The Texas appellate court recently reviewed trial court proceedings that had resulted in the conviction of an alleged drunk driver.  The defendant was convicted of a misdemeanor offense and was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail and a $500 fine.  The defendant appealed and argued that the trial court judge was biased yet refused a request for recusal. The appeal also argued that the trial court abused its discretion by denying challenges for cause against several jury members.

The appellate court found that the verdict was proper, despite the issues the defendant raised on appeal.  The case shows some of the challenges of going to trial with a DWI and illustrates the importance of having an experienced Houston DWI defense lawyer protecting your interests in court.  Joseph LaBella & Associates can help defendants accused of driving drunk to have the best chance at a fair trial.

Claims of Bias Couldn’t Overturn Jury Verdict

The defendant convicted of drunk driving raised several issues on appeal that suggested the trial was biased. Issues included:

• One potential juror indicated he was good friends with a law enforcement officer and that he believed police officers tended to be more credible witnesses. The potential juror also expressed the opinion that the training police officers undergo causes their testimony to carry more weight.
• Another potential juror said that if he was not certain who to believe after listening to conflicting evidence, he would believe the police officer because the officer’s position gave him more credibility.
• The trial court judge had a MADD plaque on his bench and had made comments in an anti-drunk driving video that had previously been loaded onto YouTube.  Despite these signs of potential bias, the judge declined to recuse himself.

The appellate court considered these issues but let the verdict stand. The reasoning was based on past cases where the Court of Criminal Appeals refused to require complete impartiality on the part of jury members. The jurors were asked whether they could be fair and impartial and wait until hearing the evidence, or whether they would let their preconceived opinions color their judgment. As long as the jurors said they could be impartial, which they did in this case, they did not have to be removed for cause.

The decision of the appellate court that there was no improper bias on the part of the judge or the jury does not necessarily come as a surprise based on past case law in Texas.  However, it does point to the fact that getting a truly fair trial can be a challenge for a drunk driving offender, especially with the level of social stigma that has become attached to drunk driving.

The best way for defendants to protect themselves when charged with drunk driving is to have an experienced attorney begin handling the case as soon after arrest as possible.   Defendants may also consider entering into a diversion program or negotiating a plea deal with the help of their lawyer, depending upon the circumstances of their arrest and the evidence against them.

Call Joseph LaBella & Associates today at 800-395-5951 or visit www.texas-dwi-lawyers.com to speak with a Houston DWI defense lawyer. 

Certain drug crimes are illegal under both state and federal law and if you break the laws on controlled substances, you could find yourself in federal court. Many federal drug offenses carry minimum sentences as a result of a wave of “tough-on-crime” laws passed during the 1980’s and these minimum sentences can result in lengthy terms of incarceration.

Unfortunately, a new report from Human Rights Watch indicates that federal prosecutors may be using the threat of charging defendants with crimes carrying lengthy minimum sentences in order to coerce defendants into pleading guilty to their offenses.

An experienced criminal defense lawyer in Houston knows that every defendant has the right to a trial and should not face harsher punishment simply for choosing to exercise that right. Behavior on the part of prosecutors who try to coerce plea bargains serves as one more reminder to those accused of criminal acts that they need their own legal advocate looking out for them and protecting their constitutional rights.

Defendants May be Pressured to Plead Guilty

The mandatory minimum sentences related to drug crimes that were passed in the 1980s were ostensibly intended to keep big drug dealers and drug king pins behind bars for a long period of time. Unfortunately, instead of specifically addressing the nature of the crime that would result in these lengthy sentences, the drug laws instead focused on the amount of drug that a person had in his or her possession.

The result of this has been that street dealers and drug couriers, who have a relatively low-level role in the business of selling drugs, could face the same mandatory minimum sentences as the leaders of drug dealing enterprises. A courier or street dealer would likely have large quantities of a drug in his possession and thus could be charged with a very serious crime based on the quantity alone.

