Posted on July 24, 2024 in Uncategorized

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 is a felony DWI charge that 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. It is essential that you have an experienced Houston criminal defense attorney to sort out the details of your intoxication assault charges and provide a strong defense.

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 Posted on July 19, 2024 in Uncategorized

Intoxication assault is one of the more serious felony DWI charges. While simple DWI is usually a victimless crime, there is always an injured victim in intoxication assault cases. The fact that someone got hurt as a result of your drunk driving automatically makes your case far more serious than a simple DWI. Exactly how serious your charges are also depends on who got hurt. You could face harsher sentencing if you injured a first responder. If you are facing intoxication assault charges, you need an experienced Houston, TX DWI lawyer. 

Whose Serious Injury Must the Intoxication Cause? 

Basically, anyone's serious injury other than the intoxicated motor vehicle driver's injury will do. Texas Penal Code Section 49.07 says only that the serious injury must be "to another." Thus, serious injury to an occupant of the intoxicated driver's own vehicle will do. So, too, will serious injury to a driver or other occupant of another motor vehicle. But so, too, will serious injury to a pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorcyclist. Basically, serious injury to anyone other than the intoxicated driver can be the basis for an intoxication assault charge under Texas Penal Code Section 49.07, if the intoxication caused the accident resulting in the injury.

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 Posted on July 11, 2024 in Uncategorized

Being charged with intoxication assault can leave your future in jeopardy. Because intoxication assault is a felony offense, you could be facing more than a year of time in prison, not to mention a long-term suspension of your driving privileges. Injuring someone while committing a DWI is a serious crime. If you are up on intoxication assault charges, you need a highly experienced Harris County, TX felony DWI lawyer to help you. 

Can I Commit Intoxication Assault on a Golf Cart? 

Yes, depending on where you operate the golf cart. Operating a golf cart in a public place while intoxicated, causing serious bodily injury, can constitute intoxication assault under Texas Penal Code Section 49.07. A golf cart qualifies as a motor vehicle under the penal code sections cited and quoted just above. But to prove an intoxication assault charge under Section 49.07, the prosecutor must have evidence of the golf cart's operation "in a public place." Texas penal code sections do not define a "public place." A public highway or road would certainly qualify as a public place. But Texas's appellate courts have decided cases indicating that "public place" also means a place to which the public has access. 

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 Posted on July 02, 2024 in Uncategorized

If a drug crime involved certain circumstances that make the offense more serious, a sentencing enhancement might apply. A sentencing enhancement means that you will serve a longer or harsher sentence. One common sentencing enhancement in drug crimes involves drug-free zones. If a drug crime was committed in a place the law considers a designated drug-free zone, you could face additional jail time. Drug-free zones are usually places where children would congregate. This sentencing enhancement is meant to discourage drug users and dealers from bringing drugs into places where children are likely to be present. If you have been accused of committing a drug-related offense in a drug-free zone, you need an experienced Houston, TX drug crimes lawyer to defend you. 

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 Posted on June 27, 2024 in Uncategorized

If you have been charged with the felony offense of intoxication assault after a DWI accident, you need a highly experienced and knowledgeable Houston, TX criminal defense lawyer to help you. Drunk drivers never think that they are going to cause an accident and hurt someone, but it happens all too frequently. Texas’s intoxication assault laws apply to people driving most types of motor vehicles, even if the vehicle in question does not belong on the roads. This is because almost any type of motorized vehicle can cause injury to others if the person operating it is intoxicated. 

What Counts as a Motor Vehicle for Intoxication Assault? 

More vehicles count as motor vehicles for purposes of an intoxication assault charge than you might think. For purposes of the intoxication assault crime and other DWI crimes, Texas Penal Code Section 49.01(3) defines a motor vehicle as having “the meaning assigned by Section 32.34(a).” Texas Penal Code Section 32.34(a) defines a motor vehicle as “a device in, on, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except a device used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks.” 

