Austin DWI Attorney Blog

The Austin Police Department (APD) announced plans to hold another 'No Refusal' weekend during the Fourth of July holiday. The goal is to target motorists driving while intoxicated in Austin and to get through the extended weekend without any traffic fatalities.

During 'No Refusal' weekends, when a motorist suspected of driving while intoxicated refuses to submit to a breath test, the APD seeks a warrant for a blood draw. At the same time, police will be enforcing its TACT program, or 'Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks'. Both efforts will begin Wednesday July 1st and run through Sunday.

As a DWI defense attorney in Austin, I have always contended that the blood draw process is controversial because, Texas DWI laws stipulate how and when a blood draw is to be conducted and who is allowed to handle what is essentially evidence in a criminal investigation. A motorist has the constitutional right to refuse a breath, blood or urine test. APD is employing an expensive and complex tactic normally reserved for specific situations, against any motorist suspected of Texas DWI.

The Austin Police Department first utilized the 'No Refusal' initiative last Halloween (2008).

A recent study conducted by 'Car and Driver' reveals that texting while driving is significantly more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. Drivers texting while operating a vehicle are 3-4 times slower than those driving drunk to apply brakes to avoid an accident.

Previous studies conducted in simulators have shown that texting can impair a driver's responses. 'Car and Driver' conducted this study in actual vehicles and directly compared reaction times of those texting with those driving under the influence. First the drivers performed the tests while sending text messages. Then they consumed enough alcohol to raise their blood alcohol content to .08%, the legal limit for intoxication in most states, and repeated the test with no cell phones.

Continue reading " Study shows texting while driving is more dangerous then Driving While Intoxicated" »

The Austin Police Department reports that former Speaker of the House of the Texas Legislature was charged with driving while intoxicated in Texas. Gibson Lewis was stopped around 11:00 pm Thursday night near the intersection of Fourth Street and Lavaca in downtown Austin.

'Gib' Lewis, 72, was elected Speaker of the House five times and was a member of the state legislature for more than 20 years.

Continue reading "Gib Lews Arrested for Texas DWI in Austin" »

Law enforcement agencies across the state have been utilizing 'No Refusal' campaigns to combat driving while intoxicated in Texas. These efforts rely on judges being available to sign warrants authorizing blood draws. The samples are then tested for blood alcohol content or BAC, providing evidence for prosecutors in DWI cases. Legislation signed by Gov. Rick Perry now allows police to demand blood samples in certain TX DWI situations - without a warrant.

The new DWI legislation bill was attached to a law on boating and alcohol, and many, including prosecutors, were unaware of it. The law permits blood draws without a warrant when a motorist who has two or more prior DWI convictions is stopped for suspected of drunk driving in Texas; has a child in the vehicle; or causes even a relatively minor accident with injury. When a traffic stop is initiated and the driver refuses to submit to a breath test, the officer can demand a blood sample to test BAC.

Continue reading "The New 'No Refusal' Law Give Police Officers Another Tool in Texas DWI Arrests" »

As an Austin DWI attorney, our firm represents people of every background who have been arrested for driving while intoxicated. Many of our clients are college students who get in trouble after a night down town. Others are professionals who can't afford to have a TX DWI conviction on their record. However the DWI arrests that always get the most press are those of people who should know better. There have been several recent arrests across the country of people who are in a position to know how serious the consequences are.

Recently there was a judge in New York arrested for DWI after making a u-turn before a sobriety checkpoint, a Texas criminal defense lawyer arrested for driving while intoxicated on his way to court and a police officer in Virginia charged with drunk driving after being involved in an accident.

Continue reading "Even judges, lawyers and cops get arrested for DWI's" »

In January of this year University of Texas Baseball Coach Augie Garrido was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas after having a few glasses of wine at a bar and restaurant on Sixth Street. Garrido, who is 70 years old and is the highest paid college baseball coach in the nation, said he worried about losing his job while he was in jail. Garrido has been very open about his actions and their consequences. Immediately after the arrest Garrido served a four-game suspension.

On February 2, 2009 Garrido entered a guilty plea for the Texas DWI charge. Since then he has led the Texas Longhorns to the College Baseball World Series in Omaha. Unfortunately tonight they lost game 3 of the final series to the LSU Tigers(11-4). Later this summer Garrido will be sentenced for the Austin DWI arrest and hopefully next year the entire drunk driving incident will be behind him and the Texas Longhorns.

