during the media frenzy that followed today’s testimony from the former mayor pro tem tells the story. Sure, it was merely a verbal “Wikipedia entry” as Robert described, but…
As expected, former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill has taken the stand to defend himself against charges of corruption and extortion, as U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn reminded him that he has a constitutional right not to testify, which he waived. His attorney, Ray Jackson, just asked him to introduce…
The U.S. Attorney’s Office just sent word that former Dallas Cowboy hitting machine, 48-year-old Eugene Lockhart, is among nine people indicted by a federal grand jury. They’re accused of a running a mortgage scheme out of Dallas between 2001 and ’05 under such monikers as America’s Team Mortgage, America’s Team…
A few years down the road, you just may get pulled over by a Dallas Police officer driving this hot new number. If nothing else, it’s on the DPD’s wish list — appropriate in the hometown of RoboCop.The first purpose-built police car is on a national tour and stopped this…
Much thanks to the many Friends of Unfair Park who’ve sent an update concerning the fate of fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, about whom we first wrote in May 2007 in the paper version of Unfair Park. In that piece, several aspiring Dallas models, many underage, accused Alexander of sexually…
Former Observer-er Ann Zimmerman has a piece in The Wall Street Journal today concerning a new state law that takes effect tomorrow — one that allows Texas prosecutors and parole boards to “see DNA evidence that links a suspect to an old sexual assault, even though the statute of limitations…
At 6:20 p.m. on February 17, 2004, the state of Texas executed Cameron Todd Willingham of Corsicana. His crime, per the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: “On December 23, 1991, Willingham poured a combustible liquid on the floor throughout his home and intentionally set the house on fire, resulting in…
Another day, another Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission news release — this one, concerning the firing of the three agents involved in the Rainbow Lounge raid in Fort Worth and named in the TABC’s 32-page report released earlier this month. One other lieutenant is receiving a three-day suspension without pay and…
As I was leaving the house this morning, I was greeted by Senior Corporal Kimberly Crawford, a detective in the Northwest Operations Division and the lead investigator in the neighborhood cat killings. Crawford’s out canvassing the area and questioning antsy neighbors, who’ve taken to patrolling the alleys late at night…
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission just sent along a press release in which it acknowledges that the agency’s general counsel and Office of Professional Responsibility (otherwise known as Internal Affairs) are investigating Administrator Alan Steen. For what? For comments he made to the media during the days and weeks after…
