RESOURCES


Case Results

Client under 21 charged with DWI. Case DISMISSED prior to trial.

Details: Client is under 21 years old and charged with DWI. The police officer’s report indicates that she fails all field sobriety tests, and she further blows a .098 on the intoxilyzer.

Result: Case dismissed pretrial. After repeated viewings of the videotape at the scene and in the interview room, we were able to illustrate how the police officer incorrectly scored the results on the field sobriety test, and grossly exaggerated the factors which would lead one to believe she was impaired. Given that there was already evidence that she was impaired (i.e. the breath test), this was an uphill battle.

--------

Client under 21 with prior DWI arrest charged with DWI. Case reduced to Obstructing Roadway, one year probation. Client’s probation was successfully terminated early and the DWI will be expunged from her record.

--------

Client charged with DWI. Client pleaded and received one year probation, minimal community service, no fine.

Details: Client was accused of DWI and the in car video camera corroborated that client was very intoxicated. He was not able to complete any field sobriety tests; many of his admissions to the police officer were incredibly damaging and overall, it looked like an open and shut case for the State to convict the client of DWI. Instead of rolling over, we decided to fight very aggressively by looking for any possible pre-trial issues. We set the case for a contested pre-trial hearing. As sometimes happens, during the arresting officer’s testimony two interesting facts came out: the first was a question of how long our client was sitting there without field sobriety testing being done and second, there was an issue as far as some things that the prosecutor did that might cause concern for prosecutorial misconduct. In a case where there appeared to be no issue, with some investigation there seemed to be a pretty legitimate issue. We reset the pretrial hearing a number of occasions, eventually found some applicable case law, and presented an argument for why the case should be thrown out because of an unnecessary detention. The judge disagreed. There was then some information provided by the Prosecution that we thought might have been done ex parte. So we raised another issue with regards to being able to raise matters outside of a pretrial hearing to persuade a judge. Ultimately we were wrong and the prosecutor did nothing wrong, merely miscommunication. After admitting our mistake and continuing with the pretrial hearing, we were able to resolve the case for a one year term of probation with no fine and a minimal community service time. Whereas the client eventually decided that he didn’t want to have a trial because his wife was expecting a baby and the video was so damaging, this is still an example of a case where even when our client is guilty, we were able to negotiate a much better agreement than if our client had pled guilty off the bat.

--------


Client charged with DWI. Client pleaded and received one year probation, minimal community service, no fine.

Details: This is another example of a case where our client had wanted to plead guilty from the outset, but through some preparation and pretrial investigation and motions litigation, we were able to get a better resolution than our client had originally hoped for. Client was accused of DWI and the video and breath test indicated that he had blown pretty significantly over the legal limit. However, there was still a very strange issue as to how the client was going the wrong way on a one way street when there were no signs marking it as such. After photographing the scene, doing some measurements and traffic reports, we had a pretrial hearing where the Judge openly denied the motion to dismiss based on some other erratic behaviors and driving actions by our client. The client went into the hearing intending to plead guilty, but through the use of some different legal arguments and agreeing to waive some of the issues we were planning to raise at trial, we were able to reduce client’s fine and terms and conditions of probation significantly, saving him both time and money.

--------

Client charged with DWI and then with Driving While License Suspended while DWI case pending. DWI reduced to Obstructing Roadway. Client spent one afternoon in jail for DWLS, no probation, no fine.