Last weekend Joseph Thomas drove off the road and crashed through the bedroom wall of a unit in the Willshire West Apartments off of Airport Blvd. Sleeping in that bedroom was a 17 month old child and his parents. The impact of the collision threw the two adults several feet and left the infant stuck under the truck. Thankfully the infant was saved by the mattress he was sleeping in. Thomas was arrested for Austin DWI and taken to the hospital because of his injuries, and then later "unarrested." Austin Police Department (APD) Spokesperson Scott Perry said "We have in our policy certain situations where officers are given the discretion with supervisor approval, to unarrest somebody. In the cases of misdemeanor crimes, which are while still important crimes still, are less severe than felony crimes."

The family that was nearly killed and whose apartment was destroyed by the accident are furious that the APD has asked them to be patient because it could one or two months before a warrant is actually issued for Thomas' arrest. According to myfoxaustin.com Thomas called their reporters and admitted to drinking that night, that he knew what he did was wrong, and that he doesn't remember the crash. Police expect to charge Thomas with a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge.

Jani Lane, the lead singer and songwriter for the glam band 'Warrant', was arrested for drunk driving in LA last night. According to Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department reports, Lane ran into a parked car around 9:30 pm Wednesday night. When cops arrived at the scene they suspected intoxication. After failing the field sobriety test, Lane was booked in at the Van Nuys Division station for misdemeanor DUI. His bail is currently set at $30,000.

Lane, who is now 45, lead the glam-rock group in the late 80's and into the 90's. Together they created the hits 'Heaven' and 'Cherry Pie'. He left Warrant in 2002 to start a solo career and but after releasing his solo album, he entered a rehab program due to exhaustion from alcohol and drug use. He later rejoined the band, only to leave again and was replaced as lead singer. Lane was recently interviewed about his new-found sobriety, but apparently that did not last long. As with many celebrities it may take getting arrested for DUI or DWI to finally make them straighten up.

Attorney Mindy Montford, who lost her bid for Travis County, Texas district attorney, was charged with public intoxication earlier this month after the car she was a passenger in was stopped. The driver of the car hit a pipe in an alley and was subsequently pulled over. Ms. Montford got out of the vehicle and began advising her friend of his rights, but was ordered back into the car, where she sat for 20 minutes before her and another passenger were arrested. The driver of the car was arrested for driving while intoxicated, but a judge refused to sign the arrest warrant because there was a lack of probable cause. According to Ms. Montford's attorney and law partner, Ms. Montford "absolutely denies" the charge.

In a recent turn of events, Noel Didear, the driver of the car Ms. Montford was in, has been re-arrested for the Texas DWI charge, much to the outrage of his Austin DWI attorney. Initially Judge Kirk Kirkendall found that there was no probable cause to charge Didear with DWI. Now it appears that Judge Kenneth Vitucci has found that enough probable cause did exist to make the Austin DWI charge. It will be interesting to watch the facts of this Austin, TX DWI arrest, as well as how the public intoxication charge against Ms. Montford is handled.

Related Article: Friend of Mindy Montford charged with DWI in Austin, but not formally filed

Jack Hill was arrested for Texas DWI after getting into a minor accident in front of the stadium in the early morning hours following the opening night concert on June 6, 2009. The Arlington police department has declined to release the results of Hill's breathalyzer test, however Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner, stated that Hill was not over served in his owner's suite on opening night. It was also stated that Hill is not an employee of the company that sells alcohol at the stadium, instead he is employed by the Cowboy's development company. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) said that the Cowboys are not expected to receive and penalties or fines stemming from the Texas DWI arrest.

Having represented many people charged with driving while intoxicated in Texas it appears that Mr. Hill and the Cowboys have cooperated and that, all though unfortunate, the situation is going to be resolved with out major incident. Thankfully for the Cowboys and Mr. Hill no one was injured in the accident and hopefully Mr. Hill will learn from this experience.

A recent review of combined traffic and crime data shows that Texas counties which sell alcohol, known as wet counties, have wide differences in crime rates and alcohol related accidents from those that don't. Though these differences are not exactly what the opponents of alcohol sales and distribution might think.