Prosecutors, of course, have discretion with what crimes to charge defendants. Instead of using that discretion to shield defendants from the harsh effects of mandatory minimum sentencing, Human Rights Watch suggests that many are doing the opposite. Prosecutors are bringing the charges against people who commit low level drug crimes but offering plea deals that carry far less harsher consequences. The natural effect of this is that people become afraid not to take the plea, and thus give up the right to defend themselves in court.

The Human Rights Watch data shows that as many as 97 percent of defendants now plead guilty to drug crimes charged at the federal level. For those that don’t, the risk is tremendous. For example, while the average criminal sentence for a federal drug offender who accepted a guilty plea was five years and four months, the average sentence for someone who was convicted and who was sentenced after trial was 16 years of incarceration.

The huge discrepancy in prison time underscores the importance of making wise choices when deciding how to handle your drug charges.

Call Joseph LaBella & Associates 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. Serving the Houston, TX area. 

The end of December through to New Years Day is always a time when police crack down on drunk drivers, because this is a time when traditionally there are many intoxicated motorists on the road. Each year on New Years Eve, many drunk driving accidents, and many drunk driving arrests, are made by police working overtime. Police increase patrol activities and set up checkpoints in order to try to catch impaired drivers. While Texas law prohibits these DUI roadblocks, there will be no shortage of officers picking up overtime pay on roving patrols in search of drunk drivers. 

If you are going out for any festive occasion this holiday season, it is important to remember that police will be on the lookout for any signs of intoxication and that there are going to be more police on the roads watching for drunk drivers. For those who are pulled over and arrested for being intoxicated behind the wheel, it is important to speak to a Houston DUI defense attorney for help. Police can sometimes be overzealous or use overly aggressive tactics to try to find drunk drivers during this time of high enforcement, and you could become just another arrest statistic.

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign

One of the big reasons why there are more police on the road around the holidays is because of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign. This is a national campaign that occurs in states throughout the U.S. and that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) promotes. The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign runs from December 13, 2013 to January 1, 2014 of this year.

The campaign involves law enforcement agencies in Houston and throughout the United States getting grants to help put more officers on the road and to help facilitate the creation of drunk driving checkpoints on New Years Eve. The money makes it possible for local law enforcement agencies to cover larger areas and to have more manpower dedicated to finding motorists who may be intoxicated.

Starting off the New Year with a drunk driving arrest could be disastrous if you are caught up in aggressive police efforts that are part of the Drive Sober campaign. While it is always a good idea to have a designated driver before having any drinks, it is especially important at a time when you know that there is a major risk of arrest.

For those who are arrested, it will be important to determine if your Constitutional rights were violated by police eager to make an arrest. Even with the Drive Sober campaign, police cannot just pull you over and require you to submit to a test of your blood-alcohol content unless they have probable cause to believe that you are breaking the law. Without probable cause, any evidence that law enforcement collects against you showing that you were intoxicated will not be able to be used against you since it was illegally obtained. An attorney can review the facts of your arrest to determine if you can keep evidence from being used to secure a conviction.

You need an experienced, aggressive Houston DUI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

Any Houston DUI defense attorney knows that the best outcome when you are charged with drunk driving is to get the charges dropped or to be found not guilty by a jury. In some cases, however, there may be another alternative available for first time offenders who don’t have a good defense against the charges. This alternative is to participate in a pre-trial diversion or pre-trial intervention program that makes it possible to avoid jail time and a criminal record.

In Harris County, the pre-trial intervention program that clients could participate in was called the DIVERT program for a long time. However, this year a new program took the place of DIVERT that, while it works in a similar way to prevent criminal conviction for drunk drivers, is much harder to qualify for. First-time drunk driving offenders interested in qualifying for the program should speak with a lawyer as soon as possible for help.

