Posted on May 05, 2021 in Uncategorized

DWI arrests and convictions go up and down from season to season and year to year. Those cycles can have several causes. Changes in DWI laws, such as lowering legal blood-alcohol limits, may expand their scope, reaching more conduct by more vehicle drivers, causing more DWI arrests and convictions. Police budgets, priorities, and enforcement actions can also increase arrests and convictions. More officers on the road looking for drunk driving generally means more stops, arrests, and convictions. Social changes, like the increased popularity of drinking or the introduction of highly addictive new drugs, can also contribute to DWI peaks. What, though, is going on currently with Texas DWI arrests and convictions?

A Local Spike in 2021 DWI Arrests

Any question about DWI trends is likely to quickly become complex. DWI statistics, like other numbers, can be notoriously hard to interpret for meaningful patterns. For example, a spike in one locale doesn't necessarily mean a spike in all locales. DWI arrests can have local rather than widespread regional or national causes. But a recent media story reporting a spike in 2021 DWI arrests by Canyon, Texas authorities still raises some interesting possibilities.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

A DWI can happen to anyone, even lawyers and judges. And sometimes, a DWI can happen even when you aren't even expecting it. A recent case from Montgomery County, Texas, is the perfect example. Police arrested Judge Mark Keough after a 7:30 am September 10, 2020, crash involving the judge and a deputy constable's patrol car.

According to court documents, the judge was behind the wheel of his SUV when he sideswiped another car and then rear-ended the patrol car. The accident sent both the deputy and the judge to the hospital. Judge Keough underwent surgery for a pelvic injury.

Judge Keogh later reported in a video that tests found Ambien in his blood at the time of the crash, a sleep aid legally prescribed by his physician. We originally shared this story in January of 2021, discussing Judge Keough's possible defenses. But late last month, Judge Keough pled guilty to driving while intoxicated. The court ordered his driver's license suspended for 90 days and imposed a $2,000 fine.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

Texas law, like laws in other states, authorizes a county's district attorney to bring in a special prosecutor in certain cases. Standard procedure is that the county's district attorney determines whether to charge a DWI, what DWI crimes to charge, and how to proceed with the trial or plea bargain of the charges.

In the case of a special prosecutor, though, under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 2.07, the county district attorney calls on an experienced prosecutor from another county or on an assistant attorney general from the state to take over the local DWI prosecution.

No Special Treatment

A special prosecutor, though, doesn't mean that the DWI defendant receives special treatment. The primary purpose of bringing in a special prosecutor is exactly the opposite, to ensure that the DWI defendant doesn't get special treatment. Sometimes, the district attorney has a personal or professional relationship with the DWI defendant. Those conflicts of interest commonly arise when the defendant is a police officer who works closely with the district attorney or a district attorney's family member. That's when Article 2.07 authorizes a special prosecutor. District attorneys may also call in a special prosecutor for an especially complex case, when understaffed, or when illness or other cause makes them unavailable.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

A DWI charge seems about as individual of a crime as one can imagine. Someone gets behind the wheel drunk, an accident occurs or police notice erratic driving, and an arrest results. Yet multiple-suspect, group, or mass DWI arrests do happen, including in Texas, as the following example shows. And when they happen, they can raise significant issues of probable cause, leading to potential DWI defenses.

Multiple-Suspect DWI Arrests

For each of the past several years, Harris County has held an annual initiative to discourage street racing. Press report indicates that the county's March 2021 initiative resulted in the arrest of 220 individuals over just a four-day period.

Texas Transportation Code Section 545.420 makes street racing a crime, punishable as anything from a Class B misdemeanor all the way up to a second-degree felony, depending on the circumstances. Obstructing a highway and reckless driving are other Texas crimes associated with street racing.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

No one goes out for a good time expecting to end up in jail on a DWI charge. But DWI arrests and incarcerations certainly happen. And sometimes, depending on the day and time of arrest, the county of arrest, and other factors, that brief jail stay following an arrest can last more than the night. Indeed sometimes, jail time can stretch into a few days or more, while awaiting arraignment and release on bond.

Credit for Time Served

Jail time at arrest for a DWI charge wouldn't seem to offer any special silver lining. The arrestee gains nothing from the jail time if the DWI arrest doesn't result in a conviction carrying a sentence involving jail time. The jail time following arrest is then a waste of time. Yet if the DWI arrest results in a plea or conviction carrying a sentence of jail time, then jail time at arrest is generally a credit against that sentence. If the jail sentence is short enough, such as a few days, then credit for the time already served may mean no more jail time.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

An arrest for driving while intoxicated is stressful for a good reason. A conviction for a DWI can affect your job, particularly those who work in law enforcement. A recent case involving a Fort Worth police officer is an example of the serious consequences that law enforcement personnel can face because of a DWI conviction. However, it's important to remember that you are innocent until proven guilty.

