New York lawmakers passed the nation’s first DWI law in 1910. For many years thereafter, police officers often released intoxicated motorists with just a warning. Then, beginning in the 1980s, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and other advocacy groups successfully pushed for chang...
Parker County Criminal Defense Blog
Some Common Kinds of Swimming Pool Injuries
Summer may be ending (hopefully), but that does not mean the risk of swimming pool injury is ending. If anything, the risk may be even greater for people who swim in indoor pools. Swimming pool injuries can strike any person at any time, but young children are the most likely vi...
Reasonable Suspicion in Parker County DWIs
In recent cases, such as 2016’s Utah v. Strieff, the United States Supreme Court has substantially diluted the reasonable suspicion rule. This dilution makes it easier for officers to pull over motorists on suspicion of DWI. However, the underlying rule, which is that officers...
The Three Types of Assault in Tarrant County
Aside from DWI and perhaps drug possession, assault is probably the most commonly-charged criminal offense in Tarrant County. Assault is a crime of moral turpitude, so in addition to its substantial direct consequences, like high fines and lengthy jail time, it has some substanti...
Home Invasion Laws and Defenses in Parker County
Many jurisdictions have separate home invasion laws. But in Texas, the burglary and criminal trespass laws apply to home invasions. The lack of a separate law forces prosecutors to shoehorn home invasions into a category where they do not naturally belong. As a result, these pros...
Fatal Car Crash on University Drive in Fort Worth
An intersection collision in Cowtown killed one man and left another driver clinging to life at a local hospital. According to police and witnesses, 52-year-old Brian Keith Peart was southbound on University when he t-boned another vehicle as it attempted an unprotected left tur...
Getting Around the Graves Amendment
Fully-loaded U-Haul trucks often weigh 25,000 pounds, or even more. Additionally, these operators often have little or no experience or training when it comes to operating such vehicles. The combination often causes serious crashes. According to the negligent entrustment rule, v...
Fall from Grace: The DWI Eye Test
Until recently, the DWI eye test, which is also known as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, was considered the most reliable of the three tests in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration three-test battery. Now, it is considered the least reliable one. Most peo...
Tarrant County Probation Violations: What You Need to Know
At any given time, approximately one out of every forty-three Texans is on probation for something. That’s significantly more folks than the nationwide average of one in every fifty-five people. The vast majority of these people voluntarily agreed to probation as part of a ple...
The Texas Post-Conviction Two Step: Early Discharge and Nondisclosure Orders
During plea negotiations, prosecutors often recommend deferred adjudication probation, especially if the defendant has no criminal record. In other cases, judges may be willing to grant deferred adjudication after an open plea. In open plea matters, defendants literally throw the...
