Texas

50 years after assassination of President Kennedy, experts debate exactly who was to blame

Almost 50 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as he was traveling through Dallas in an open car as part of a motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963, there is still disagreement about who was responsible for the crime that shocked the country. The Warren Commission said Lee…

Nov 21, 2013 12:46 AM CST

Were women convicted in ‘ritual abuse panic’? Junk science law aids their release

Three women who were convicted of sexually abusing two girls have been released from prison, thanks to a new “junk science” law in Texas. The women were accused of abuse in 1994 at a time of headline-making ritualistic abuse cases. They were released on bond on Monday through a deal…

Nov 19, 2013 4:57 PM CST

Ex-DA takes plea in wrongful conviction case: 10 days, community service, $500 fine and disbarment

Michael Morton spent almost 25 years in a Texas prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, the man who put him there, will get 10 days for contempt of court after agreeing Friday to take a plea in a comprehensive settlement of all…

Nov 8, 2013 11:30 PM CST

Rattlesnakes add extra oomph to courthouse keep-off-the-grass signs

Keep-off-the-grass signs at a Texas courthouse really meant business this week: Rattlesnakes had been spotted basking in the sun on the lawn near tall ornamental grass. Photos taken by attorneys and others show some of the snakes in the grass at the Galveston County Courthouse were at least a foot…

Nov 8, 2013 6:00 PM CST

Texas sues EEOC over federal guidance on employer use of arrest and conviction info

The state of Texas has sued the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in federal court in Lubbock over enforcement guidance provided by the EEOC in April 2012 concerning the use of arrest records and criminal convictions when making employment decisions. The EEOC says that relying on such records can have…

Nov 5, 2013 4:45 PM CST

Texas lawyer guilty in conspiracy to launder up to $600M for Mexican drug cartel

A once-prominent Texas lawyer has been convicted of conspiring to launder up to $600 million for a Mexican drug cartel and faces a federal prison sentence of as much as 20 years. Marco Antonio Delgado testified Thursday that federal agents lied and took the facts of the El Paso case…

Oct 28, 2013 10:55 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer gets 25 years in client-theft case

A disbarred Texas personal injury lawyer was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison in what a state bar representative called the worst case of client theft she has ever seen. Thomas Corea pleaded guilty to three of nine charges prior to the three-day sentencing hearing this week. He had…

Oct 25, 2013 8:43 PM CDT

High school football team faces bullying probe over 91-0 blowout

An undefeated Texas high school football team has had an average 77-point margin of victory at every game this season. But that’s not for lack of efforts by Coach Tim Buchanan to slow down his Aledo High School Bearcats so that their opponents aren’t unduly humilitated. “I sit there the…

Oct 23, 2013 5:05 PM CDT

Trial begins for lawyer accused of conspiring to launder up to $600M for Mexican drug cartel

A prominent Texas lawyer met with the ex-wife of a former president of Mexico and discussed a scheme in which he would launder as much as $600 million for a drug cartel, a federal prosecutor said Monday as the case went to trial in El Paso. But a lawyer for…

Oct 23, 2013 3:55 PM CDT

Must clients pay ex-lawyer attorney fees? Judge’s decision could affect sentence in theft case

A disbarred Texas personal injury lawyer pleaded guilty to stealing from three former clients. But Thomas Corea is effectively on trial this week concerning claimed thefts from other clients, too, as State District Judge Mike Snipes decides what his sentence should be, the Dallas Morning News reports. More than 40…

Oct 22, 2013 7:54 PM CDT

Judge accused of texting prosecutor about case during trial will step down from bench

A Texas judge hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing concerning her claimed texts to a prosecutor during trial. But 258th District Judge Elizabeth Coker will give up her seat on the bench effective Dec. 6 and she is taking a voluntary leave of absence in the meantime, according to the Houston Chronicle…

Oct 21, 2013 9:45 PM CDT

Billionaire Mark Cuban wins SEC insider-trading case, calls lead trial lawyer for agency ‘a bully’

A high-profile insider-trading case against the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has ended badly for the government. A federal jury in Dallas deliberated for less than a day before finding Mark Cuban not liable in the civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reports. He had…

Oct 16, 2013 9:45 PM CDT

Fertilizer company fined $118K by OSHA over April explosion that killed 15

The owner of a fertilizer depot in West, Texas, at which a fatal explosion occurred in April has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and fined $118,300. The two dozen alleged violations included unsafe handling and storage of some 540,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer component…

Oct 11, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Investors fleeced in $6B Stanford scheme get a penny on the dollar from court-appointed receiver

Investors fleeced of $6 billion by now-imprisoned swindler R. Allen Stanford have gotten restitution checks from a court-appointed receiver. They range from $2.18 to $110,000, amounting to less than a penny of recovery for each dollar lost, reports the Center for Public Integrity. The receiver, Ralph Janvey, and his team…

Oct 11, 2013 4:10 PM CDT

Attorney deals with long-ago slaying of his brother by writing a book

It was bad enough when his brother was kidnapped and shot to death decades ago, a Texas lawyer says. But seeing the man he still believes to be responsible for his brother’s slaying acquitted at trial in 1970, thanks to a high-powered attorney, sparked outrage in attorney David Berg that…

Oct 4, 2013 4:34 PM CDT