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 Posted on June 18, 2024 in Uncategorized

Intoxication assault is a felony offense in Texas. The most common type of intoxication assault is when a drunk driver causes an accident and injures someone. This crime is far more serious than a simple DWI. If you are charged with intoxication assault, you could face more than a year in prison if you are convicted. It is important to have a well-qualified Houston, TX intoxication assault attorney defending your rights. 

Would Slugging Someone Constitute Intoxication Assault? 

No. For a prosecutor to charge a defendant with intoxication assault under Texas Penal Code Section 49.07, the defendant must have been operating a motor vehicle or another qualifying piece of equipment (see the next answer). Simply striking another person with a fist while intoxicated would not constitute intoxication assault under Texas Penal Code Section 49.07.

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 Posted on June 14, 2024 in Uncategorized

If someone got hurt, your DWI is probably going to be treated as a felony offense. Our state’s laws against driving while intoxicated are meant to protect the public from being injured by drunk drivers. Although the term “assault” usually means intentionally attacking someone, you do not need to have meant to hurt anyone to get charged with intoxication assault. Most drunk drivers do not intend to cause an accident and truly believe that they will reach their destination safely. If you are up against intoxication assault charges, you need an experienced Houston, TX DWI defense lawyer.

What is Intoxication Assault? 

Under Texas Penal Code Section 49.07, intoxication assault is the felony crime of causing, by reason of intoxication, the serious bodily injury of another, while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. In plain terms, intoxication assault is what Texas calls the DWI crime when the intoxication causes serious injury to another. If you seriously hurt someone in a DWI motor vehicle accident, you may face an intoxication assault charge.

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 Posted on June 11, 2024 in Uncategorized

Obstruction of justice at the federal level is extremely serious in all its forms. The term “obstruction of justice” is an umbrella term that refers to a lot of different specific offenses. Just like the term “drug crime” might refer to possession of cannabis without a medical license, distribution of cocaine, or trafficking heroin into the country, “obstructing justice” might refer to tampering with a witness, influencing a juror, or a host of other offenses. Generally speaking, obstruction of justice means making any attempt to stop law enforcement or the courts from carrying out their duties in accordance with the law. If you are charged with obstructing justice at the federal level, you need an experienced Houston, TX federal crimes attorney. 

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 Posted on June 04, 2024 in Uncategorized

A felony DWI charge involving multiple child passengers can sound like a very bad DWI charge. The prosecution's inevitable stance will be that the conduct exposed multiple children to harm, making the crime much more reprehensible than the basic misdemeanor DWI charge. But the same circumstances that make a felony DWI with child passengers charge appear especially reprehensible could, with a skilled Houston, TX DWI defense lawyer’s representation, turn a case more to the defendant's favor. It is possible to defeat this charge entirely, or in some cases, to have it reduced to a misdemeanor DWI. 

Defense Themes for DWI With Child Passengers Charges

Many DWI arrests occur after the defendant has just left a bar, club, or other social outing. Parents, though, generally transport their children for very different, and arguably much better, reasons. Your DWI arrest with your children may have occurred not coming home from a bar or club but instead on the way to or from school, grocery shopping, medical care, visits with relatives, or other laudable and even important family activities. 

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 Posted on May 29, 2024 in Uncategorized

If you have been charged with a felony DWI for driving intoxicated with multiple child passengers, the stakes are high. You need an experienced DWI attorney to represent you. Texas law and court rules offer several key protective criminal procedures that enable your DWI defense attorney to raise and advocate these defenses. It is not enough to have a defense. Your defense attorney must be skillful and effective in deploying the defense to your best advantage. Criminal procedures determine how, when, and where your Houston, TX DWI lawyer can raise and argue these defenses to gain dismissal of the felony DWI charge, charge reduction, or another advantage.

Protective Procedures for DWI With Child Passengers Charges 

Premier Texas DWI defense attorney Doug Murphy may be able to invoke one or more of the following criminal procedures for your effective defense of felony DWI with child passengers charges:

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