Posted on August 08, 2021 in Uncategorized

If you're arrested for DWI while driving a rental vehicle, you may have many questions about how damage to a vehicle you've rented can affect your prosecution for DWI. What happens to the vehicle? And will my insurance cover this? After a recent accident on US-59 in Houston, one Texas driver is probably wondering all of these things.

Rental Truck Roll Over

Early in the morning of Monday, May 17, 2021, an Enterprise Rental box truck driver was traveling southbound on Chimney Rock at US-59 when the truck struck a stopped car sitting at the red light at the intersection. The truck then veered off the side of the road and struck a concrete pillar under the freeway, flipping the truck over. The driver reportedly had minor injuries, but thankfully no one was seriously injured. Police took the driver into custody on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

After the Arrest

If you're arrested for DWI while driving a rented vehicle, the police will probably impound the car or truck. If you have another sober, licensed driver in the car, the police may allow them to drive the car back to the rental company. If they're feeling generous, they may even wait and allow someone from your rental company to come pick up the vehicle. But the police don't have to do this, and they may impound the vehicle anyway. If you need to locate it, you can use FindMyTowedCar.com or call the tow line at 713-308-8580. You can also let your rental company know, and they will track the car down. They will, however, charge you for any impound fees and any damage to the vehicle.

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 Posted on July 07, 2021 in Uncategorized

National media recently reported an allegedly drunken driver injuring an off-duty police officer in a vehicle crash. Few drunk-driving incidents make national media. But the injured officer just happens to moonlight as a film actor. And he also just happened to be running for mayor of the town where the crash occurred. Sometimes, truth is more interesting than fiction, real life more interesting than art. The story also illustrates two significant issues that can arise relating to a DWI arrest. One issue has to do with the field sobriety tests on which authorities in the above story charged the driver with a DWI. The other issue has to do with the fact that the injured party was a police officer.

When Should I Expect a Field Sobriety Test?

In the above story, authorities charged the driver with a DWI when she failed field sobriety tests after her discharge from the hospital. Officers use field sobriety tests like walking a line, touching the nose with eyes closed, or balancing on one foot, for evidence of intoxication. Officers having reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop will observe the driver as they request license and insurance. If they smell alcohol, hear slurred speech, notice unsteady gaze, or have other indications of intoxication, then they may request a field sobriety test. Expect a request once officers notice something suspicious. You need not comply with a request, but refusing a field sobriety test won't stop your DWI arrest.

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 Posted on July 07, 2021 in Uncategorized

A DWI arrest has its own direct impact. Without an aggressive and effective legal defense, a DWI conviction and fines or imprisonment may follow. But DWI arrests can have several other collateral consequences. A DWI arrest can affect security clearances, firearms licenses, legal residency status, professional licenses, and even child custody. A DWI arrest can also affect one's job. Don't take a DWI arrest lightly. Retain Board Certified DWI Specialist Doug Murphy to aggressively assert your DWI defenses and beat your DWI charge.

A Close Call on DWI Effects on Employment

A recent story of a Wichita County commissioner's DWI charge shows the tough call employers face when employees get arrested on DWI charges. The story alleges that the commissioner appeared drunk when running his vehicle into a post on county premises. The commissioner's rollover accident shortly later led to the commissioner's arrest on DWI charges. The county's drug-and-alcohol-free workplace policy could have affected the commissioner's job. But a local judge ruled that the county policy didn't quite apply to elected county officials. The commissioner appears to have avoided any direct impact on his job.

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 Posted on July 07, 2021 in Uncategorized

Better Free on Bail

Bail enables a defendant arrested on a DWI charge to leave jail while awaiting the DWI charge's trial, dismissal, or other disposition. Better to be free while awaiting trial than to languish in jail. Freedom on bail enables a defendant to work, care for family, and help the DWI defense lawyer prepare for trial. Bail traditionally involves posting a specific sum of money that the defendant would forfeit if not returning to court as ordered. Bail bond companies save the defendant from posting the full cash amount by posting a bond instead for a fee a fraction of the amount of bail.

Complying with Bail Conditions

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 17.15 permits the judge, magistrate, or another officer at arraignment to set bail conditions for the defendant's release. Under Article 17.15, those conditions

• must give reasonable assurance that the defendant will comply;
• must not oppress the defendant who no one has yet convicted of a crime;

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 Posted on July 07, 2021 in Uncategorized

Over holidays and major events, it's common for the Texas Department of Transportation to increase traffic enforcement and watch for drivers without seat belts, driving too fast, drinking and driving, or breaking other traffic laws. Law enforcement officers also watch for people not complying with the state's "Move Over, Slow Down" law, requiring drivers to move over a lane and slow down when they encounter a stationary vehicle on the road or the shoulder. Enforcement campaigns also include the Texas Click It or Ticket program, urging Texans to buckle up.

DWIs During High Traffic Enforcement

When the Department of Transportation puts more police on the roads, they will naturally make more traffic stops and make more arrests. Over Christmas and New Year's weekends in 2018, police made more than 400 DWI arrests. To prepare for holidays, law enforcement will:

• Put more police on the roads, watching for drunk drivers on routes they're most likely to use,

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 Posted on June 06, 2021 in Uncategorized

Many DWI charges begin predictably. The suspected intoxicated driver weaves across the centerline or otherwise drives erratically, resulting in a lawful police stop and DWI arrest. Yet, that's not the only way that police find probable cause to suspect a DWI crime. Your vehicle making the roadway unsafe is another way that can lead to a DWI arrest. Control your vehicle so that it does not create a road hazard. Otherwise, you may find yourself responding to a police stop and DWI charge.

