Federal Judge Rules for Strip Club Over City of Houston

Hughes said he had read local media accounts of the state proceedings, but the number of arrests reported did not impress him.

“OK, no. This paper or whatever it was, it said there were over 30 crimes over four years, including prostitution. There was no specificity,” Hughes said.

He asked Van Huff what the crimes were “that were discussed so loudly” in news reports.

Van Huff said the city had cited Fantasy Plaza for operating without a permit, that some of its dancers had been arrested for dancing without a license and that three Fantasy Plaza managers were arrested because a 16-year-old had produced a fake identification to get a job dancing at the club.

“An undercover vice officer paid her for a lap dance in order to positively identify her and then charged three of the managers with violating the SOB [sexually oriented business] ordinance prohibition about employing a minor,” he said.

Van Huff said there was also a shooting in the club’s parking lot. “After the club was closed, three men were hanging out in the parking lot and smoking cigarettes, and one pulled out a pistol and shot the other one,” Van Huff said.

“Then there were several instances where undercover vice officers went in and engaged in fantasy talk with the dancers, and arrested the dancers for allegedly agreeing to sex for a fee,” he said.

Hughes turned to Aiyer. “So you are holding the parking lot shooting against the club?”

“The parking lot is part of the club. Yes, your honor,” she said.

“… But the city certainly doesn’t take responsibility for shootings on its property, does it? Road rage for one, parks,” Hughes said.

He asked Aiyer how many of the prostitution charges resulted in conviction.

“And of course, you convicted the prostitute, not the club,” he said.

Aiyer said she could not give him the number.

Fantasy Plaza’s criminal defense attorney Gregg Dasher stood up in the gallery and said that the only Fantasy Plaza dancer charged with prostitution was convicted because she could not afford to take the case to trial and pleaded guilty, and all the other prostitution charges were dismissed.

Van Huff told Hughes that the Harris County District Attorney’s Office had dismissed the employing-a-minor charges against two of the managers, and the same charge against a third manager was pending. “We expect that it will be dismissed soon,” he said.

Taking Fantasy Plaza’s attorneys on their word about the dearth of prosecutions, Hughes rebuked Aiyer: “You made your case to the state judge on things that were dismissed except for one prostitution charge, which was a guilty plea.”

Van Huff said he wanted Hughes to grant Fantasy Plaza a temporary restraining order requiring the city to treat Fantasy the same way as clubs that signed the 2013 settlement, under which they are not required to get operating permits.

Van Huff said he believes an injunction from Hughes would require the city to revise its temporary restraining order in state court, allowing Fantasy Plaza to reopen.

Hughes obliged him.

“This appears to be a concerted and arbitrary effort to kill Fantasy,” the judge said. “The city has a higher duty than to play games with people’s businesses, I don’t much care whether it’s an SOB, or a bank or a construction company.”

He issued a temporary restraining order after the hearing on Friday afternoon, ordering the city to treat Fantasy Plaza as if it were part of the 2013 settlement.

“Dobbins Chang [dba Fantasy Plaza] asked the city to join the agreement. Without a reason, the city declined, although it has allowed five new, similarly situated clubs to join. The city of Houston may not use the club’s and the dancers’ lack of licenses against Dobbins Chang LLC,” the order states.

“Dobbins Chang may operate Fantasy Plaza as though it is a member of the settlement agreement.”

Hughes said he is not messing with the state judge’s injunction, but he is ordering the city to explain the defects in its case to the state judge.

Fantasy Plaza owner Urooj Abdulla told Courthouse News after the hearing that Aiyer’s statement to Hughes that the city is not adding new clubs to the settlement is “bullshit.”

He said the city just added another Houston strip club to the deal, causing the city to apologize to the club after police officers arrested two of its dancers.

“They took two girls out of there. They took them downtown. Then they said, ‘Huh, we apologize. We didn’t know you were in Sweet 16. We apologize.’ And they let them go and then sent a letter of apology,” Abdulla said, calling the clubs that are part of the settlement “Sweet 16.”

“Whereas us, every two weeks they come and they are ruining my business. They are literally ruining my business. My business is halfway down because of them,” he said.

Follow @cam_langford

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