Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell has been sentenced to 120 days in jail after his conviction on 4 felonies and two misdemeanors by a Howard County Texas jury. 

It was all about prostitution during the sentencing phase. We turn to Shelley Childers at CBS 7 for an in depth blow by blow:

Shelley Childers
schilders@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News
October 4, 2011

Update 9:27 a.m.
After calling both nurses to the stand yesterday to testify in the sentencing portion of the trial, prosecution called Rick Pippins to the stand first today.

Pippins was the lieutenant in charge of the Healing Touch investigation that found “a prostitution enterprise” being fronted by a massage business from 2003-2004 in a strip mall in the 3600 block of N. Dixie.

Pippins testified that Scott Tidwell was charged in the Healing Touch scandal for three misdemeanors, but after entering a plea bargain Tidwell was found guilty of one case of prostitution.

Pippins said, “We wanted to ask about his involvement in the healing touch, how many times he had been there, services he obatined, what he paid, who he had been with… and he told us.”

He also testified that investigators were also interested in talking to Scott Tidwell about a woman named Misty Harrison who Tidwell had brought in from Dallas and put up in the Elegante Hotel for the purpose of prostitution.

——-

Update 11:51 a.m.
Misty Harrison is second on the stand today.
Describing herself as previously being an escort she took the stand and testified that she met Scott Tidwell online before the Healing Touch scandal broke.

Harrison said Tidwell asked her to come to Odessa and paid for her to stay at the Elegante Hotel.

When asked if she had sex with Mr. Tidwell in the hotel room Harrison replied, “I did,” saying Tidwell brought her a laptop computer and $1,000.

Prosecution then presented an online “instant message” conversation that happened between Misty Harrison and Scott Tidwell.

Harrison then began crying on the stand, explaining that Tidwell traveled to see her in Fort Worth, where they had sex at a hotel and he paid her $300 cash.

She testified to having a conversation with Tidwell over lunch one day, about not being able to afford an apartment. Harrison said Tidwell got up from their conversation, walked across the street and came back with keys to an apartment.

Harrison lived at the apartment that Tidwell rented for her less than one month before being arrested for prostitution and controlled substance.

She was convicted and spent 28 months in Texas State Prison and has been sober since.

When asked how she felt when she found out about the Healing Touch scandal she said,”I thought it was all my fault, because he helped me out.”

Said she sent him a message apologizing when she got out of prison. She has not spoken with him since.

Defense Attorney David Zavoda cross-examined Harrison asking if there were affections between the two of them, and if they cared for one another, to which Harrison replied, “Yes, he was trying to help me out.”

Prosecuting Attorney David Glickler then asked, “Did you know Mr. Tidwell was married when you were having relations with him?” Harrison replied saying, “Yes.”

———–

Update 12:23 p.m.
After Harrison was released from the stand, Crystal Burchett testified to having worked as a prostitute at the Healing Touch parlor from 2003-2004.

She testified to having interactions with Scott Tidwell saying, “He paid me to have sex with him… between 6-7 times.” Burchett said Tidwell paid her $180 – $200 each time.

Burchett said they wouldn’t always stay at the Healing Touch location, but would also meet at hotel rooms like the Motel 6 and Days Inn in Odessa, where Tidwell would pay her to have sex.

Burchett testified that Tidwell would use a website to rank experiences with different girls at Healing Touch saying, “He would go online and log about his sexual encounters with us… with Jennifer or Paige… other prostitutes who worked there.”

Prosecuting Attorney Shane Attaway asked Burchett, “Did you have what are known as three-somes with Scott Tidwell?” She replied, “Yes.”

Attaway asked, “Did Scott Tidwell ever promote you in the sense to ever go to other cities?” Burchett replied, “Yes.” Describing a trip to Austin she took to work as a prostitute.

Burchett said she began speaking with Scott Tidwell about legal advice regarding a custody battle over her children.

“One time he said If I ever discussed our relationship as far as prostitution, he would make sure I’d never see my kids again.”

Burchett went on to say “He made me feel like nobody would believe me, and I would never see my kids again… At one point in time he said, look who I am, look who you are.”

When asked if it was just about sex for Scott Tidwell she replied, “I think he liked having the control, the power over people.”

