Austin DWI Attorney Blog

Walter Jones, who played Black Ranger Zack Taylor on the television series Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, was charged with drunk driving. Jones was stopped by State Troopers around 4:00 am Sunday morning. He was arrested without incident, booked on suspicion of drunk driving and released.

Jones, 38, was written out of the TV series during its second season, presumably over wage issues.

As a DWI attorney, I can see that the police aren't giving public officials and celebrities any special treatment when they are stopped and expected of drinking and driving.

The Penn State football program has been rocked by two separate arrests of current team players for drunk driving.

Senior wide receiver James McDonald was charged with drunk driving July 9th and later dismissed from the team. The initial traffic stop was made at 2:30 am for having expired vehicle registration. McDonald reportedly registered a blood-alcohol content of .096%. The legal limit for intoxication in Pennsylvania is .08%. McDonald appeared 10 games last season. While he played sparingly in the past, his absence could be an issue this year as Penn State lost three multi-year starting wide receivers at the end of last season.

Another Nittany Lion, offensive lineman Ako Poti, was charged with drunk driving after being stopped by State College Police. He was charged with drunk driving with a high rate of alcohol, which according to local drunk driving laws means a blood-alcohol content between .10-.16%. Poti's status with the team has not been released. He is a fifth year senior who was recruited from a junior college in 2007 to add depth to the offensive line. Poti appeared in four games last year and was expected to be a reserve at tackle.

The University of Texas has had it's own DWI arrest in the athletic department this year when UT baseball coach Augie Garrido was recently arrested for DWI in Austin and later plead guilty.

Austin TV station weekend anchor wrecked his car before being arrested for drunk driving in Lakeway, Texas.

Lakeway Police charged a KXAN news reporter with driving while intoxicated after finding his car stuck in a drainage ditch. David Michael Torbi, who uses the name Davis Scott on the air, was uncooperative and swore at the police as they approached his vehicle. Police detected alcohol on his breath and found a mixed drink in an open container in his car.

According to the arrest report, Torbi admitted to having had too much to drink. He refused to submit to a field sobriety test and was booked on charges of misdemeanor DWI. The criminal defense lawyers at my law firm believe that under Texas law, a motorist suspected of driving while intoxicated has the right to avoid self-incrimination through breath, blood or urine evidence. This action does not void law enforcement's ability to seek an arrest based on additional information gained from a potential DWI investigation.

KXAN, the NBC affiliate in Austin, has not issued a statement. Instead, through its website has declined comment on "private, personal matters."

Augie Garrido to spend 4 days in Travis County Jail for drunk driving arrest in Austin, Texas.

The University of Texas head baseball coach has been sentenced to four days in jail stemming from an arrest for DWI in Austin. Garrido had entered a guilty plea to driving while intoxicated earlier this year in February.

Garrido was stopped around 1:00 am on January 17th for driving without headlights. After performing a field sobriety test, he admitted to having consumed five glasses of wine and to being intoxicated. He was arrested and booked on charges of driving while intoxicated in Texas. Garrido issued a public apology for the arrest, calling his actions a "serious mistake". He was suspended by the UT athletic department for the first four baseball games of the 2009 season.

Garrido will receive two days credit for time served and Travis County jail officials will decide how the balance of the sentence will be carried out. Garrido was also fined $500 and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days. As an Austin DWI lawyer, some may question the extent of the penalties, especially with an admission of intoxication on the part of the defendant, they are in keeping with a first offense DWI. Coach Garrido received no special favors for his notoriety or stature in the community.

Prosecutors were seeking a five day jail sentence for Garrido but said they "understand and respect" the decision of Travis County Judge Elisabeth Earle.

Related article: Augie Garrido to be sentenced later this summer for his Austin DWI arrest

Diana Taurasi, star of the Phoenix Mercury women's basketball team, is now facing three drunk driving related charges stemming from her July 2nd arrest. Lab results show that her blood alcohol content was .17%, more than twice the legal limit for intoxication in Arizona. That qualifies as extreme DUI in Arizona.

