Houston DWI Lawyer | DWI Defense in Houston, TX

Mark McGwire has been named the St. Louis Cardinals' new hitting coach.  McGwire would not have even been considered for this position with his former team if he would not have followed his lawyers advice of "taking the fifth."  In 2005 Mr. McGwire refrained from speaking about steroid use after being summoned to appear before Congress.  At that time, he was heavily criticized by the media, became the poster boy for the steroid era of baseball, and vanished from the baseball scene.  Who in their "Flash Forward" would have seen him putting on a baseball uniform again in 2009?

Lucky for him, the American sports public has a short memory.  The baseball world is now welcoming him back with open arms.  Baseball's version of the prodigal son is returning.  Even Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, is delighted to see Mr. McGwire back.  Unlike the players that testified fully during the congressional hearings in 2005 he is being given the "red carpet treatment" while the others are getting "blackballed by the sport" or even worse, getting Federal charges brought against them for perjury.

If I hope that McGwire does not get a free pass from the media and baseball fans. The steroid era  was a black eye for baseball.  How Mark McGwire is perceived will be an indicator if baseball fans really care what the players are doing legally or not so long as they produce on the field.

If you would like to speak to a Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer about your situation please call our law firm at (713) 242-1779 to talk to one of the attorneys.

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You may have seen a group of hispanic judges being escorted around the courthouse today.  I saw them in Judge Jean Hughes' court, Harris County Criminal Court at Law #15, and Judge Mark Atkinson's court, Harris County Criminal Court at Law #13.  The visiting judges are from the tiny south american country of Ecuador.  They were studying the Harris County criminal justice system.  seemed to be intrigued by this thing we call probation.  The reason for this is that the Ecuadorian system does not have this available to a defendant that is guilty of a crime.  Can you imagine living in a country where an accused does not have the opportunity to make bail or where the court system does not believe in rehabilitating anyone that is convicted of a crime?

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Anyone that has been keeping up with the news knows that driving while texting is becoming more and more prevalent.  Likewise, serious accidents due to texting have been occurring with more regularity.  I predict by the next legislation that texting while driving a motor vehicle will become a crime to same degree as driving while intoxicated is in Texas. 

If you are interested in the political game being played to make texting while driving a crime click here. 

 If you have any questions regarding a DWI case in the Houston area please call me at (713) 242-1779.

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As a Houston DWI attorney I go over the offense report made by the police in great detail with my clients.  Most of my clients disagree with the report made by the officer. Meanwhile, after fully investigating the case I am able to find inconsistencies with the offense report and what actually happened especially if there is a scene video.  Earlier this year I had a case dismissed after I was able to retrieve the audio from a DWI video where the officer can be heard telling a witness that he did not know if the person was intoxicated, but he was hopeful that my client would "blow" or else the charges would not stick.  Of course, none of this was mentioned in the officer's offense report.

Joe D. Parker, a Chicago, Illinois police officer, who is known as a prolific DUI enforcer in his state is under review for this type of gross exaggeration.   In his offense Parker writes that Raymond Bell could not keep his balance, and failed the field sobriety tests.  Luckily, this video shows the truth.  I wish all my clients were so lucky to have a video at the scene where the original field sobriety tests were administered.

Thus, if you are charged with a DWI in Houston please contact our law firm at (713) 242-1779 for free consultation.

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You do not have to be a Houston DWI Lawyer to know what a drunk person looks like.  Most people that get arrested for DWI have an idea of what an intoxicated person should look like.  Unfortunately, the police, prosecutors, and our legislators have a much different idea.  Click here to see a man that truly fits the description of an intoxicated person.  Benny Hill would be proud.

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I have always had a mobile phone since I became a criminal defense attorney  in Houston over ten years ago.  I do not know how anyone practices law without one in day and age.  I know several lawyers that practice with me in Houston that refuse to use a cellular phone for work.  Others, still rely on a pager for the courts and clients to get a hold of them when they are out of the office.   Today, as fate would have it, my blackberry phone was inoperable so I got a taste of what it would be like to practice law without a phone.  It was frustrating to be inaccessible to everyone that needs to get a hold of me for work purposes namely my office, the court or my clients.  Additionally, it was difficult to properly calendar my court resets.  I guess it was my fate after my semi critical blog the other day about the medical profession's unwillingness to provide their patients with a proper means of getting a hold of them.  Perhaps, it was Karma getting back at me since I am going to the U2 concert tonight and I was critical of their decision to have Blackberry to sponsor this tour.

