Posted on January 08, 2025 in DUI/DWI

We all know that feeling you get when you see those blue lights flashing in your rearview mirror. A traffic stop is never fun, but it can become even worse when it turns into a suspected DWI stop. But if you have a child in the car with you, it can be downright traumatic. An arrest for a DWI is frightening for anyone, but it can be terrifying for both of you when your child is there. And there can be long-term consequences. Seeing a parent arrested could be your child's first interaction with the police. No matter their age, this can be a harrowing experience for your child, you, and your entire family. An experienced Houston, TX felony DWI lawyer can help by defending you in court and connecting you with additional resources.

Driving While Intoxicated in Texas 

Under Texas law, you can face a DWI arrest even if your blood alcohol content is below the legal limit. Our statutes define someone as intoxicated in two ways. You can be "intoxicated" if you do not have "the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body, or have an alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more." Tex. Penal Code § 49.01 (2001).

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 Posted on December 31, 2024 in Criminal Defense

Anyone who is involved in a motor vehicle accident is required to stop to provide his or her information or render aid if someone is injured. It does not matter how minor the accident appears to be. You cannot keep driving even if you feel certain that no one is injured and there is little or no damage to the vehicles involved. If you are caught after leaving the scene of an accident without stopping to exchange information or render aid, you can be criminally charged with a hit and run. Depending on the severity of the accident, you might be charged with the lesser crime of failure to stop and give information or the more serious offense of failure to stop and render aid. If you have been charged with either offense, you need a highly experienced Houston, TX traffic crimes attorney to represent you in court. Hit-and-run charges can be life-altering if you are convicted.

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 Posted on December 26, 2024 in DUI/DWI

New Year’s Day is consistently the worst night of the year for drunk driving accidents and arrests. Most arrests happen in the hours just after midnight, when people who were out celebrating New Year’s Eve are trying to return home. More drunk driving fatalities happen on New Year’s Day than any other night of the year, likely due to the sheer volume of drunk drivers. While the cause of this might seem incredibly simple - a lot of people go out drinking to celebrate New Year’s Eve, so a lot of people are driving drunk - there are numerous other factors that contribute to the volume of drunk driving arrests and the deadliness of drunk driving accidents on this particular night. If you are charged with DWI or DWI with injury on New Year’s Day, you need an aggressive and well-qualified Houston, TX DWI attorney.

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 Posted on December 19, 2024 in Violent Crimes

The term "terroristic threat" sounds like it should be reserved for very serious things like credible bomb threats or threatening a school shooting and causing a long lockdown. However, it is very possible to find yourself being charged with terroristic threats after making a poorly-timed joke on the internet or posting a sarcastic comment that was taken out of context. The majority of people who are charged with terroristic threats never had the intention or even the tools to carry out the alleged threat. However, the state does not need to prove that you had any intention of carrying out the threat - only that you intended to cause fear or disruption. If you have been charged with making a terroristic threat, you need an experienced Houston, TX criminal defense attorney right away.

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 Posted on December 11, 2024 in DUI/DWI

Facing a felony charge for a DWI can be frightening. Driving while intoxicated is a serious charge that can come with steep penalties. But if you are already facing additional criminal charges, or if you are facing additional charges related to the felony DWI charge, the consequences can be even more severe. In addition to steeper penalties, you may also face reincarceration for violating the terms of your bail or bond. That is why you need an experienced Houston, TX DWI attorney like Doug Murphy representing you every step of the way.

DWI Charges in Texas

In Texas, the law broadly defines driving while intoxicated. You can face arrest for DWI if:

• You are operating a motor vehicle in public.
• You have a BAC over .08% or .04% if you hold a commercial driver's license.
• You no longer have the normal use of your physical or mental faculties.

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 Posted on December 03, 2024 in DUI/DWI

As a parent, it is one of the worst calls you can get - your teenager calling to let you know he or she has been arrested for DWI. You probably think it cannot get much worse than a criminal charge for DWI until you discover that your underage child also had another teen in the car and is now facing a felony charge.

