As we have noted before, criminal trials and sentencing are governed by strict rules of evidence and procedures. Objections to admission of impermissible evidence during the trial and to procedures utilized in the sentencing process that results in an illegal…
Category: DWI
2019
Category: DWI | Homicide/Murder
In December 2014, a Houston man named Andrew Lee Williams struck and killed a 49-year-old mother and grandmother with his vehicle as she jogging along a street in Angelton, Brazoria County. He was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in May 2016…
2019
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), 10,874 people died in drunk driving related vehicle crashes in the United States in 2017—that’s roughly 30 deaths a day and one every 48 minutes. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) report…
2019
Category: DUI | DWI | Federal Criminal Law
Most people charged with a DUI face state charges. However, it may come as a significant surprise that you can be charged with a federal crime for DUI.
Because most roadways are within the jurisdiction of the state government,…
2019
Section 1.07(a)(17)(A) of the Texas Penal Code defines a “deadly weapon” as “ … anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury.” A firearm falls within this definition, regardless of whether the…
2019
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has convoluted history with blood and privacy.
In a 1991 opinion, State v. Comeaux, the CCA dealt with a situation where a defendant involved in a traffic accident was taken to a…
2019
Category: Appeals | DWI | Homicide/Murder
In the early morning hours on Christmas Eve, 2014, there was a horrific car accident in El Paso, Texas. According to news reports, local police believed that Joel Garcia was both intoxicated and speeding when he ran a red light…
2018
On average, 94 percent of all state felony convictions are the result of guilty pleas. Texas most assuredly falls within this range.
On January 12, 2012, Sandra Coy Briggs entered a plea of no contest to intoxication manslaughter of…
2017
The Texas Penal Code § 49.04 prohibits the driving of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Section 49.01(2)(A) defines intoxication as “not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance,…
2017
The crude joke goes something like this: the difference between a drunkard and an alcoholic is that the drunk does not have to attend meetings.
In a May 30, 2017 decision, Ledezma-Cosino v. Sessions, an en banc panel of…