The Harris County Pre-Trial Intervention program

The new Harris County program for DUI offenders is called the Pre-Trial Intervention Program or PTIP for short. To be eligible to participate in PTIP, you must:

• Not have ever been arrested for any crime as an adult, even cases that were dismissed.
• Be charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Houston or elsewhere in Harris County, Texas.
• Be a legal resident of Harris County or have lawful legal status.
• Not have been involved in a fatal accident while driving impaired.

Even if you meet the criteria and have no past criminal record at all, judges do not necessarily have to allow you to participate in the PTIP program. Certain other factors that could potentially result in you being rejected from taking part in the program include:

• A blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15 or higher as demonstrated by a blood test, breathalyzer or other test of intoxication.
• Being involved in any type of traffic accident while driving impaired.
• Not having a valid driver’s license at the time when you were driving impaired.
• Not having auto insurance at the time when you were impaired.

If you are approved to become a part of the program, you will need to pay for a Substance Abuse Life Circumstance Evaluation, which costs over $200. You will need to meet all requirements associated with the PTIP program.

Fox Houston describes the PTI program as a “zero tolerance” program that lasts for a full year and that is very intense. Over the course of the program, you must undergo drug abuse classes and you must submit to routine urine analysis or other drug/alcohol testing. Electronic monitoring and outpatient services may be required and you may need to attend mandated counseling. The total cost for the program is around $3,000, and if you make any mistakes while you are participating in the program, you lose eligibility and will end up with the original DWI on your record.

While the program is a difficult one to get into and complete, it can be one more way an experienced DUI defense attorney can help a client avoid the consequences of a conviction.

You need an experienced, aggressive Houston DUI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

Three drivers who caused fatal accidents while intoxicated are currently pursuing a novel defense in an effort to have their second-degree murder convictions overturned. According to the New York Times, these drivers are claiming that they were too drunk to form intent to commit the crime.

Any DUI defense lawyer in Houston knows that a conviction for manslaughter or second-degree murder carries much more serious penalties than a conviction for drunk driving. Past cases have given rise to the possibility that clients could use intoxication as a defense against certain criminal charges that require intent, but the viability of this defense for intoxicated motorists throughout the United States remains unclear.

Can a Driver Be Too Drunk to Commit a Crime?

The three defendants who argue they were too intoxicated to commit second-degree murder have all brought their cases to the highest court in New York.  All three were severely impaired when they became involved in an accident, as one had been drinking for 10 hours, another was high on ecstasy and another was described as drinking himself “into a stupor” before driving.

The three were convicted of second degree murder based on a jury’s decision that they’d showed a depraved indifference for human life. However, the opinion in a 2006 case, People v. Feingold, said that depraved indifference was a state of mind, which means that the prosecutor in New York needs to show that the defendant consciously and willingly expressed an “utter disregard for the value of human life,” in order for a defendant to be guilty of second-degree murder.

If the defendant was too drunk to be aware that he was putting others at risk with his actions, the defendant did not intentionally or knowingly show this disregard. The drunk driver didn’t make the choice to endanger other people’s lives because he didn’t realize he was doing it. The court in People v. Feingold established a precedent to potentially support this argument since the appeals court upheld the lower court decision that the driver was so drunk he was oblivious to the danger when entered a highway going the wrong way. If this reasoning is extended, this could potentially make extreme drinking a defense in cases arising from vehicular homicide, at least in New York.

While judges in Texas and other states do not have to follow the rulings of other state courts, a decision that the drivers could be too drunk to commit second-degree murder could be used as persuasive evidence in other courts to perhaps convince a judge or a jury to apply the same reasoning.  If the defendants in these cases are able to get their convictions overturned, the decision could potentially give rise to such debate and other state courts.

Drivers who have been charged with any criminal offenses for causing injury or death while intoxicated should consult with an attorney to explore all possible options for defending against these serious charges. A criminal defense firm that stays abreast of significant legal developments in other states will be best prepared to defend clients facing serious traffic charges.

