DUI

Roughly four out of five DWIs involve breath or blood tests (mostly breath tests). The conviction rate in breath test cases is over 80 percent in most jurisdictions, and in some places, it is closer to 90 percent. A chemical test is very strong evidence of intoxication. Addition...

Largely since Texas does not have a refusal-to-submit law, about one in five DWI cases are chemical test refusal cases. Refusal-to-submit laws, like the one in Florida, make breath test refusal a separate criminal offense. If there is no chemical test, Parker County prosecutors ...

In many places, “drugged” driver cause more fatal crashes than “drunk” drivers. So, Tarrant County prosecutors pursue these cases very aggressively. Prescription drugs and marijuana account for a little over half of drugged driving prosecutions in Texas. The Lone Star St...

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Rodney Reed‘s most recent appeals, so he will remain on death row for the 1998 murder of a Bastrop County woman. In one case, the CCA upheld the state’s use of controversial scientific tests in Reed’s trial, even though former Med...

Even though Texas is an implied consent state, officials cannot automatically suspend drivers’ licenses following DWI arrests. To do so, there must be an Administrative License Suspension hearing to determine if such suspension is appropriate. At the ALR hearing, a paid DPS em...

If you are the parent of an underage driver, you may take a deep breath and cross your fingers every time your child gets behind the wheel. You hope your 17-year-old does not drink, but even more important, you hope he does not drink and drive. The Texas DWI statistics are ...

In 2018, Texas law enforcement officers arrested over 95,000 Texans for DWI. That figure was almost 10 percent higher than the 2017 arrest total. Prosecutors are very aggressive as well. The number of dismissals dropped sharply in 2018. In other words, Parker County prosecutors a...

In February 2019, police charged the former quarterback with DWI. Fort Bend County prosecutors recently reduced those charges. And, Young may not even be convicted of that offense. Young's Houston-based lawyer convinced prosecutors to reduce the charges to obstructing a highway,...

Largely because of the extremely broad definitions in Texas Penal Code Section 49.04, "drugged driving" cases are more common than "drunk driving" cases in many jurisdictions. Under Texas law, any "substance" can cause intoxication. That substance could be an illegal street drug,...

Partially due to the stern warnings about mandatory drivers' license suspension and the use of refusal information in court, about 75 percent of the people who are arrested for DWI submit to a chemical test. Many others probably do not fully understand that they have a right to r...