It has been a quiet three months on the Cristal Taylor news front. But that most likely will change next Monday, when Dirk Nowitzki's former fiancée faces her most significant court date to this point.
Next Monday is Taylor's probation-violation hearing in St. Charles, Mo. Unlike her last two court proceedings, in Texas and Missouri, Taylor is required to attend Monday's hearing, according to her St. Louis-based attorney, Matthew Fry.
That would make it her first "public" appearance since a brief May 18 court hearing in Beaumont.
She has been jailed in St. Charles since she was extradited from Beaumont on June 29. If St. Charles County legal officials have their way, Taylor won't leave jail anytime soon. She is accused of violating terms of the five-year probation she received in 1999 after pleading guilty to four felony counts, including forgery and stealing.
According to St. Charles prosecutor Steven Kobal, Monday's hearing before Circuit Court Judge Nancy Schneider will begin with Taylor and her attorney deciding whether she wants to confess to the probation violation, or argue punishment.
If Taylor and her attorney decide they want a hearing, Kobal said St. Charles County then will ask a probation officer to present evidence against Taylor.
"She has been sentenced (in 1999) to five years in the Missouri department of corrections, but the judge had suspended the execution of the sentence," Kobal said.
"Our office, I believe, will be asking for the execution of that sentence, due to the long-term of absconding her probation and the new charges that were issued in Beaumont."
Kobal is referring to the 2006 theft of services charge in which Taylor was accused of failing to pay for about $10,000 worth of dental work done in 2004. She posted $50,000 bond in Beaumont in late June and awaits trial in that case.
The other key issue that no doubt will arise in some form on Monday concerns Taylor's claim that she is pregnant.
At Taylor's last hearing, July 6 in St. Charles, Fry asked that Taylor's $25,000 cash-only bond be lowered, citing her "higher-risk" pregnancy. Fry cited Taylor's age (38) and the fact that, according to Fry, Taylor suffered a miscarriage in January.
On July 24, Dallas family court Associate Judge Randall Grubbs ordered pregnancy and DNA testing of Taylor, saying "We know the first one has to happen. The other one may be moot."
Judge Grubbs then ordered the proceeding sealed. Texas-based attorneys for Nowitzki and Taylor have not responded to questions from The News about whether the pregnancy test has been administered.
"I am unaware of a St. Charles County Order requiring the testing or recognizing a foreign judgment from Dallas," Fry said. "Said Order would be required for the St. Charles County Jail to release medical records."
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