By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – U.S. Coast Guard officials say test results have confirmed that tar balls found on a second Texas beach were from the massive Gulf oil spill. Chief Warrant Officer Lionel Bryant said Tuesday that tar balls found on a Galveston beach last week are from the blown-out BP well off Louisiana.
Tar balls found July 5 at another beach, east of Bolivar Peninsula, were the first confirmation that crude from the massive BP oil spill had reached Texas shores. Officials say they may have been brought by ships that worked in the spill area.
Last week, new laboratory results had officials backing off claims that many of the tar balls on Texas shores were from the Gulf spill. The confusion was attributed to contradictory test results from two labs.
Replacement Named For Jamie Cortes
Dallas County Commissioners today named an interim replacement for embattled Precinct-5 Constable Jaime Cortes.
Beth Villareal's a volunteer police officer in Italy who defeated Cortes in the April Democratic runoff. She'll serve out the remainder of his term. Neither Villareal nor her campaign team today said who she's chosen for her transition team or her new chief deputy.
Jaime Cortes resigned in May the day before a court hearing in a civil action to remove him from office. He'd been under fire for an aggressive towing operation and alleged abuse of employees.
The resignation effective today put the civil action to rest.
Arlington psychologist murder conviction reversed
An appeals court has cited insufficient evidence and overturned the conviction of an Arlington psychologist sentenced to life in prison over the 2005 killing of his ex-fiancee.
A jury in Fort Worth in 2007 convicted 62-year-old Lester Winningham of murder in the shooting death of marriage counselor Deborah Houchin. Her body was found behind a mechanic's shop in Muenster.
Trial testimony indicated the couple often fought in the months before her death and the relationship soured after Houchin asked Winningham to sign a prenuptial agreement.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Tuesday that a three-judge panel of the 2nd Court of Appeals ordered the case returned to district court for retrial.
Prosecutors say they plan to ask the full appeals court to reconsider the ruling.
More legal status checks for Dallas County guards
The status of Dallas County jail guards or deputies will be reviewed more often after an officer was accused of being in the U.S. illegally. Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Leach on Monday said frequent work-eligibility checks will be required.
Jailer Maria Elvia Ross was arrested Friday. A background check on Ross, who sought to become a deputy, revealed her immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok says Ross was deported in 1998.
The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that records show Ross has been married and divorced twice in Dallas County since 2000.
Human resources director Mattye Mauldin-Taylor says Ross had a temporary work permit when hired in 2001, two years before a rule requiring deputies and jail guards to be U.S. citizens.
Defense in alleged Mineola child sex ring case
The defense put two mothers on the stand in the Tyler trial of a man accused of being involved in an alleged east Texas swinger's club.
Testimony continues Tuesday in the aggravated sexual assault trial of 47-year-old Dennis Boyd Pittman.
The prosecution rested Monday. Then the mothers of two youngsters identified as possible victims in the so-called Mineola child sex ring testified their children were not living in Texas in 2004 at the time of the alleged crimes. Mineola is a town of about 5,200, located 80 miles east of Dallas.
Both women testified they had never before seen Pittman and did not know other children who allegedly were victims.