Post by Tim Collins on Jun 18, 2009 11:35:42 GMT -7
nine years of illegal video taping and he is a witness for the prosecution - I bet he gets offered BIG BUCKS for these tapes.
www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12614578
EL PASO -- An electrician at the former Naked Harem club testified that he surreptitiously videotaped dancers having sex with customers in a private room.
Francisco Javier Cisneros, who was a part-time electrician at the club at 6345 Alameda, said he videotaped prostitution in the club for seven years. He was a prosecution witness against Naked Harem co-owner Jeannie Coutta, 66, who is on trial on charges of promoting prostitution and engaging in organized criminal activity.
Cisneros said the club hired him in 1994, and he secretly videotaped the sex acts of dancers and their customers in a private room from 1996 to 2003.
Police shut down the Naked Harem in 2004 and arrested Coutta and the other co-owner, Phyllis Woodall.
Cisneros described himself as a "fly on the wall" of the club. He said he overheard several dancers and customers talk about having sex in the private rooms after customers paid $130 or $140 for a two-song private dance. He said that he told Coutta and Woodall this, but that they would dismiss his comments
"Fed up with the ludicrous claims" by Woodall and Coutta that sex never took place inside the club, Cisneros said, he installed a small camera in a ceiling tile of the Naked Harem's largest private room. A motion censor triggered the camera.
Cisneros said he would replace the tapes every week or so but never showed them to anyone. He said that by the time he took the camera out of the private room in 2003, he had 90 tapes but only watched about
nine.
He said he planned to show Coutta and Woodall the tapes, but never did. Members of the district attorney's staff contacted him last year, and he revealed the tapes then.
After putting on the electrician, Assistant District Attorneys Rick Locke and Cheri Shapleigh rested their case Wednesday afternoon.
Defense Attorney Gary Hill then recalled prosecution witness Richard Dwayne Hamm, who was a club manager, as the first defense witness. During cross-examination by Locke, Hamm said he was often asked by Coutta to visit other strip clubs to find out whether they were hiring underage dancers.
Locke said Coutta did nothing to stop the prostitution going on at the Naked Harem.
"She could have fired anyone she wanted, but she didn't," Locke said in court.
Hamm testified that Woodall and Coutta's first partnership was in running a New York-style disco, but that they didn't make any money. In 1978, he said, the women decided to turn the business into a strip club with Woodall as one of the first dancers.
Hill also called Jacob Crum, also a former manager at the Naked Harem, back to the stand. Under questioning by the defense, Crum said he had no grudge against Woodall or Coutta.
Crum had testified Tuesday that the club's clients included former mayor Larry Francis, television sports anchors and police officers. But Francis told the El Paso Times that he had never been in any strip club, including the Naked Harem.
Testimony is expected to conclude today in the 243rd District Court, and jurors could begin their deliberations in the afternoon.
Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117.
www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12614578
EL PASO -- An electrician at the former Naked Harem club testified that he surreptitiously videotaped dancers having sex with customers in a private room.
Francisco Javier Cisneros, who was a part-time electrician at the club at 6345 Alameda, said he videotaped prostitution in the club for seven years. He was a prosecution witness against Naked Harem co-owner Jeannie Coutta, 66, who is on trial on charges of promoting prostitution and engaging in organized criminal activity.
Cisneros said the club hired him in 1994, and he secretly videotaped the sex acts of dancers and their customers in a private room from 1996 to 2003.
Police shut down the Naked Harem in 2004 and arrested Coutta and the other co-owner, Phyllis Woodall.
Cisneros described himself as a "fly on the wall" of the club. He said he overheard several dancers and customers talk about having sex in the private rooms after customers paid $130 or $140 for a two-song private dance. He said that he told Coutta and Woodall this, but that they would dismiss his comments
"Fed up with the ludicrous claims" by Woodall and Coutta that sex never took place inside the club, Cisneros said, he installed a small camera in a ceiling tile of the Naked Harem's largest private room. A motion censor triggered the camera.
Cisneros said he would replace the tapes every week or so but never showed them to anyone. He said that by the time he took the camera out of the private room in 2003, he had 90 tapes but only watched about
nine.
He said he planned to show Coutta and Woodall the tapes, but never did. Members of the district attorney's staff contacted him last year, and he revealed the tapes then.
After putting on the electrician, Assistant District Attorneys Rick Locke and Cheri Shapleigh rested their case Wednesday afternoon.
Defense Attorney Gary Hill then recalled prosecution witness Richard Dwayne Hamm, who was a club manager, as the first defense witness. During cross-examination by Locke, Hamm said he was often asked by Coutta to visit other strip clubs to find out whether they were hiring underage dancers.
Locke said Coutta did nothing to stop the prostitution going on at the Naked Harem.
"She could have fired anyone she wanted, but she didn't," Locke said in court.
Hamm testified that Woodall and Coutta's first partnership was in running a New York-style disco, but that they didn't make any money. In 1978, he said, the women decided to turn the business into a strip club with Woodall as one of the first dancers.
Hill also called Jacob Crum, also a former manager at the Naked Harem, back to the stand. Under questioning by the defense, Crum said he had no grudge against Woodall or Coutta.
Crum had testified Tuesday that the club's clients included former mayor Larry Francis, television sports anchors and police officers. But Francis told the El Paso Times that he had never been in any strip club, including the Naked Harem.
Testimony is expected to conclude today in the 243rd District Court, and jurors could begin their deliberations in the afternoon.
Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6117.