Posted on October 10, 2022 in Uncategorized

Drivers facing a Texas DWI charge usually first think of their freedom, hoping to avoid any jail time. They may next think of their finances, hoping to avoid stiff monetary fines and penalties. But DWI charges and convictions can bring other serious collateral consequences, including affecting a job, career, professional or business license, and even child custody, among other things. One of those other concerns is your ability to travel. Make no mistake: a DWI charge or conviction can affect your ability to travel. Don't underestimate or ignore the potential impacts of a DWI charge, especially if your ability to travel around the United States or abroad is important to you, your job, or your family. If you face a Texas DWI charge, retain DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your winning defense.

Restrictions on Driving Privileges

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 10, 2022 in Uncategorized

Beware Rules of Thumb for Alcohol Absorption

So, you've had some alcohol to drink at the bar or party. Does waiting it out before driving home make any sense? You'll hear the rules of thumb for how quickly a body absorbs and dissipates alcohol. Those guidelines include things like "wait one hour per drink" or "wait four hours after the last drink before driving." But rules of thumb are, at best, a very rough guide. In any one case, those guides can be grossly inaccurate. Think of all you have riding on a DWI charge, things like your freedom and finances, not to mention collateral consequences like your job or business, career, child custody, and reputation. Do you really want to risk a DWI charge by following a rough guide? Determining an accurate blood alcohol content is problematic even with decent equipment, so don't trust a rough rule of thumb. The better approach is not to rely on rough guides or rules of thumb if you think any possibility exists that you may have imbibed over the legal limit. If you face a Texas DWI charge, retain DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your aggressive and effective defense.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

Every year brings another one of these unfortunate stories of a college athlete's DWI charge suddenly placing the athlete's school scholarship and sports future at risk. A recent story broke about a star Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver suffering arrest on DWI, weapons, and marijuana possession charges. The unfortunate story ran not just in local but also state and national press. The arrest occurred in the middle of a weeknight after police stopped the athlete driver for allegedly speeding. A field sobriety test ensued, leading to the DWI arrest. A vehicle search allegedly turned up a loaded firearm and a small amount of marijuana, resulting in the additional charges.

Immediate Impacts of College Athlete DWI Arrest

The arrest and charge of the Aggies wide receiver, entering his senior season as a team captain and the team's leading receiver the prior season, may well have placed his pro sports future at stake. The press reports indicated his prompt suspension from the school's team, as Texas A&M policies required. The Aggies wide receiver also missed his team's press day leading up to his senior season, while the team's head coach and other officials looked into the matter. While the athlete was his team's leading receiver the prior season, he doubtless had a lot yet to prove in his senior season. Otherwise, he would not have returned for his senior season and would instead have entered the NFL, like one of his Aggies receiver teammates did. As long as the unfortunate athlete remained on suspension with his DWI charge pending, he could not improve his receiving skills on the team and gain the greater notoriety he sought for a pro career. A DWI arrest can quickly put a pro career on hold and at risk.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

It's never a good time to face an arrest for driving while intoxicated. But if you're currently going through a divorce, particularly if child custody is an issue, this can be a frightening time. It is unfortunately common for good folks be be arrested for a first time DWI with a pending divorce. In addition to court-imposed penalties, you could also lose your driver's license or job. But most importantly, a conviction for DWI could affect your child custody and visitation. That's why it's important to hire an attorney who is a DWI expert in DWI cases like Doug Murphy.

Legal Penalties for DWI

A first DWI conviction in Texas is a Class B misdemeanor. You could receive up to 180 days in jail and court-imposed fines of up to $2,000. If convicted, you will also face mandatory administrative fines of $3,000 for the first DWI conviction in 36 months. The court has no control power to lower these mandatory administrative fines.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

A recent Texas Observer press report recounts just how bad Houston's Forensic Science Center once was for the criminally accused, including motor vehicle drivers charged with a Harris County DWI in Houston. According to the report, local and national media stories labeled the Center the country's worst. The report attributes the Center's former reputation not just to its decrepit facility but to the many wrongful convictions due to the biased or incompetent work of the Center's under-qualified staff, who even lied about their credentials. That's not a pretty picture for the criminally accused, including DWI defendants whose fingerprints, blood, DNA, and other physical evidence the Center collected, analyzed, stored, and produced as prosecution evidence.

Critical Reform of Houston DWI Evidence Procedures

The Texas Observer's press report, though, isn't about the Houston Forensic Science Center's appalling past. The report is instead about the Center's much better present. The Center's badly needed overhaul began in 2014 with cleaving the Center from Houston's police department. When the police control the forensics, prosecution bias is too great a risk. City officials who fund and oversee the Center put the newly independent Center under its own governing board. Refreshingly, that board includes advocates for the criminally accused. The board promptly hired a forensic scientist to lead the Center and to staff it with other qualified scientists. According to the report, the Center now boasts 212 qualified staff members. The press report calls the formerly tarnished but now-reformed Center a national leader, which indicates how deep the reforms went and how well the reforms may have worked.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

The problem leading to a DWI arrest isn't just the fateful "one for the road." The problem can instead be just one drink. One drink isn't always enough to make the driver legally intoxicated under Texas DWI laws. One drink may not raise the driver's blood alcohol above the legal.08% limit (.04% for commercial drivers). But under certain circumstances, one drink can still be enough for a drunk driving charge and even for a drunk driving conviction. Don't mistakenly assume that a one-drink rule is good for you or good for a friend or anyone else who desires to drive after the drink. Just one drink can, in some circumstances, be one drink too many. If you face a Texas DWI charge after having had just one drink, retain DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your aggressive and effective defense.

