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Judge
dismisses tampering charges
06/02/2004
Sheila
Hotchkin
Express-News
Staff Writer
A
judge has dismissed charges accusing a
San
Antonio
woman of tampering with evidence in an attempt to influence a lawsuit
against a Fortune 500 homebuilder.
Janet
Ahmad, founder of an advocacy group called Homeowners For Better
Building, had been accused of burying a vintage military bomb in an
Arlington neighborhood built over an old Navy practice range and then
telling police it had been dug up during construction by KB Home.
Residents
had sued the Los Angeles-based homebuilder, saying they were not told
about the bombing range.
A
Tarrant
County
grand jury indicted Ahmad last August on two felony counts of evidence
tampering, which carried a combined maximum penalty of 10 years in
prison.
But
a district attorney later asked that the charges be dismissed because
"the conduct alleged in the indictment does not constitute an
offense."
A
judge granted the request last week, according to documentation
provided by Ahmad.
Ahmad's
attorney Mark Daniel said: "It is regrettable that KB Home sought
to bring a baseless criminal prosecution in an effort to gain leverage
and silence her efforts."
David
Christian, the homebuilder's
Dallas
division president, stressed that "
Tarrant
County
,
not KB Home, brought criminal charges against Ms. Ahmad."
shotchkin@express-news.net
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