Details: Client was accused for DWI and within a few months of having his license suspended, he was rearrested for driving with a license suspended. This is a case that occurred during the biker rally in downtown Austin and client was accused of trying to run over a biker while the biker had violently hit the side of his car and roof trying to get him to stop and the biker then alleged that our client looked at him and kept backing up to run over him. To further complicate matters, the client was talking about these “white trash motherfuckers” and was rather obnoxious to the policemen. We spent a lot of time preparing this case for trial because we believed that our client was not intoxicated. We also put ourselves in his shoes as somebody who is gay in a very very strange setting with a person he was with that was pretty flamboyant, both very scared of getting beaten up. Combined with the beating on top of the car, very aggressive nature of the motorcyclists and the police being completely dismissive of their concerns, we prepared the case for jury trial. On the morning of the trial, the State agreed to dismiss the DWI case and the client took a deal that would allow him to plead guilty to Obstruction of a Public Passageway. We then also dealt with the DWLS issue and set up a plan that would have gotten these things off of his record entirely. The client, an artist who had plans to move, instead decided to look to doing some brief jail time instead of doing probation. The client had to go to jail for an afternoon without paying any fine or any DWI conviction.

--------

Client charged with DWI. DWI charge DISMISSED and reduced to Obstructing Highway.

Details: Client was accused of DWI. There were several damaging facts: The police officer argued that he had followed the defendant for a mile and a half to two miles before client was pulled over; going through lights, on a highway, and exits, etc. He says that the client must either have been too intoxicated or evading his arrest and trying to ignore him. Aside from that, there were two separate occasions where the client was given field sobriety tests and failed them both: One on scene, and second in the police holding room. Client clearly had some problems with the one-leg stand, but overall our argument in the case was that the client was not intoxicated and he was willing to call witnesses and maybe even testify himself as to his very minor level of impairment. The case was resolved after we were able to show some parts of that video as well as showing some inconsistencies with the Officer’s testimony and how it was likely to change again, for a fourth time, at trial. The State ultimately agreed to dismiss the DWI case and reduced his charge to Obstructing a Highway.

--------

Client charged with DWI while Felony Assault charge pending. Felony reduced to Misdemeanor, one year probation. Client pleaded to DWI charge and received probation to run concurrent with Felony probation, no additional fines, no additional community service.

Details: We initially represented the client on a felony assault charge and during the time the case was pending trial, he was arrested for DWI. Unfortunately the video was not pretty – there are very clear signs that he was very intoxicated. His speech was slowed, he failed all of the field sobriety tests, but in his favor, he is the nicest guy ever. So happy and enjoyable to be around and extremely cooperative with the officers, engaging them in conversation on numerous occasions. Fortunately for us, the Police officer gave some very questionable testimony, resulting in a two-day pretrial hearing about whether or not there was a valid basis for a stop. He had first said that our client had not stopped when taking a right on a red light, and after the investigation on the scene, calling two witnesses as well as bringing out aerial maps and photographs of the scene, we proved that there was a right turn lane. We showed that because of the way the lights were timed, our client had not needed to stop at the red light. The officer then changed the testimony, saying that he could have caused a collision and in order to avoid one, he made the stop. The Judge, having taken the issue under advisement, still ruled against us saying that this is still a valid basis and the case can proceed to trial. Coming up to trial, client had since moved far away from Austin and had decided that he probably didn’t want to keep fighting the case. Furthermore, we had gotten his felony reduced to a misdemeanor and he only had a year left on probation. We were able to resolve the case so that his probation ran concurrently, paid no additional fines, did no additional service, was able to preserve his pre-trial issue, and is debate filing an appeal on those pre-trial grounds.

--------

Client’s Felony DWI probation was being revoked for drinking alcohol and failing breath test device. Despite her lengthy history of DWIs, the Judge continued her probation and allowed her to continue her private treatment.

Details: Client retained us on a Motion to Revoke Probation and to quash a warrant issued on her. Client had numerous previous DWI’s and was on felony probation for DWI. She violated probation by drinking alcohol and failing her breath test device. Instead of viewing the case as something that would be fought on a legal ground, we looked into ways that we could resolve it on a treatment basis. We were able to find a treatment counselor for our Client and set up a program for the Client to work with the third party counselor. The first condition of her probation was that she should immediately go into an in-patient therapy clinic. We contested this, arguing that the Client would do much better staying at her job and going to this private treatment provider. Unfortunately, during the time the case was being litigated, she had a relapse and violated her intoxilizer. Under our protest, the Judge compromised by not revoking her probation and deciding to continue her private treatment. The Client was successful with this treatment.