When the Healing Touch investigation began Burchett said Tidwell gave advice to the girls saying, “He would give us advice on how to not get in trouble.”

———-

Update 12:54 p.m.
Sarah, who did not want her last name released, testified to meeting Scott Tidwell on the website www.sugardaddy.com in 2010.

She said she needed legal advice for a contentious case she was facing, and that they first met in Sweetwater, at what he called his parents lake house in August 2010.

Sarah said Tidwell told her he was the County Attorney for Winkler County and said he had just finished prosecuting a high profile case with two nurses, he told her she could look it up online.

She went into a description about what happened once she arrived at the lake house, “He said he couldn’t just be my attorney because it would look funny…he said you cannot be someones lawyer without being intimate.”

Sarah said she was forced to give him a kiss before he would hear her case.

She went on to say they then went to a mall in Abilene, where they bought alcohol and $400 worth of lingerie… then Tidwell bought her a pair of shoes.

After the mall they went back to the lake house and during the drive he dictated to her a letter she needed to file in her case. He then gave her money and they parted ways, but not before he asked her to move the seat back to where it was because his wife was shorter than she was, and she would know someone had been in the car.

Sarah said they later met up with at a lake house again where this time they had sex and he paid her in cash afterwards.

The third time they met up it was because Sarah needed $700 to buy marijuana, she brought several friends with her and he gave her the $700.

During their fourth encounter they engaged in sexual relations at the lake house and he paid her more than $200.

Sarah testified that Tidwell said he would take care of her children’s Christmas and not to worry about it.

The last time she saw him was two weeks before Christmas 2010, he came to her home where they had sex, gave her $200 and then he left.

During the cross-examination Defense Attorney David Zavoda asked if she had ever been convicted of anything, she said only to public intoxication.

There was noticeable tension when she answered Zavoda’s questions, he asked her why she was being so antagonistic, she replied saying she didn’t think she was acting like that.

Zavoda asked why she described Mr. Tidwell as wearing a red tie when she was first asked to point him out, Sarah said, “I was just trying to avoid looking at his face, and the first thing I saw was his red tie.”

———

Update 1:54 p.m.
After bringing three women to the stand who testified to having sex in exchange for money with Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell between 2003 and 2010, prosecution rested their case for the sentencing portion.

Defense then brought Scott Tidwell’s wife, Tonia Tidwell to the stand.

While on the stand Tonia testified to knowing about Scott’s previous conviction of prostitution with the Healing Touch scandal.

Tonia said Scott was her attorney for her divorce and they began dating after that was finalized in 2005. They were married three years later in 2008.

Zavoda spent his time speaking with Tonia about how her and her daughter’s life will change now that Scott has been convicted of four felony charges, he explained the burdens their family will face financially if Scott’s license to practice law is taken away.

When asked if she was ready to accept these burdens she said yes.

When Zavoda asked why she was willing to stay by her husband’s side Tonia began to cry as she said, “I don’t believe these things define him as a man.”

Prosecution did not ask her about the most recent claim of infidelity by a witness who claimed to have sexual relations with Tidwell from Aug. – Dec. 2010.

———

Update 3:20 p.m.

Judge Robert Moore sentenced Winkler Co. Attorney Scott Tidwell to 120 days in county jail with a condition of 10 years probation, and a fine of $1,000.

Defense Attorney David Zavoda requested the jail time be served in Crane County.

Judge Moore began by sharing his thoughts to explain his decision.

“Lives have been altered and changed in a way that there is no undoing… the ones most profoundly and permanently effected are of course Anne Mitchell and Vicki Galle.” 

Excellent reporting from Ms. Childers! READ HER WORK HERE.

Related Posts

1. WINKLER COUNTY ATTORNEY SCOTT TIDWELL GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
2. BREAKING: Call Girl Will Testify Against Tidwell Next Week
3. Winkler’s Scott Tidwell: Happy Ending In 2003 Unlikely In 2011
4. Hookers: Winkler County Atty Scott Tidwell Paid $4,000 For Sex
5. Winkler County Attorney Scott Tidwell Trial Begins Sept 26 In Howard County [VIDEO]