DWI Case Examples
The State of Texas v. DH
Misdemeanor DWI.
Tried in the County Court at Law of Midland County,
Texas. Defendant was charged with a Class B Misdemeanor, Driving
While Intoxicated Offense, resulting out of a motor vehicle accident.
The Defendant admitted to drinking 23 beers and was in the process
of purchasing his second case of beer that day when the accident
occurred. The accident occurred in the parking lot of the liquor
store. The Defendant was a Caucasian male who backed into a motor
vehicle owned by a young African American female. Upon exiting
his vehicle the Defendant started a fight with the African American
female and several African American males who witnessed the accident.
When the police arrived to arrest the Defendant, the Defendant
struggled with the police and was immediately placed in handcuffs.
The Defendant remained in handcuffs during the entire interview
process at the Midland County Detention Center. While in the Driving
While Intoxicated interview room, the Defendant cursed the entire
time, made racial slurs, threatened the victim in the car accident,
and went into a 20 minute soliloquy on how he loved the Midland
chapter of the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. The Defendant had
no choice but to try the DWI case, due to his pending Federal
sentence for bribery. A conviction would have resulted in a high
criminal history category which would have resulted in a longer
period of incarceration in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This
law firm did not represent the Defendant on his federal charges.
The jury panel consisted of 2 African American females and one
woman of mixed race. The Defendant chose to testify at trial on
his own behalf. The Defendant, while on the stand stated "I
don't hate n*****, I have many n***** friends". Defendant
was acquitted, even though he admitted to drinking 23 beers.
State of Texas v. KEF
Our law firm was retained by KEF, to represent him
on two pending misdemeanor DWI cases. Both cases proceed to trial
and resulted in "not guilty" verdicts. In the first
case the Defendant was stopped for reckless driving and speeding,
thirty miles in access of the posted speed limit. Defendant admitted
to drinking a 12 pack of beer. Defendant had six clues on the
HGN, five clues on the Walk and Turn, and four clues on the One
Leg Stand. Defendant was profane and abusive to the law enforcement
officer, cursing at him and calling him stupid. The client taunted
the police officer and refused to perform any field sobriety tests
while in detention. Defendant had a fairly extensive prior criminal
record and prior to trial was arrest on the second DWI case. The
State of Texas was very upset with the Defendant and was very
hopeful of a conviction in an effort to punish the Defendant severally.
The Defendant was tried in the Midland County Court at Law, on
the offense of Misdemeanor DWI and was acquitted following a trial
by jury.
Following the acquittal, the Prosecutor for the
State immediately moved to try the other pending misdemeanor DWI
case. By this point the prosecutor had developed a strong dislike
for the Defendant.
The second DWI proved more difficult than the first
case. During the second tape the Defendant kept on telling the
officer that he was "dismissed, dismissed", each time
the officer would request him to attempt to perform custodial
interrogation on the Defendant, the Defendant would c curs at
him and say "what don't you understand you stupid mf, about
the word dismissed". No one could really understand what
the word dismiss meant, but a Motion to Suppress resulted in the
tape being redacted to remove any statements by the Defendant
pursuant to custodial interrogation since the Defendant had invoked
his right to counsel. At trial the jury could see the Defendant
acting up but could not hear large portions of the tape. Prosecutor
attempted every trick in his arsenal to obtain a conviction but
a jury acquitted the Defendant of the charge. Upon interviewing
the jury informed the counsel for the defense that he was acquitted
because of the missing portions of the videotape. They suspected
that the officer had done something wrong due to the way that
the officer had developed an attitude during cross examination.
The State of Texas v. ALO
Misdemeanor DWI-Crane County, Texas.
Defendant was charged with DWI, after being arrested
by a trooper with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Crane
County had not had a DWI jury trial in at least 14 years according
to the County Attorney of Crane County, Texas. Plea offers were
made, but were not accepted and the case preceded to trial. The
prosecutor was a very popular public figure who was a leader of
his church which was the largest church in town. The DPS trooper
testified at trial that he had arrested 3500 people during his
career as a law enforcement officer and each and every one had
been convicted or plead "guilty". The case was tried
in front of a non-lawyer Judge, who allowed over objection, the
officer to bolster his reputation and expertise. Defendant was
a middle aged man who was 40 pounds over weight and had arthritis.
He was coming from a charitable golfing tournament for a major
oil company. The Defendant admitted to drinking a 6 pack of beer
during the golfing tournament, which occurred on a very hot day,
on a dry and dusty golf course. The Defendant showed 6 clues for
HGN, was unable to perform the walk and turn, and put his foot
down three or more times on the one leg stand. During trial, the
Defendant's lawyer had the officer demonstrate to the jury the
walk and turn test. During the in-court demonstration, the Defendant's
lawyer held a clipboard and stood approximately two feet from
the trooper while he performed this test to mimic the conditions
under which the Defendant had attempted to perform the standardized
field sobriety tests. The trooper testified that he had demonstrated
the test at least thirty five hundred times, due to the number
of arrest cases he had made in his career. During the walk and
turn the officer stepped out of the instructional position, stepped
off the line and failed to touch heal to toe on one step. After
six hours of deliberation, the Defendant was acquitted for the
misdemeanor offense of DWI. The prosecutor stated that he had
never lost a DWI case in his professional career as the County
Attorney.