On December 8, 2021, Grapevine police arrested a 14-year lieutenant with the Fort Worth police department for suspected DWI. The officer was off duty when the arrest occurred. In a written statement, the police department stated, "The Fort Worth Police Department holds every officer to a very high standard and does not tolerate criminal misconduct or unethical behavior in any manner." While the officer faced serious consequences in this situation, there are defenses to an arrest for DWI.

Common DWI Arrest Defenses

While many people think that an arrest for DWI in Texas is an open and shut case, mistakes happen during police stops, investigations, and arrests related to suspected DWIs.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

We hear a lot about DWIs, what happens after an arrest, and even the possible defenses. But what happens if you're facing multiple criminal charges along with your DWI. A recent story from the Texas Department of Public Safety gives us a glimpse into how more complicated DWI cases play out.

In February of this year, deputies from the Angelina County Sherriff's Office responded to a report from a caller of a suspicious man going through their yard. While deputies were responding, the Sherriff's Office received several other calls reporting that the man got into a truck to drive away but crashed through a fence and into a pasture before fleeing on foot into nearby woods. The Texas Department of Safety arrested the man the next day for:

• The Class C misdemeanor failure to stop and give information,
• Felony possession of less than one gram of a penalty group one controlled substance, and
• Third-degree felony driving while intoxicated (third or more DWI).

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

Any honest thought should alert one to the risk that a DWI conviction can make a mess of one's life. Yet when facing a crisis like a DWI charge, many of us cope by unduly minimizing the crisis's seriousness. And so we need a reminder of just how big of a mess a single DWI conviction can make of one's life. The story described below shows that a single DWI can ruin one's life.

Yet, a DWI charge need not destroy all hope. Anyone charged with a DWI has one very good short-term opportunity and a second long-term opportunity to make the best of the DWI charge. The point is not to give up hope. Instead, when charged with a DWI, act promptly, wisely, and earnestly. You can cope well with a DWI charge if you take the right steps.

Making a Mess of One's Life

The unfortunate March 2021 story reports the Brazos County sentencing of a Martindale man to seven years in prison for a DWI conviction and conviction of assault family violence. Seven years in prison is a long time, enough to destroy a reputation, career, finances, friendships, and family relationships. Seven years in prison can mean starting entirely over when one eventually gets out. Seven years in prison can ruin one's life.

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

Being involved in a crash that hurts or kills someone else is always horrible. But when you also face a DWI in connection with the accident, it can be terrifying. A recent crash in Dallas illustrated just how serious the consequences could be when a death, especially a police officer's death, is linked to driving while intoxicated.

On February 13, 2021, a Dallas police officer died early that morning after a crash involving a suspected drunk driver. The DPS officer was working at an earlier crash site at 1:20 am on a freeway north of Dallas. He was standing outside his patrol car when the driver of a Kia Forte traveling at a high rate of speed allegedly hit him. The officer later died at the hospital. The police took the driver of the Kia into custody pending charges.

Intoxication Assault

Typically, a first DWI without any aggravating factors is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas. The punishments can be up to 180 days and up to $2,000 in fines. However, if you are suspected of DWI and are involved in an accident where someone is seriously injured, the police may also charge you with intoxication assault, also known as DWI with serious bodily injury. "Serious bodily injury" means an injury that "creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ." Tex. Crim. Code § 49.07(1)(b) (2007).

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 Posted on April 04, 2021 in Uncategorized

You've probably seen or heard shocking headlines of a DWI conviction leading to a very long prison sentence. Those headlines shock us because we rightly believe that the penalty for a first DWI conviction is usually a relatively short jail sentence, if any jail time, plus a reasonable fine and maybe license suspension or restriction of some kind. What makes those huge prison sentences in some DWI cases? Should someone facing an ordinary DWI conviction be concerned over the possibility of crazy prison time?

An Aggravating Case

A sixty-year prison sentence in a March 2021 Midland, Texas DWI case shows the sort of aggravating example such long prison terms typically take. This report tells of the unfortunate defendant's conviction for intoxication manslaughter, meaning that the drunken driver killed another in the accident that brought about his arrest. Intoxication manslaughter is a serious crime, although not one that alone ordinarily produces such a severe sixty-year sentence. Instead, Texas Penal Code Secction 19.04 makes manslaughter a second-degree felony punishable by two to twenty years, not sixty years.

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