Unsafe Roadway Leads to DWI Charge

A recent story illustrates the hazard. Harris County authorities allege that an intoxicated driver's wandering vehicle struck a roadway median, tearing apart the vehicle's oil pan. The driver motored onto a distant parking lot, leaving behind a mile-long oil slick. A motorcyclist encountering the oil slick crashed, killing himself and leaving the motorcycle in the roadway for another vehicle to strike. Police responding to the accident scene traced the oil slick to the intoxicated driver's distant parked vehicle. The intoxicated driver now faces a DWI charge, after allegedly showing signs of impairment at his arrest. No witness complained of the intoxicated driver's wandering vehicle. Police found that the physical evidence was alone enough to pursue the DWI charge.

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 Posted on June 06, 2021 in Uncategorized

A Common Scenario

Here's a common DWI arrest scenario that often leaves the suspect driver baffled. The officer pulls the driver's vehicle over and engages the driver with question after question, without ever telling the suspect why they were pulled over. The officer plies the driver with questions like "May I see your license and registration?" and "Where are you coming from and where are you headed?" and "Are you in a hurry right now?" without giving much hint, if any, as to what the driver might have done wrong to end up on the side of the road.

The next thing the driver knows, the driver faces a DWI charge. "What," the driver wonders, "did I do wrong that led the officer to stop my vehicle?" The officer may not have said a word to the driver at the scene, nor given any reason why the officer would have suspected the driver to be intoxicated. What gives?

Reasonable Suspicion to Stop

The driver in the above common scenario is perfectly within the their rights to wonder: why the stop? The Constitution's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit state and local police from unreasonable searches and seizures. To respect those rights, Supreme Court case law holds that police must ordinarily have reasonable suspicion of a crime to make a traffic stop. A court may generally prohibit the prosecution's use of DWI evidence gathered from a stop made without reasonable suspicion that a law had been broken

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 Posted on June 06, 2021 in Uncategorized

Boating with an Open Container in Texas Is Legal

No surprise that Texas has some of the best boating lakes and reservoirs in America. In Texas and elsewhere, boating is a great way to relax and have a good time. Adding to the fun, many boaters also enjoy a few beers or other tasty and refreshing beverages in the heat. In Texas, as in most other states, open containers of alcohol in a motor vehicle is a crime, even if the driver hasn't touched the open container. Yet having open containers of alcohol in a boat is not a Texas crime. You can boat in Texas while having open containers aboard and not commit a crime. Yes, you can drink and drive a boat legally in Texas. this right does come with the responsibility of drinking responsibly so that you do not drink so much that you become legally intoxicated.

Operating a Boat While Intoxicated Is a Texas Crime

Yet operating a boat while intoxicated is a Texas crime just like driving a car or truck while intoxicated. Texas Penal Code §49.06 makes operating a watercraft while intoxicated a Class B misdemeanor, ordinarily with a minimum penalty of 72 hours in jail. For a boating while intoxicated conviction, authorities must show that the operator did not have normal use of mental or physical faculties or had a blood alcohol content of.08% or greater. Just because Texas permits open containers aboard does not mean the boat's operator can drink as much as the passengers aboard the boat. If you intend to have open containers in your boat, then you should make sure the boat driver is not legally intoxicated. Do not operate a boat while you are intoxicated as life altering tragic accidents can occur resulting in serious bodily injury or death.

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 Posted on June 06, 2021 in Uncategorized

If you're involved in a traffic accident where someone dies, it can be horrifying. The fear and guilt can be overwhelming. But despite your horror over the accidental loss of life, you still have to worry about possible charges, particularly if the police accuse you of driving while intoxicated. If an intoxicated driver kills someone else in Texas, you can face charges far more serious than a DWI. That's what a Longview, Texas man discovered in 2017.

Police arrested the man for DWI after a crash in Gregg County on October 6, 2017, that killed a passenger in another car. According to police, he was driving north in the 3800 block of South Eastman Road when he entered the southbound lanes and collided with a car driven by Tunyion Lanette Andrews of Woodville. Andrews' mother, 64-year-old Billie Griffin Andrews, was a passenger in the car and died that day in a local hospital.

In February of 2018, a grand jury indicted the man for intoxication manslaughter, and he was out on bail pending his trial. Police arrested him again in April on suspicion of DWI. His trial for the 2017 intoxication manslaughter charge is still pending.

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 Posted on June 06, 2021 in Uncategorized

Public figures like elected officials, television and sports stars, and well-known business leaders are human beings. Public notoriety provides no immunity to a DWI charge. Although a few officers might look the other way when encountering a public figure suspected of a DWI, police are presumably nearly as likely, or depending on the officer and public-figure suspect, more likely, to arrest a public figure on a DWI as they are to arrest a private figure.

One recent story of the DWI arrest of a Texas small-town mayor provides a good example. The story reports the mayor's late-night DWI arrest, after the town's wine-tasting event and the mayor's emergence to drive home from a local restaurant. The mayor's DWI arrest might alone have been newsworthy enough for a good story in the local media. But the charge that the mayor had committed a felony third offense, punishable by several years in prison, surely increased the story's visibility.

Special Treatment or Special Peril?

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