Houston Radio: Judge Reinstates Lawsuit Against KCOH

Former longtime KCOH 1230 AM radio host Michael Harris' fraud lawsuit against the station's operator has been reinstated, and he will be asking the court to appoint a receiver to control the corporation's assets, according to The Houston Chronicle.

Michael Harris

Harris sued the South Houston Community Development Corp. (doing business as KCOH 1230 AM) and its president, Jesse Dunn, last October.  (See Original Posting, Click Here).  The lawsuit accuses Dunn of making false representations to induce Harris to secure two personal lines of credit totaling $130,000 for the station and to back $38,000 in financing for radio equipment.

According to court documents, Dunn allegedly acquired a debit card on at least one credit line to pay personal expenses as well as fund trips to Louisiana and Las Vegas casinos.

In December, Dutton filed a motion for summary judgment — a request to end the lawsuit — which alleged that Harris failed to make a fraud claim in his petition and that the former radio host "freely and voluntarily executed loans to the station."

Harris County District Court Judge Larry Weiman granted that motion last month.

Robert Collier, Harris' lawyer of record, asked for the case to be reopened because he didn't know about the motion for summary judgment and didn't have time to respond.

KCOH, which bills itself as the state's oldest black-formatted station, signed on in 1953.

The station was on the market until late 2012, when relatives of the late Mike Petrizzo, the longtime majority owner, and other partners sold its signal for $2.1 million to La Promesa Foundation of Midland. That outfit relaunched 1430 AM with Catholic programming as part of the Guadalupe Radio Network.

A group of black investors made an attempt to buy KCOH, but Dunn worked out a deal to lease the use of the historic call letters and the "looking-glass" studios at 5011 Almeda from 1430's former owners.

The new KCOH debuted on 1230 AM in March 2013.

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