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News (Media Awareness Project) - US GA: Teasers Show Bar Chronology
Title:US GA: Teasers Show Bar Chronology
Published On:2001-11-25
Source:Macon Telegraph (GA)
Fetched On:2008-01-25 03:37:19
TEASERS SHOW BAR CHRONOLOGY

Mid-'80s - Teasers Show Bar opens on Watson Boulevard.

June 5, 1995 - Georgia Supreme Court rules that cities may deny liquor
licenses to nude dance clubs to protect property values.

Jan. 6, 1997 - Houston County officials hold public hearing presenting
testimony and studies concluding that nude clubs reduce property value and
increase crime.

March 3, 1997 - Warner Robins council passes an ordinance preventing strip
clubs from serving alcohol and curtailing the number of hours an adult
establishment may stay open. The ordinance also regulates adult employee
licensing fees and background checks.

Existing businesses were given 60 days to comply with the new policy.

May 5, 1997 - Houston County Superior Court Judge George Nunn Jr. rules
that Warner Robins' nude-dancing ordinance is valid, meaning Teasers either
must stop selling alcohol or stop nude dancing.

Teasers' attorney contends the club is exempt from the law and vows to
appeal to Georgia Supreme Court.

May 19, 1997 - Warner Robins Mayor Donald Walker orders club
representatives to appear before the council to answer accusations that
they are violating the ordinance forbidding alcohol sales and nude dancing
in the same establishment.

May 20, 1997 - Warner Robins City Council decides not to revoke Teasers'
license, opting instead to revise its adult-entertainment law to provide
for prompt judicial review if the city revokes or suspends a club's liquor
license.

June 2, 1997 - City Council votes to suspend Teasers' alcohol license for
60 days after police found alcohol was still sold and dancers were still nude.

June 4, 1997 - Judge George F. Nunn Jr. agrees to allow the nude club to
continue selling alcohol while he reviews a petition by Teasers' attorney,
who argues the city's ordinance violates the state Constitution and denies
the club due process.

Jan. 15, 1998 - Warner Robins police arrest a girl, alleged to be 16 years
old, who worked as a dancer at Teasers. The club is not charged.

Feb. 25, 1998 - U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson grants a temporary
restraining order to Teasers until the city shows that problems at the club
were like those of other communities that have adopted adult-entertainment
ordinances.

Feb. 26, 1998 - City of Warner Robins decides to appeal Judge Hugh Lawson's
ruling.

June 19, 1998 - An undercover agent allegedly makes the first drug buy of
the city's year-long investigation at the club. June 16, 1999 - Five
dancers and a waitress file a $35 million suit against the city of Warner
Robins, claiming new alcohol ordinances are unconstitutional and forced
them out of their jobs.

Dec. 9, 1999 - Judge Lawson rejects Teasers' lawsuit against the city that
challenges the city's amended alcohol ordinance.

Dec. 17, 1999 - City officials say they will enforce their ordinance.

Dec. 20, 1999 - Dancers at Teasers cover up enough to comply with city
code, permitting Teasers to continue selling alcohol.

Dec. 29, 1999 - Judge Lawson denies Teasers' motion to permit nude dancing
until the appeal process has ended.

Dec. 29, 1999 - City notifies Teasers that illegal drug activity took place
during year-long investigation at the show club and it may suspend its
alcohol license.

Eleven former employees and customers, who face state and federal charges,
are arrested and released on bond. The city council will hold a hearing to
determine whether the alleged drug activity at the club makes it
"detrimental, harmful or undesirable to the community" as provided in the
city code.

Jan. 4, 2000 - Two former club employees facing federal charges plead guilty.

Jan. 11, 2000 - Houston County District Attorney Kelly Burke says he
recommended dismissal of the state drug charges against employees and
customers because there was insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute
the cases.

Jan. 12, 2000 - A federal judge denies Teasers' attempt to stop a city
council hearing on the club's alcohol license.

