NEWS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

Dwaine Caraway – reports to prison to begin his sentence for four years and eight months in a fraud case

DALLAS – Dwaine Caraway, former Dallas City Councilman/Mayor Pro Tem reported to federal prison on Tuesday afternoon to begin serving his sentence Tuesday for his role in a fraud and tax evasion case.

In August 2018, Caraway admitted he accepted bribes worth nearly half a million dollars for influential votes on the Dallas City Council.

He was part of the corruption scandal that bankrupted Dallas County Schools, the largest school bus provider in North Texas.

The former board president for DCS, Larry Duncan, recently got probation and house arrest for his role.

Caraway is serving his sentence in Big Spring, which is in Howard County located east of Midland.

 

Texas bartender charged with overserving man prior to attack

By DAVID WARREN

DALLAS (AP) — A suburban Dallas bartender is accused of continuing to serve drinks to a drunken man who later went to his estranged wife’s home and killed her and seven other peoplewhile they were watching a Dallas Cowboys game on TV two years ago.

Lindsey Glass, 27, was arrested last week and charged with a misdemeanor violation of the state’s “sale to certain persons” law, which bars the sale of alcohol to a “habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person.”

According to Plano police, Glass continued to serve alcohol to Spencer Hight that September 2017 day even after it was clear he had had too much to drink. A medical examiner later determined that Hight’s blood alcohol level was four times the state’s legal limit.

Hight, 32, left the bar inebriated and headed to the home of his estranged wife, Meredith Hight, where he opened fire, killing her and seven of her friends, authorities say. A responding officer shot and killed him.

Glass knew Spencer Hight and had earlier texted another bartender as Hight sat at the bar, investigators say.

“Spencer has a big knife on the bar and is spinning it and just asked for his tab and said I have to go do some dirty work … Psychoooooooo,” according to the text, which was included in a report last year by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

At one point, Hight also displayed a handgun and a bar worker escorted him to his car to place the weapons inside before he could return to the bar, police search warrants revealed.

Glass’ attorney, Scott Palmer, said Tuesday that her arrest “is not in the interest of justice” and criticized Plano police for going after a person who tried to stop violence from occurring. He said Glass tried to persuade Hight not to drive that night and expressed concerns about his behavior to a supervisor.

After Hight left the bar, Glass and another employee drove to Meredith Hight’s nearby home out of concern that her estranged husband was headed there, Palmer said. When she spotted Spencer Hight’s car outside of the home, Glass called 911. The call was made before the shooting began, he said.

Detectives early on had commended Glass for her actions, he said.

Palmer added in a statement that, “Not only did she know Spencer but she was friends with Meredith and was supposed to be at the party that evening.”

A lawsuit filed by the families of the victims against the bar and Glass has been dismissed. The bar relinquished its liquor license in a settlement with TABC.

At the time of the attack, Meredith Hight was in the process of divorcing her husband, who family and friends have said was unemployed, drinking too much and becoming increasingly isolated from others.

 

Kelly’s lawyer demands Avenatti texts, emails at hearing

CHICAGO (AP) — Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti pushed his way into the R. Kelly sex abuse case proclaiming that he was representing two of the accusers but on Tuesday it became clearer that he may be involved in a way he didn’t anticipate: as a witness.

At a court hearing, Kelly’s attorney reiterated his demand for any communications between Avenatti and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office regarding the R&B star. He said he continues to wait for prosecutors to provide him with a copy of the videotape that Avenatti said he turned over to them that allegedly shows Kelly having sex with an underage girl.

“Everyone treats him like a lawyer in this case (but) he’s a witness, so treat him like a witness,” Steve Greenberg told news reporters after Tuesday’s hearing. “He says he’s got this tape (so) he’s a chain of custody witness.”

The judge told Greenberg he needs to know specifically what the lawyer wants from prosecutors and why the material is important in his defense of Kelly. He ordered the attorneys to return to court on June 26.

Avenatti, who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against President Donald Trump, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he doesn’t understand what Greenberg is doing, especially given that texts and emails between him and Foxx were made public last month. He said the only way Greenberg could help Kelly is if he somehow convinced a judge or jury that Avenatti “doctored” the videotape. Avenatti called that “ludicrous.”

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“If Steve Greenberg is hanging his defense of R. Kelly on Michael Avenatti, R. Kelly better start preparing to spend the rest of his life in prison,” said Avenatti, who faces unrelated charges of embezzlement and extortion in California and New York.

Also at the brief hearing, Greenberg said prosecutors have turned over bank records as well as documents related to two of the singer’s accusers. He said among them are documents showing what he called efforts to extort Kelly.

Greenberg later told reporters that he had not reviewed all the documents yet.

Kelly, who was charged in February with 10 counts of sexual abuse pertaining to three girls and one woman, is due back in family law court on Wednesday in his child support case. It is unclear what will be discussed at that hearing because the judge won’t let the media attend those hearings and has prohibited attorneys from speaking about the case.

After being arrested on the sex abuse charges and posting bond, Kelly was sent back to jail for failure to pay child support. He remained in jail for three days until someone paid the more than $160,000 he owed in back child support to his ex-wife.

Another hearing involving a civil lawsuit filed by one of the accusers in the criminal case also is scheduled for Wednesday.

On Tuesday, an attorney who represents Kelly on entertainment matters said Kelly is in the process of lining up singing dates both inside and outside of Illinois. The lawyer, Doug Anton, said he expects the judge in Kelly’s criminal case, who must sign off on any appearances outside of the court’s jurisdiction, to allow the singer to travel to make a living.

Kelly had planned a trip to perform in April in Dubai, but it was called off.