Email Author Steve McVicker

1997 Stories by Steve McVicker

• Justice Lost -- and Found

  published December 18, 1997

  For years, Donna Ringoringo railed against the corruption that she believed infested the Harris County Family Law Center --and the notoriously... More >>

• (Not) of Counsel

  published December 11, 1997

  One of the hallowed precepts of the American justice system is that a defendant is entitled to the counsel of his choice -- or at least the best... More >>

• So Sue Him

  published December 4, 1997

  At the end of the clammy corridor off the first floor of the Harris County Civil Courthouse, attorneys, law clerks, investigators and reporters... More >>

• Bad Deal

  published December 4, 1997

  John Ballis has a better tan than a prisoner has a right to. The tall, beefy real estate developer looks much healthier now than when he entered... More >>

• Hit and Run

  published November 6, 1997

  The thunderclap of metal striking metal slowly gave way to the screams of three children -- two boys, ages five and six, and a nine-year-old girl.... More >>

• Sorry, Not an Instant Winner

  published November 6, 1997

  Elyse Lanier's Houston Image Group had promised that the city's image in the eyes of the nation would be "changed forever" when the Group unveiled... More >>

• Snitch Vs. Snitch

  published August 28, 1997

  Jorge Arroyo's head appeared to be on a swivel. From his vantage point in the burgundy leatherette booth, he constantly monitored the other... More >>

• Death of an Informant

  published July 24, 1997

  It wasn't surprising that Donald Wayne Chaline turned up dead. The 50-year-old hustler had relished living large and flashing cash when he had it.... More >>

• Pain for the Prosecution

  published June 26, 1997

  Were it not for the tequila haze, Kristen Pain might have realized she was about to be busted. During her five years in the Harris County District... More >>

• Rough Justice

  published May 22, 1997

  Through his wire-rimmed glasses, attorney Barry Abrams stared numbly at the Plexiglas window. On the other side, he could see his client,... More >>

• "One-Man Mob"

  published May 8, 1997

  Even by the standards of divorce court, John Shike was behaving badly. On that Monday morning in late April, as the judge prepared to sign an... More >>

• The X(erox) Files

  published April 17, 1997

  Erin O'Shey was sleepwalking through another uneventful day at Kinko's last spring when a couple of customers, a man and a woman, came in bearing... More >>

• Bursting the Bubble

  published April 10, 1997

  As the "Bubble Boy," David Vetter was famous across the U.S. Newspapers, TV shows and magazines portrayed him as a happy, well-adjusted child who... More >>

• Larry in Limbo

  published March 13, 1997

  I'm not a very sympathetic character," admits Larry Duncan, a veteran of the oil patch who's rarely looked for sympathy. He certainly received... More >>

• King Con

  published February 6, 1997

  Steven Russell returned to prison something of a celebrity. His escape -- his third, counting two from the Harris County Jail -- had made national... More >>

• Killer Art

  published January 30, 1997

  Inside every mass murderer, it seems, is a sensitive artist waiting to blossom. Charles Manson wove his voodoo dolls, and John Wayne Gacy,... More >>

• Bloodletting?

  published January 9, 1997

  If one of the reasons cited by the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office for its recent firing of Dr. Elizabeth Johnson is legitimate, other... More >>

• Bad Boy In Blue

  published January 2, 1997

  After Sam Nuchia took over as chief of the Houston Police Department in 1992, he continued the practice established by predecessor Lee Brown of... More >>