You need an experienced, aggressive Houston DUI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

In early September, a three-minute video was posted on YouTube in which a 22-year-old young man confessed to driving drunk and killing a man. The video quickly went viral and has been viewed more than 1.9 million times according to NBC News. The NBC report on the video indicates that the man who posted it said he was aware it provided the prosecution with what it needs to convict and to put him in jail for “a long time.”

This story is an unusual one because the video was a confession to the world and the driver allegedly made and posted it intentionally to apologize for his actions and to try to deter others from driving drunk. However, there are many other drunk driving cases where social media evidence unintentionally provides help to the prosecution. Because of the risk that social media evidence could be used against you in a drunk driving case, it is important to be careful about what you put online and to speak with your Houston DUI lawyer if you are charged with drunk driving and there are any potentially incriminating pictures or videos online.

Social Media Evidence in Drunk Driving Cases

Information posted on social media is rarely private, even if you believe that the pictures or comments being posted are only being shared with friends. Pictures that you or someone else you know posts may reveal a great deal about you, some of which can potentially incriminate you or be used as evidence to bolster a drunk driving case.

For example, if you were arrested for driving under the influence and there are pictures of you earlier that night drinking a beer or smoking a joint that your friend posts on Facebook, these pictures could potentially be used to show that you had consumed drugs or alcohol earlier in the evening before the accident.

Likewise, pictures can reveal that you were at a specific location at a given time if there are questions about your actions leading up to the DUI, and any comments that you make about the evening of your drunk driving charge or about the charges pending against you could also potentially be used by the prosecution in your case.

The drunk driver who posted the viral video confession of drunk driving has explained exactly what he did on the evening when he killed his victim, and his story provides the prosecutor with invaluable information that can be used to secure a conviction. Yet, NBC reports that, despite the video confession, he has currently entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

The young man has indicated he plans to change his plea to guilty once the case has been assigned to a judge. A CBS News story reveals that some believe he may have made the confession to try to garner sympathy and thus get a lesser sentence when he goes to court. If this was his intention it was a risky gamble, so it is not surprising that it was reported he made the decision to post the video against the advice of his attorney.

You need an experienced, aggressive Houston DUI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

When you are arrested for drunk driving and arraigned on criminal charges, you will have the opportunity to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.  Our Houston DWI lawyers know that it is important to choose your plea carefully. You should be able to negotiate a lesser sentence if you agree to plead guilty, but you will lose the opportunity to avoid conviction if you choose this option.

Recently, one Houston woman first decided to plead not guilty to the charges she faced for drunk driving. However, four days into the trial, she changed her plea to guilty. This decision was an unusual one and prosecutors believe that it may have been a good strategic call. However, it is generally better to be informed prior to trial about your options and to make the choice before the case goes to trial about whether to plead guilty or not guilty.

Choosing a Plea in a Drunk Driving Case

According to My Fox Houston, the woman who changed her plea mid-trial was charged with driving drunk in the wrong direction on I-45. The driver was accused of drinking four beers and 17 shots, and then driving her vehicle in the wrong direction at approximately 3:00 in the morning. She reportedly slammed head-on into a car carrying two teenagers and a 21-year-old.

The driver of the car, who was 19, died in the car accident and an 18-year-old passenger also lost his life. The 21-year-old in the car lived through the accident but sustained serious injuries. He testified to the court at trial about how his injuries impacted his life and about what it was like getting out of the car and knowing his friends were dead.

The alleged drunk driver at first pleaded not guilty to the charges, although her blood-alcohol level was reportedly at .30 when the legal limit is just .08. She has been out of jail for the past year on bond, but when she pleaded guilty, she was taken into custody.  Prosecutors have indicated that they are asking for the maximum penalty against the woman in order to send a strong message to the law-abiding community of the serious consequences of drunk driving.

Prosecutors believe that the woman in this case may have chosen to change her plea from guilty to not-guilty in order to garner sympathy with the jury to get a lighter sentence. The prosecutor reported surprise at the decision, indicating that he had prosecuted more than 200 cases at trial and not seen a similar tactic.