--------

Client charged with DWI. Hung jury after which prosecutor offered and client pleaded to non-DWI offense.

Details: Client was pulled over and admitted to drinking five (5) alcoholic beverages that evening. In the midst of the field sobriety tests, another car on the highway crashes into the backup patrol car. Police officer throws client on the median and the prosecutor argues to the jury that the police officer is a hero and client was intoxicated because he didn’t react in time. Defense theory concedes that police officer did the right thing by pulling him out of harm’s way, but it was incredibly unfair and unreliable to continue field sobriety tests after such a traumatic event. Jury hangs 3-3 and State offers a non-DWI offense before retrying the case for a second time.

--------

Client charged with DWI. Client accepted deferred prosecution.

Details: The client was stopped on I-35 with beer bottles in his car and the State believed he was drinking and driving. The officer’s report conclusively stated that the client failed every field sobriety test, but through argument and interpretation of video, the State was convinced that the police officer was incorrect in their interpretation of the client’s performance.

--------

Client charged with DWI. Charges DISMISSED prior to trial.

Details: Client allegedly failed the field sobriety tests, yet his blood test registered under the legal limit. The State still filed charges and refused to dismiss based upon the theory that client could have been under the influence of narcotics. Case was dismissed prior to trial.

--------

Client under 21 charged with DUI in a collision. Case DISMISSED with community service and alcohol class.

Details: Client was accused of DUI in a collision. Client and her friends had made the unfortunate mistake of partying all night in a hotel and the police department had knocked on the door, determined that everyone was underage using fake ID’s, confiscated the alcohol, and issued everybody Minors in Possession of Alcohol. Not to be deterred in the kids need to keep the party going, thankfully our heroine and heroes found another fake ID and continued the festivities the next night. On the way back to the apartment, client was rear-ended by a pretty big truck at a high rate of speed. That woman did not have insurance and decided to flee the scene. So the passenger in our client’s car ran her down on foot and stopped her vehicle using a bit of force. Unfortunately, as all this drama unfolds, the same police officer from the night before arrived and sure enough, detected a small odor of alcohol on our client’s breath, and to add insult to injury arrested her for driving under the influence. The client also had some issues with her license. Case was resolved with a dismissal after relaying the facts and circumstances of the situation to the prosecutor, the fact that she was hit, showing the accident reports and driving records, producing records of client’s attendance at college out of state, and showing all of the things that she has done and has never been in trouble before. With community service, the case was dismissed.

--------

Client charged with DWI. Case DISMISSED on day of hearing on defense’s Motion to Suppress.

Details: Our client was accused of DWI. At the time the cop had pulled our client over, she was extremely upset because she had just been in a huge fight with her daughter and was somewhat belligerent with the cop. Although our client refused to do all tests, they arrested her for DWI. We set the case for a motion to suppress because we felt the cop had pulled her over illegally. On the day of the pretrial hearing on the motion to suppress, the prosecutor ended up dismissing the case.
Result: All charges dismissed.

--------

Below are links that provide information on DWI's.

DWIGulag.com
TexasDWI.org
Texas Department of Public Safety
Texas Department of Public Safety- New Laws
Texas Law Enforcement links
Office of the Governor
Texas Transportation Code Statutes
Driver Training and Education
State by State Driving Laws
"Strange Traffic Laws"- article
Texas Bicycle Laws
DriversHandbook.com
Texas Driver's Manual
DriversEd.com
DUI Blog
Texas Constitution
Texas Penal Code
Criminal Procedure
Alcohol/ Beverage
Texas Legislature Online
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association
State Bar of Texas
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National College for DUI Defense
The University of Texas Law
Federal Lawyer
Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer
Juvenile Lawyer
Drug Lawyer
Austin Jail Release Lawyer
Nationwide DWI / DUI Lawyers
New Jersey DWI