Jan. 13 & 18, 2000 - City holds hearing to decide whether to revoke
Teasers' alcohol license based on the city's undercover drug investigation
at the club.

Feb. 4, 2000 - City records reveal that a confidential informant was paid
at least $10,000 by the city for his help in the drug investigation at
Teasers. District Attorney Burke says the large payment to the informant
was instrumental in his decision to recommend dismissal of the drug cases.

A Houston grand jury allegedly probes the city's investigation. Feb. 7,
2000 - Warner Robins City Council votes unanimously to revoke Teasers'
alcohol license.

The club will be allowed to pour alcohol during its appeal.

Feb. 10, 2000 - The city attorney and two city police officers successfully
challenge subpoenas to appear before a grand jury and produce city records
with regard to how the city conducted its drug investigation at Teasers.

Feb. 17, 2000 - Warner Robins City Council amends the alcohol license code
to prohibit a business from serving alcohol within 12 months after its
license is revoked.

The code previously applied to the individual who held the license, not the
business.

The council also decides to hold its own hearing into the drug
investigation at Teasers.

Feb. 22, 2000 - Warner Robins City Council holds hearing regarding its own
drug investigation of Teasers.

Feb. 23, 2000 - Four of five former club employees are dismissed from $35
million lawsuit against Warner Robins. They claimed new alcohol ordinances
are unconstitutional and forced them out of their jobs.

April 7, 2000 - Two former club employees who pleaded guilty to federal
charges were sentenced.

June 16, 2000 - Michael Bigley, formerly known as the city's confidential
informant 2514, signs two sworn statements - one dated May 23 and one June
15 - that contradict each other.

In the May 23 statement, Bigley said he was instructed by city officials,
including Mayor Donald Walker, to set up drug purchases in either Teasers
or its parking lot, because they wanted Teasers closed down. In his June 15
statement, Bigley denied he was told to made sure all the drug deals took
place at the club.

July 7, 2000 - Teasers closed its doors after Houston County Superior Court
Judge Ed Lukemire stripped the club of its alcohol license.

The court agreed with city officials who said the club's license should be
revoked due to alleged drug activity at the club.

July 10, 2000 - Teasers reopened and served alcohol after Teasers' attorney
filed two discretionary appeals, one with Georgia Court of Appeals and one
with Georgia Supreme Court.

Aug. 24, 2000 - A nude dancer hit the stage for the first time since
December 1999, after the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sided with
Teasers in its lawsuit against the city, calling the city's adult business
ordinance unconstitutional.

Aug. 28, 2000 - The Georgia Supreme Court announces it will not hear
Teasers' appeal of its alcohol license revocation. The dance club had asked
the court for a discretionary review.

The club stays open based on its interpretation of the 11th Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals' decision.

Sept. 5, 2000 - Mayor Donald Walker says he will ask GBI to investigate who
revealed name of Teasers' informant. (The informant, Michael Bigley,
identified himself in early June at a news conference that he arranged in
front of several news organizations.)

Sept. 6, 2000 - The GBI declines Walker's request to investigate Teasers.

Oct. 16, 2000 - The Georgia Court of Appeals denied Teasers' direct appeal
after the Georgia Supreme Court transferred the case to the appeals court,
saying it didn't have jurisdiction.

March 14, 2001 - A federal judge allowed Teasers to add Walker and Warner
Robins Police Sgt. Lance Watson to their lawsuit against the city and city
council.

The bar's attorneys later dropped Watson from the lawsuit.

April 19, 2001 - A federal judge denied Teasers' request for $12.5 million
in damages from the city and council members, saying the city had the right
to prohibit Teasers from offering nude dancing "in conjunction with alcohol."

May 9, 2001 - A federal judge denied Teasers' request to overturn the
revocation of the club's alcohol license.

Teasers attorneys said they were considering appealing their case to the
U.S. Supreme Court. City attorneys believe they they have won their battle.
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