By waiting until the trial was underway and by surprising the prosecutor with the change from a not-guilty to a guilty plea, the woman gave up her chance to try to negotiate with the prosecutor. In some cases, prosecutors will allow for more lenient sentencing if the defendant agrees to plead guilty instead of going to trial. Changing a plea at trial typically signals the defendant felt she would ultimately lose the case.

Making the decision on how to plea needs to be done strategically. An experienced DWI defense lawyer can help those accused of driving under the influence to make an informed choices at each stage of their case.

You need an experienced, aggressive Texas DWI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

As federal lawmakers debate how to resolve immigration challenges in the United States, one aspect of the debate centers on the impact of a drunk driving conviction on your immigration status.  While the House and the Senate disagree on exactly what would be done with those convicted of drunk driving, there is no disagreement on the fact that a conviction for DWI could affect your right to become a legal U.S. citizen.  This is true both for undocumented immigrants and for people in the country with provisional legal status.

Because a drunk driving conviction could potentially lead to deportation, the stakes are especially high for those who get arrested without legal immigration status in this country or for those arrested while trying to pursue citizenship.  Getting the charges dropped or avoiding conviction could be the only way to protect your clean record that allows you to remain in the country and potentially become a citizen. A Houston DWI lawyer can assist in fighting a conviction and avoiding a felony on your record.

Drunk Driving Convictions and Immigration

Under the current immigration laws in the United States, Visa holders (and others with lawful immigration status but who are not yet U.S. citizens) could potentially be deported if they commit aggravated felonies, crimes of moral turpitude, or controlled substances offenses. While a simple DWI might not necessarily fall into any of these categories, a drunk driving conviction could become an aggravated felony if you caused a serious or fatal accident while behind the wheel drunk. Drunk driving could also potentially be considered an act of moral turpitude if the offense is committed along with other accompanying crimes such as driving drunk without a license or while on a suspended license. Repeated drunk driving convictions can also lead to potential felony charges.

Because of the potential risk of deportation, it is even more important for immigrants than for other individuals to seek legal advice if they are arrested for driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. An attorney could potentially help to avoid conviction, freeing you of the anxiety of possible deportation.

If immigration laws change in the future and a path to citizenship is made possible through the new laws, then the consequences of a DWI could end up hurting you even more. The bill proposed by the House of Representatives, for example, would give law enforcement authority to deport the intoxicated driver right away. Law enforcement could either enforce federal immigration laws in the deportation or could turn the individual over to ICE.

The Senate immigration bill, however, gives illegal immigrants more legal protections, but deportation could still be a possibility for certain felony convictions and under certain circumstances.

Taking a chance with your immigration status is a bad choice and if you or a loved one is arrested for drunk driving and is not a U.S. citizen, you need to take decisive legal action right away to address the charges you face and to fight to protect your legal rights.

You need an experienced, aggressive Texas DWI lawyer.  Call 1-800-989-6839 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

According to KHOU Houston, there were 90 DWI arrests made this year over the stepped-up enforcement period on Memorial Day Weekend. Four of those arrests were part of an initiative to stop drivers from boating while intoxicated. 

Our Houston DWI lawyers know that the consequences for a charge of boating while intoxicated can be just as severe as those for driving while under the influence. With prime boating season underway now during the summer months, Texas law enforcement will be out in full force monitoring boaters to ensure that they aren’t breaking the laws.

