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…
Maybe you recall the story of Thomas Hannon, who was arrested by Dallas police officers in August 2007 on charges of possessing drugs and a weapon at a LBJ Freeway hotel. Hannon, of course, was guilty of no such thing: A videotape that surfaced just as he was set for…
On its Web site Friday, The Dallas Morning News ran an editorial concerning Dallas County Constables Derick Evans and Jaime Cortes’s “too-cozy” relationship with Dowdy Ferry Auto Service, which is towing thousands of cars under their watch without keeping track of what happens to them after they’ve been impounded. In…
The boy’s heading out the door, about to begin his first day of first grade — meaning, at least, he’ll be off the streets when the police start sweeping up young’uns on this first day of the Daytime Juvenile Curfew. Passed 12-2 by the Dallas City Council last May, the…
We began Thursday morning with the news that Brian Dennehy would be writing and directing the story of Joyce Ann Brown, a then-Koslow’s Furs employee who, in 1980, was convicted of robbery and murder based almost solely on the testimony of a single eyewitness — the wife of the slain…
At long last — which is to say, close to 20 years since Joyce Ann Brown was freed from prison for a robbery and murder she did not commit — the South Dallas woman’s story will become a movie. So reports The Hollywood Reporter, which makes special note of the…
Perhaps you’re aware that in recent days, the Dallas Police Department’s moved to Twitter and Nixle in order to send out alerts — such as Tuesday evening’s press release concerning a suspect in the Skillman-Mockingbird area who, since October, has been responsible for at least four burglaries, one robbery and…
Working for the electric company’s not exactly a job you’d expect to put you in the line of fire, but this morning, one Oncor employee found himself on the wrong end of a shotgun. Dallas Police report that when worker showed up to replace the meter at a Fair Park…
Just got back to the computer to find a note from U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn’s courtroom deputy, who says that since last we were in the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, the judge met with prosecutors and defense attorneys — separately — to see about picking up the…
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…