Taurasi was stopped around 2:30 am for speeding and drifting outside of her traffic lane. She admitted to having had "a few" drinks at a club. She has entered a plea of not guilty to DUI, and is scheduled to appear in court again on July 22nd.

Shock jock Howard Stern's sidekick Artie Lange was arrested Friday afternoon for suspicion of driving while intoxicated in New Jersey. Lange was involved in a minor auto accident in Toms River New Jersey. During an accident investigation, law enforcement officers elected to charge Lange with DWI.

Lange was one of the original cast members of the comedy television show MADtv. He replaced Jackie Martling on the Howard Stern Show, and has been known to talk about his challenges with drug abuse on the show. Many of his stories were compiled in his best-selling book 'Too Fat to Fish'.

Eddie Mekka, best known by his character Carmine Ragusa - aka The Big Ragoo - on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley, was arrested for drunk driving in Las Vegas over the 4th of July holiday weekend. Mekka was reportedly in an auto accident around 12:30 pm last Friday. During their investigation, police administered field sobriety tests and then charged Mekka with driving under the influence in Nevada. Thankfully there were no injuries as a result of the accident.

Considering the recent DUI arrest of Joyce DeWitt form 'Three's Company', there seems to be a trend here of old sitcom stars getting arrested for drunk driving. Even as celebrities, they should get their day in court, and hopefully their drunk driving defense lawyer will help them through the process.

Two days before Sahel Kazemi shot and killed former Tennessee Titans quarterback, Steve McNair, police arrested her for DUI. Kazemi was stopped driving a Cadillac Escalade that McNair had given her for her birthday. According to the arrest affidavit, Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and alcohol on her breath. She refused a breath test and told an officer "she was not drunk, she was high." Kazemi was charged with drunk driving. McNair was in the passenger's seat of the Escalade but was not charged with anything. He later got Kazemi out on bail.

Police recently released this video of Kazemi's DUI stop.

Police are speculating that Kazemi was having financial troubles and that she thought McNair was seeing another women. Though the questions surrounding this will never be answered, the rumors will continue to fly.

Rowdy Roddy Piper, an eighties wrestling star, was arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles early Thursday morning. Piper was stopped by Los Angeles Police around 1:00 am and reportedly was administered several field sobriety tests before being charged with drunk driving at the Hollywood division station. His bond was set at $5,000.

Piper, 55, whose real name is Roderick Toombs, was a wrestling fixture eighties, playing the villain to Hulk Hogan. Piper was inducted to the World Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995 and has alluded to a return to Raw or Smackdown. I am not sure how his recent drunk driving arrest will alter the decision to bring him back, but it seems that in Hollywood it is doubtful that a drunk driving charge will change the decision one way or the other.

Three's Company sitcom star, Joyce DeWitt, was arrested for drunk driving in California.

Joyce DeWitt was arrested for drunk driving in California on Saturday, July 4th. The actress, best known for her role as Janet Wood in sitcom series 'Three's Company', was stopped at 4:19 after reportedly driving past a barricade controlling traffic for an annual fireworks show. Witnesses say DeWitt, 60, parked, got out of her black sports car and asked a policeman standing next to his motorcycle for directions.

The El Segundo police officer observed the signs of intoxication and asked DeWitt to perform field sobriety tests. When she failed the tests, she was taken to a local jail and booked for suspicion of driving under the influence. DeWitt posted $5000 bond and was released around 1:20 am Sunday.

This latest celebrity DUI arrest is an example of many of the DWI arrests our firm has handled, where someone has neglected the obvious traffic signs. However, being a DWI attorney in Austin, we have also represented people who were not legally intoxicated who got stopped because they went the wrong way on a one-way street or did not see an obstructed stop sign. Whenever you are arrested for driving while intoxicated you should hire an experienced DWI defense attorney who can get you the best result for your case.

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" »

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.

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.

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" »