Beauty Queen Dispute Winding Down

The executive director of a South Texas beauty pageant testified negative publicity over who holds the title has "degraded" the event.

Closing arguments were expected Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by the 17-year-old ousted Miss San Antonio. Domonique Ramirez went to court last month seeking to regain her title.

The pageant executive director, Caroline Haggard Flores, testified Tuesday that the dispute has made it almost impossible to get scholarships from universities. Flores also said media interviews by Ramirez have "degraded the crown."

Flores testified the pageant dispute is about Ramirez arriving late to events, declining to take voice lessons and not writing thank-you notes.

Flores, under cross examination, confirmed she served more than a year in prison in the 1990s under plea agreements for Medicaid fraud and tax evasion.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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