Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity matters in the Texas legal market.
Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity for the Texas Lawbook Foundation and The Texas Lawbook. Previously, she covered courts for The Dallas Morning News. Krista has spent the bulk of her decade-plus-long career covering criminal courts in Texas and Florida. Her reporting includes the high profile federal terrorism trial against the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow in Orlando, which ended in a rare acquittal. Her civil courts coverage has included the long-winding Texas voter ID lawsuit, legal battles over local Covid-19 mandates and school board disputes. Krista's work has been recognized by the State Bar of Texas' Gavel Awards, the Texas Association Press Managing Editors, the National Headliner Awards program and various local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The daughter of a Naval officer, Krista grew up traveling every few years but calls Corpus Christi home and talks about the Texas Gulf Coast every chance she gets. She lives in Dallas’ North Oak Cliff with her husband, Fares Sabawi.
Krista graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington.
One week into an August trial, the real estate developer and crane rental company reached a settlement agreement with plaintiffs over the crane collapse onto a Dallas apartment complex. Or so they thought. A conflict over the settlement terms has prompted the case to return to court, and another trial date has been set.
A group of investors allege Rhodium Enterprises executives and Fort Worth-based Imperium Investments Holdings, LLC deceived investors to secure a $33 million investment. Rockdale-based Rhodium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.
A Pennsylvania judge ruled to block testimony from Energy Transfer co-founder Kelcy Warren, who is also executive chairman on the board of directors. Dallas-based Cardinal Midstream had sought to have Warren testify about comments he made about Energy Transfer “making mistakes” in its Pennsylvania projects. Cardinal Midstream is seeking $33 million from Energy Transfer under a purchase agreement, claiming that a pipeline explosion prevented the fulfillment of an earnout condition tied to gas delivery volumes. Energy Transfer argues that the explosion, caused by a landslide from heavy rains, qualifies as a "force majeure," while Cardinal Midstream blames poor pipeline design for the failure.
Cardinal Midstream II LLC, represented by Reese Marketos, is suing Energy Transfer and its affiliate ETC Northeast Pipeline LLC for $33 million in a bench trial that started Monday before Beaver County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas Judge James J.Ross. Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann represents Energy Transfer, which says the judge should find the force majeure clause applies because a landslide caused the 2018 pipeline explosion.
DOBS has been in near back-to-back trials this year across the country against Johnson & Johnson over claims its talc-based baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. At the heart of DOBS’ latest trial is Michaeleen Lee, an 80-year-old grandmother and former chemistry professor who died from mesothelioma, a cancer in the lining of the lung.
Rapper Drake has tapped Houston law firm Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing, known as AZA, to represent him in a legal action against Universal Music Group amid his high-profile feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar. AZA Partners John Zavitsanos, Daryl Moore, Monica Uddin and associate Michael Killingsworth on Monday filed a pre-lawsuit petition in Bexar County requesting permission to take depositions of corporate representatives for UMG and iHeartMedia.
A Dallas County jury found Prairie Link Constructors, a joint venture of construction companies Fluor Enterprises and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, breached its contract with the North Texas Tollway Authority to build six and a half miles of roads, bridges and retaining walls on the President George Bush Turnpike. A majority of the walls were found to be defective, the NTTA alleged.
A federal jury in Marshall found Samsung willfully infringed three patents owned by semiconductor manufacturer Netlist regarding computer memory modules. The verdict is the latest in a string of wins for Netlist against Samsung.
Autonomous trucking company TuSimple Holdings Inc. is suing a new venture led by TuSimple’s co-founder and ex-CEO in one of the first Texas business court cases. Lawyers for TuSimple say the case is among the earliest and largest nationwide in which artificial intelligence technology is at the core.
Sherman Roberts, president and CEO of City Wide Community Development Corporation, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiring to commit bribery. Roberts is accused of bribing two former Dallas City Council members in exchange for their support of his real estate projects.
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