Miss San Antonio Domonique Ramirez Wins Crown Back

March 25, 2011 — -- Ousted Miss San Antonio Domonique Ramirez won her crown back after a courtroom battle with pageant directors who allegedly claimed she'd gained too much weight.

"I feel great. I've only had like two hours of sleep this morning and I woke up happy. My family is behind me, my lawyers are behind me…I have a large support group and I thank God for that every day," Ramirez said in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America."

Ramirez, 17, took the Miss Bexar County Organization to court in February, claiming in a lawsuit that she had been unfairly stripped of her title in January.

"This is about principle, this is about what's right. I feel the right thing here is to work together to be successful," Ramirez said.

Ramirez claimed that a pageant director told her that she needed to drop weight at a bikini photo shoot. The 5-foot-8 teen weighs 129 pounds.

"She told me I need to drop 13 pounds and I needed to lay off the tacos," Ramirez said.

The president of the Miss Bexar County organization, Linda Woods, testified that the bikini pictures were "unusable."

"At first I took it as constructive criticism but then when I filed a suit against them... they said it in a very hurtful way…By no means am I overweight," Ramirez said.

The pageant board claims that the dethroning of Ramirez stemmed less from her weight and more from her performance as Miss San Antonio.

"Domonique is not fat by any stretch of the imagination. She's a beautiful girl, but she wasn't ready for Miss Texas," Woods said.

The board said the teen didn't represent the city well. They claim Ramirez turned up late to events and didn't send thank you notes.

"We had a vote and we decided it was in the best interest of the organization and San Antonio to have her removed," Woods said.

Ramirez's parents received an email on Jan. 25 saying the teenager had been replaced by the April 2010 pageant's runner-up, Ashley Dixon.

Judge Rules Ramirez Deserves Crown Back

After more than 11 hours of deliberation, the jury disagreed with pageant officials on Thursday, ruling that Ramirez deserved her crown.

"I don't have any choice but to reinstate Domonique Ramirez as Miss San Antonio 2011," Judge Barbara Nellermoe said Thursday.

Woods told the Associated Press that she will do nothing to help Ramirez advance in the Miss Texas and Miss America pageants.

"I'm sorry, there's no way I would represent her as talent. She's trouble," Woods told the Associated Press.

The worry now is what happens to Dixon, the runner-up awarded the crown after Ramirez was ousted.

"We haven't talked and I'm not even sure if we'll be competing against each other," Ramirez said. "I have the title back and hopefully Miss Dixon will get to compete with the Miss Bexar County title. I plan to share the glory with her and I hope she can accept that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.