These recent statistics show that the fear of alcohol sales leading to more crimes, especially drunk driving in Texas, is unfounded. The 2007 data from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), shows there were 502 Texas DWI arrests per 100,000 residents in dry counties versus 445 Texas DWI arrests in wet. Also shown in these statistics is the number of traffic fatalities involving alcohol in dry counties was 5.7 per 100,000 residents; more than twice the 2.7 rate in wet areas.

Continue reading "Study shows that wet counties actually have lower numbers of Texas DWI arrests" »

In March of this year Donte' Stallworth went out drinking at Miami Beach's Fountainebleau hotel. At 7:15am Stallworth left the bar in his Bentley and hit Mario Reyes as he crossed the street. Reyes was not in a crosswalk and was rushing to catch a bus. Stallworth stayed at the scene and immediately admitted to police that he had hit the man. Stallworth stated that he flashed his lights at the pedestrian, but was unable to avoid him. The police noticed the signs of intoxication and administered a blood test. He registered a blood-alcohol level of .126 which is well above the legal limit of .08.

Because of the circumstances surrounding the accident, Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI and an arrest warrant was issued. Stallworth subsequently turned himself in and was released on $200,000.00 bail. Stallworth has taken full responsibility for what happened and today plead guilty to DUI manslaughter. He will serve a 30 day jail sentence, followed by house arrest and probation. He will undergo drug and alcohol testing and community service. He also reached a financial settlement of an undisclosed amount with the family of Mr. Reyes.

Continue reading "Cleveland Brown's wide receiver Donte' Stallworth Gets Sentenced for DUI" »

Procedures used in undercover operations are being reviewed after embarrassing incident.

The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission (TABC) has announced that it was stopping its undercover operations following an incident involving a minor and a TABC agent. The un-named agent was arrested after allegedly touching a teenage girl inappropriately. The underage girl had assisted in a sting operation to catch retailers selling alcohol to minors. All undercover operations have been suspended pending a review of the commission's policies and procedures.

This is the second time in three years that the TABC has been embarrassed by an undercover sting operation. In 2005, the commission used undercover agents to target 'problem' bars that had been identified as the most common places where drunk drivers arrested for Texas DWI had received their last drink. Under the 'Sales to Intoxicated Persons' (SIPS) program, agents were on the lookout for bartenders and waitresses over-serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons. The effort quickly morphed into a focus on the drinkers rather than the establishment and the servers. Under the guise of stopping intoxicated patrons before they could get to their vehicles and drive while drunk, agents were making arrests for public intoxication in the bar. The program was obviously unpopular with bar owners and patrons alike. Then in April of 2006, a woman was arrested in an Irving, Texas hotel bar. She, however, was a guest at the hotel and had not planned on driving anywhere that evening. Immediately afterwards, TABC officials were called to legislative sessions and grilled over their policies. Paul Dunham, principal of an Austin Texas DWI defense firm, says "drunk driving should never be condoned, but I have a concern over the reach of the TABC program. It is one thing to make an effort to reduce incidents of driving while intoxicated in Texas, but it is another to initiate an arrest without proper analysis of the scene or situation." The SIPS program and now the undercover retail sting efforts have been suspended by the TABC.

Dunham Law Firm provides DWI defense in Austin and throughout Central Texas.

The Dunham Law Firm, an Austin Texas DWI defense practice, is the exclusive law firm featured on DWI.com for Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Burnet counties. Principal of the law firm, Paul Dunham, says that the national directory "provides an excellent resource of information if you have been arrested for a DWI through an easy to remember, direct navigation web site."

Austin DWI Attorney Paul Dunham cites his presence on DWI.com as being instrumental in the growth of the firm. With over 200 years of combined experience from the attorneys, the law firm is one of the largest and most qualified drunk driving defense firms in Central Texas. The team of DWI defense lawyers includes former Assistant District Attorneys and Board Certified attorneys. Mr. Dunham says, "Experience can have a direct impact on the outcome of a case. The goal of the Dunham Law Firm is to seek reduction of charges or dismissal of a case, and with specific knowledge of Texas DWI laws and the DWI court system, we offer clients unparalleled opportunities to keep their arrest record clean."

Continue reading "Austin DWI Attorney Relies on DWI.com" »