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It might be if your DWI arrest occurred in the Southeast portion of Harris County, Texas during the time Deetrice Wallace worked as a Department of Public Safety contractor in charge of inspecting alcohol breath test machines.  Ms. Wallace was convicted of faking the inspections of the machines she was in charge of in Webster, Pasadena, South Houston, and Clear Lake area.  Therefore, the Harris County District Attorney's Office will be reviewing over 1,200 DWI cases that were affected by Wallace's conviction.  The cases will be hard to prove since the breath test results will not be available and it is likely that the field sobriety tests that were videotaped were likely destroyed.

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I was watching last night's  "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where Larry David, the star, and creator of the show, asks his doctor for his home phone number because it will make him feel better.  The doctor is befuddled by his request.  He can not think of a response other than I do not give out my home phone number to patients, but after Larry pleads for the home number he finally gives in and instructs his secretary to provide him with the phone number.  I do not think anyone would think to request their doctor's home phone number anymore.  I would not even consider asking any of my doctors for their mobile phone numbers. 

On the other hand, my clients do not hesitate to ask me for my mobile phone number.  Additionally, when I am not in the office my staff provides my cellular phone number so anyone may talk to me about their case.  My feeling is that a client should be able to reach their Houston criminal defense attorney when they want to talk about their case.  I guess that is one of the many differences between doctors and lawyers. 

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Ever since the Unites States Supreme Court decided the Gideon case the legal system has dealt with the issues regarding the appointment criminal lawyers for indigent defendants. After much debate, the Harris County Commissioner's Court is going to install a Public Defender's Office in our county.  Additionally, it hopes to revamp the current court appointed system that is in place.  The Harris Criminal Lawyers Association is at best split on this issue.  The Harris County District Attorney's Office does not have an opinion.  The general public is typically misinformed, or suffers from apathy unless a friend of family member is involved in the system.  The last time I checked there were less than twenty comments for the article that was in the Houston Chronicle about this issue.

The current system in place allows each court to select a lawyer to represent a person that has been found to be indigent.  The selection is done randomly by the court on a case by case basis.  Each attorney that is on the list must have the required qualifications, pass a test promulgated by the State, and show an ability to handle the seriousness of the case.  Additionally, there are several courts that staff their courts with their own attorneys that they have selecting thereby bypassing the random selection of lawyers to handle the cases that qualify for indigent representation.  The vast majority of the defendants that are found to be indigent are in jail.

I am unclear how the "Hybrid" system is going to accomplish its goals.  On one hand, the proposal hopes to reduce the amount that is paid to attorneys, and better manage their case load under the current system.   The reality is that this is not feasible.  Public defender offices are notoriously overworked by the court system.  In fact, the Florida Public Defender's Office resorted to filing a lawsuit in order to keep their case load at the recommended amount by the Bar.  Moreover, several PD Offices have budgetary problems throughout the country.  The current system of appointing system private attorneys does not pay for that lawyer's support staff, office, health insurance, or retirement.  These are costs that do not go into the studies conducted for the current proposal.

The other issue that the new system hopes to address is the overcrowding in the Harris County Jail.  This is not going to happen unless the county changes a few things.  As a mentioned above the vast majority of people that receive a court appointed attorney is in jail.  Typically, a person is in jail because they can not afford to pay a bond.  The bond amounts in a felony case ranges from $2,000 to $1,000,000 depending on the case.  A few defendants do not get a bond.  Unless, the county is willing to take another a look at the bonding schedule or start approving pre trial releases for felony cases where a defendant is not  required to pay a bond before his case is settled the jail overcrowded number are not going to decrease.

I hope the general public is not thinking that the Public Defender's Office will be able to sprinkle some magic dust to cure all the problems with the Houston criminal justice system by itself.

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