Austin DWI Attorney Blog

A Central Austin club with a tumultuous reputation has reopened after being closed for sixteen months. The Dallas Nightclub on Burnet Road was closed voluntarily following complaints from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Austin Police Department and the neighborhood. The club previously offered 69 cent beers and was accused of over-serving intoxicated patrons. Dallas Nightclub was consistently cited as one of the top places where motorists arrested for driving while intoxicated in Austin were served their last drink.

The club has opened under new ownership, and they have stressed that changes have been made. There have been new staff hires and employees have undergone extensive training to identify intoxicated patrons and to help keep people from getting out of control. During the opening week, management has arranged for a $15 round trip shuttle between the club and two remote parking areas far north Austin to try to help patrons avoid getting arrested for DWI in Austin. The owners may extend the shuttle service if the reception is positive.

Continue reading "Austin Texas Nightclub Re-Opens After 16 Months" »

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.

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.