Intoxicated Boating Has Serious Consequences 

Under the laws in Texas, you can be arrested for boating under the influence if your BAC is above the legal limit while you are operating your boat. Although you are allowed to have open containers on your boat, unlike in your vehicle, you may be pulled over by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Officials and asked to complete field sobriety tests or to submit to a test of your blood-alcohol content if there is reason for law enforcement to believe you have had too much to drink. The Shreveport Times indicates that law enforcement in states throughout the U.S. are cracking down on drunk boaters, stepping up enforcement and making laws stricter in light of the fact that the U.S. Coast Guard has named alcohol the leading contributing factor in fatal boating crashes.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Officials and others in law enforcement can pull your boat over to determine if you are intoxicated any time they have reason to suspect that you are boating while drunk. This can include situations where you have been piloting your boat in an erratic manner. If law enforcement sees open containers and alcohol being served on your boat, this can also be a tip-off indicating to law enforcement that the captain might be drinking.

Once you have been pulled over, you have to submit to a BAC test if officers have reason to believe that you are intoxicated. This is because the Texas implied consent laws apply not only to driving a car but also to driving a boat. When you go on the waterways of Texas, you give implied consent to have your blood-alcohol content tested any time there is reasonable suspicion that you have been drinking and boating.

If your BAC is above the legal limit while operating your boat, you can be arrested and subject to the same types of penalties that you would face if arrested for driving your car under the influence of alcohol. You need to ensure you get legal help right away at this point in order to try to minimize the consequences you face.

If you cause a boating accident while you are under the influence of alcohol, then the situation is even more dire. Just this June, for example, the Chicago Tribune reported on the story of a boater who was sentenced to ten years of incarceration for killing a 10-year-old boy while boating. Unfortunately, these types of tragic accidents are not uncommon as the Coast Guard reports that drunken boating was the cause of 17 percent of the 651 fatalities caused by recreational vehicles in 2012. Boaters who cause an accident while allegedly drunk must get legal help right away to protect their rights.

You need an experienced, aggressive Texas DWI lawyer.  Call 1-800-395-5951 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.

According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the Texas Department of Public Safety recently announced that troopers made more than 1,000 DWI arrests during a special spring break enforcement period. These 1,000 arrests all occurred between March 8 through March 17.

Our Texas DWI lawyers know that a spring break arrest for DWI can have far reaching consequences that affect you even after your vacation has ended and you have returned home. It is important to understand the legal implications of being arrested while on spring break or on any vacation.

What Happens When You Are Arrested on Vacation?

If you were visiting Texas for spring break or for any other reason and you were arrested for drunk driving in the state, you cannot just go back to your own home and forget about what happened. If your license is suspended in Texas as a result of a DWI arrest, your own state will find out about this and will suspend your license there as well.  This means that you would be unable to drive legally in your own home state even though the DWI arrest was in Texas.

You will also need to deal with the criminal charges that you face. When you are arrested for drunk driving, you need to come to hearings, you need to enter a plea and you need to resolve your case. This can be done through a plea bargain or through a trial.  You can also try to convince the court and prosecutor to drop the charges, or you can explore diversion programs that allow first-time offenders to avoid a criminal conviction and record.

To pursue any of the options related to your case, however, you’ll be dealing with Texas courts and Texas prosecutors. This can be hard to do when you are back home and far away from Texas where you were on vacation.

As such, it is very important that you have a local attorney representing you in the state of Texas even after you have gone back home. Your attorney can handle many of the issues locally, minimizing the number of times that you need to come back to Texas to deal with the charges against you. In fact, you may not need to return at all.

Spring Break Arrests

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that law enforcement had special DWI patrols working over spring break because the police know that Texas is a popular spring break destination. The troopers estimate that 226 of the 1,077 DWI arrests that were made were the result of the increased patrols over the vacation period.

Unfortunately, with police aggressively searching for drunk drivers during this period, it is possible that some of the arrests that were made were borderline cases where there is only minimal evidence showing that the driver was intoxicated. The increased patrols and the strong focus on finding drunk drivers may have also led to police pulling over drivers even in cases where there was dubious probable cause.

Understanding your legal rights, as well as understanding the implications of being arrested while on vacation, is very important to protect yourself as you cope with the criminal charges.

You need an experienced, aggressive Texas DWI lawyer.  Call 1-800-395-5951 today for your free consultation. More than 20 years experience.