Texas is one of the few states without a mandatory Ignition Interlock Device (a/k/a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device). However, these gadgets are very important in many DWIs. The first primitive IIDs appeared in the late 1960s. By the late 1980s, a few crude ones were co...
Parker County Criminal Defense Blog
How Important Are Drugs in a Drug Crime Case?
In almost all criminal cases, physical evidence is very important. DWI cases are much harder to prove without valid chemical tests, assault cases (especially felony assault cases) are difficult to win without solid medical evidence, and the list goes on. Such evidence is even mo...
Dealing with Simple Assault Cases in Parker County
Technically, there are three types of simple assault cases in Texas. Nearly all of them are 22.01(a) Assault with Bodily Injury (ABI) cases. A few are 22.01(b) assaults by threat (ABTs) or 22.01(c) assaults by contact (ABCs). But the latter two are only Class C misdemeanors (no j...
Go Directly to Jail; Do Not Pass “Go”
Jail is bad. The food is borderline indigestible, the people are unpleasant, there is no privacy, and there is no freedom. Perhaps worst of all, there are hours upon hours upon hours of idle time. But in some cases, a brief jail sentence may be preferable to an extended period o...
Breaking Down a Parker County Simple Assault Case
The number of classic bar fight assaults has plummeted more than 60 percent since the early 1990s. But misdemeanor assault is still one of the most commonly-charged offenses in Parker County. Under Texas Penal Code 22.01, it is a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail and a...
DWI Alternatives and Enhancements
Driving While Intoxicated is, by far, the most commonly-charged alcohol-related offense in North Texas. But sometimes, all the elements are not present. Or, in a few cases, there is not enough evidence of intoxication to establish probable cause. Sometimes, the opposite is true....
Four Key Individual Rights in a Criminal Case
The jury system is the foundation of individual rights in criminal cases. This is a right few others enjoy. An estimated 90 percent of the word's jury trials occur in the United States. Rather ironically, that's also roughly the proportion of criminal plea bargains as opposed to ...
Walk and Turn for your liberty!
The heel-to-toe walk test, which is also known as the walk and turn, is the third field sobriety test in the three-test National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved three test battery. It's a divided attention test which measures both mental acuity and physical dexteri...
Pretrial release in Tarrant County
Pretrial release is important for a number of reasons. Obviously, people who are incarcerated cannot work, go to school, or spend time with their families. Furthermore, these individuals cannot participate in their own defenses, at least in any meaningful way. Finally, many Tarra...
Stand on one leg to prove you’re sober…Genius!
Of the three standard field sobriety tests, the One Leg Stand test is perhaps the easiest one to challenge. At best, it is only about 65 percent accurate in determining alcohol intoxication. In most cases, such a low percentage can hardly be considered proof beyond a reasonable d...