Driving while intoxicated is a serious matter in Texas, and if the police arrest your child while another teen is in the car, the consequences can be serious and long-lasting. That is why you need to hire a highly skilled Houston, TX DWI defense attorney as soon as possible.

Zero Tolerance: DWI in Texas as a Teen

The law regarding DWIs in Texas is pretty broad, even for adults of legal drinking age. But for those under 21, Texas is a zero-tolerance state. The standard DWI law in Texas prohibits a person from driving a vehicle in a public place if:

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 Posted on November 29, 2024 in Criminal Defense

In the past year or so, street racing and "street takeovers," where drivers perform dangerous stunts, have become increasingly commonplace. These dangerous and illegal activities have always taken place in large cities, but Houston has seen an exponential increase in arrests related to street racing. Street races used to be underground, with few participants and only a handful of onlookers. Few people knew about these events, as smaller events were less likely to attract the attention of police. However, the number of participants and the amount of onlookers have increased. Hundreds of people sometimes attend street takeovers and races, sometimes drawing police attention. If you have been arrested for participating in a street race or street takeover, you need an experienced Houston, TX street racing lawyer.

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 Posted on November 25, 2024 in Drug Crimes

Being caught with marijuana inside the state of Texas is one thing - being caught transporting marijuana into Texas from another state is much more serious. If you are caught in Texas by local police, you will probably be charged with misdemeanor drug possession, unless you had a rather large quantity and are accused of planning to distribute it. If you are caught bringing THC products across state lines into Texas, you can face federal charges. Even if you were still technically in a legal state at the moment you were caught, you might be charged with a federal crime if there is evidence that you were bringing it into Texas. An experienced Houston, TX federal drug crimes lawyer can help you.

Buying Cannabis in a Legal State Does Not Protect You

Texas currently does not allow the sale, use, or possession of recreational THC products and has very limited medical exceptions for low-THC products. However, several nearby states do allow recreational marijuana to be sold. This leads to a lot of people crossing state lines out of Texas to purchase THC products at a dispensary outside the state. People often see this as the safer option over buying marijuana on the black market. Legally, smuggling marijuana across state lines is very risky. If caught, your case will fall under federal rather than state jurisdiction.

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 Posted on November 15, 2024 in Criminal Defense

Getting arrested can be an unsettling experience. Being handcuffed can be one of the worst, if not the absolute worst, moments in your life. People are not often thinking rationally while they are being arrested. Your knee-jerk reaction might be to fight back. People who have experienced violence in their lives may be triggered and instinctively resist what they perceive as an assault. Those who did not commit the crimes they are accused of are often even more likely to resist arrest than those who did out of sheer panic. Even if the charges you were initially arrested for do not stick, a resisting arrest charge might. If you have been charged with resisting arrest, you should immediately reach out to a well-qualified Houston, TX criminal defense lawyer.

What Does Resisting Arrest Mean? 

Most people resist getting arrested in some way. You can only be charged with resisting arrest if you used force against the officer who was trying to arrest you. Going limp and refusing to walk to the cruiser is generally not considered resisting arrest because there is no force involved. People who go limp are not doing anything to make the arresting officer’s job easier but are not resisting forcefully. However, elbowing the officer in the stomach while he tries to handcuff you would be considered resisting arrest as there is force involved.

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 Posted on November 12, 2024 in DUI/DWI

Anyone facing a Texas intoxication assault criminal charge should be concerned about also having civil liability for the other person's serious bodily injury. The intoxication assault crime requires the prosecutor to prove that the defendant's intoxication caused another's serious bodily injury. The criminal charge can thus go a long way toward also establishing civil liability. But civil liability requires proof of one element - the intoxicated driver's fault - that the criminal charge does not specifically require. Thus, the criminal intoxication assault charge does not alone establish civil liability. The elements of the crime differ somewhat from the elements of civil liability. The consequences of a criminal charge differ markedly from the consequences of civil liability. The procedures for the crime and civil liability also differ, meaning that defending the crime and civil liability also differ. The crime may lead to a civil liability claim. But do not lump the two together. Always speak to an experienced Houston, TX DUI lawyer if you are facing drunk driving charges.

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