Misconceptions over Breathalyzer and Blood Test Results

Drivers tend to hold several common misconceptions about Texas DWI laws. One of those misconceptions has to do with breathalyzer and blood test results. It's true that Texas DWI laws set certain legal limits to blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels when operating a motor vehicle. But just because you blow a.08 in a portable breath test (PBT) doesn't mean you will avoid all charges. On the contrary, police may stop and arrest you on suspicion of a DWI violation when they have probable cause to believe that you lack normal use of your physical or mental faculties due to consumption of drugs or alcohol. Officers may draw that probable cause from your erratic operation of your motor vehicle or, after a lawful stop for speeding or other violations, from open containers or your appearance and behavior, even from a field sobriety test. Indeed, the portable breath test comes only after the stop, generally after the officer observes other DWI evidence. And whether you pass or fail the portable breath test, it won't be the admissible evidence. Police will generally only use it to get a more-reliable blood alcohol test.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

Sometimes, a car crash can end tragically, especially if the driver attempts to evade the police. A recent deadly crash demonstrates how police chases can sometimes end.

Police Chase in North Houston

The chase began when police attempted to pull over a car driving without headlights, suspecting the driver might be impaired. According to officers, the car initially slowed down but then sped off, trying to avoid the stop, and lost the police. When police caught up to the driver, he had crashed into a pole on West Montgomery Road off Ella Boulevard. Fortunately, there were no passengers, but the driver was deceased.

DWI in Texas

Driving while intoxicated in Texas means that you:

• No longer have the normal use of your mental or physical faculties, or
• You have a blood alcohol content over the legal limit of.08%, or.04% if you are driving a commercial vehicle with a commercial driver's license.

But a DWI in Texas doesn't require that you have a BAC over the legal limit. The police can also arrest you if they believe you no longer have your normal mental or physical faculties while driving. This is a highly subjective standard and can lead to an arrest simply based on your performance during questioning and road sobriety tests. There are many reasons you might fail a field sobriety test that aren't related to alcohol consumption. If you have a medical condition, are disabled or elderly, have poor balance or coordination, or have a speech or hearing impediment, the police can wrongly interpret your behavior as evidence of intoxication.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

Attorney Doug. Murphy recently received the 2023 Lawyer of the Year for DWI Defense recognition by Best Lawyers. This prominent award from U.S. News & World Report is based entirely on peer review surveys of the quality of legal services provided by each lawyer. Best Lawyers has recognized Doug every year since 2013.

Lawyer of the Year Selection Process

Best Lawyers has used the same transparent methodology, incorporating a rigorous peer review process, for more than 40 years. Best Lawyers designed the process to capture the consensus opinions about the professional abilities of top lawyers in each area and each area of the law. This prestigious award is based solely on peer reviews from fellow attorneys.

• Lawyer of the Year Nominations

While any lawyer can nominate another lawyer for Lawyer of the Year recognition, only attorneys in private practice are eligible for the award. Corporate attorneys are not eligible, and lawyers may not nominate themselves. The primary sources of nominations are typically clients, other lawyers, and marketing teams, but the number of nominations an attorney receives will not affect the results.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 03, 2022 in Uncategorized

If the police arrest you for a DWI, you have rights. We've all seen the legal dramas, and we know that we're innocent until proven guilty. As a result, you may assume that the police and prosecutors will treat you as innocent accordingly. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen. On Thanksgiving day, UFC welterweight Geoff Neal was arrested for DWI, demonstrating the due process that everyone should receive after an arrest.

Arrest for DWI and Weapons Charges

Police arrested Neal in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving for DWI ad unlawfully carrying a weapon in Texas. Neal's attorney stated that he volunteered for a blood test at the time of his arrest, and they believe the results will exonerate him. The results could take anywhere from six weeks to six months to come back. His attorney wasn't aware of the probable cause for the arrest because police had not yet released the arrest report to him.

The prosecutors won't produce a case file until those results come back. His attorney also explained that Neal was legally carrying a licensed weapon in his car and was only charged because it is illegal to have a firearm in your possession while committing a crime. Prosecutors will drop the weapons charge if his BAC is below.08%.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 03, 2022 in Uncategorized

If you're a professional driver, you undoubtedly understand the importance of safety on the road. You also know that your employer, and the people of Texas, trust you to keep your passengers and others on the road as safe as possible. If the police suspect you of breaking that trust and drinking while driving, the consequences can be serious. That's what a professional ambulance driver in Georgia recently discovered.

DWI Ambulance Crash

On November 12, an ambulance left the road and rolled over into a ditch about 20 miles outside Atlanta. According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, the accident killed a 66-year-old unrestrained passenger who was riding in the back. The driver, suspected of driving while drinking, faces charges of driving with an open container, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, and "DUI combination less safe," which allows Georgia police to charge someone driving under the legal BAC limit but is driving "less safe." The ambulance driver would likely face similar charges if this had happened in Texas.

Continue Reading ››