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One of the most common reactions to a DWI arrest is surprise. Many DWI defendants report feeling surprised that they were arrested for DWI because they did not think that they were drunk. It’s possible that you might be as surprised as those unlucky drivers were to learn that the law enforcement officers who patrol Texas roadways are not only looking for drivers who are drunk. They are looking for drivers who have been drinking. You can be arrested for DWI if an officer suspects that you have been drinking, whether you are drunk or not.
In addition to the surprise that accompanies the occurrence of a DWI arrest, many DWI defendants find themselves surprised by how quickly the costs of a DWI arrest add up. You’ll need to post bail, and you’ll have to pay any fees involved in towing and impounding your vehicle. Losing your driver’s license forces you to seek alternative methods of transportation to all of the places that you usually go to, and that often involves paying someone to take you there. There are court costs associated with DWI cases, and you’ll more than likely have to pay attorneys’ fees unless you qualify for the services of a public defender. Even if you do qualify for public defender services, you may choose to retain a private attorney to represent you in your DWI case, which costs money. Additionally, the resolution of your DWI case may include the payment of a fine. Many DWI defendants in Texas report incurring costs of between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars throughout their DWI case.
In addition to the monetary costs of a DWI arrest, the personal cost of drinking and driving is high. Many people have hectic lives, and a DWI arrest can add many tasks and burdens to the list of responsibilities and activities you already have on your plate. Meeting with an attorney and going to court takes time, and it is often time that you would otherwise be at work. You may lose additional work time attending any classes, appointments, and probation that are required as part of the resolution of your DWI case. If you lose your job or if you were in the process of looking for a job when you were arrested for DWI, that DWI may make the jobs you want harder to get. You might also encounter difficulties in applying to college or applying for public or private benefits, programs, and even housing. Your DWI arrest may even place a strain on the relationships that are most important to you.
If you consider the financial and personal costs associated with a DWI arrest, you may conclude that it’s simply not worth it to drive after you have had even one drink. If you are already facing the costs of a DWI arrest, do not let the cost of attorneys’ fees prevent you from aligning yourself with someone who can help you walk through your DWI case in pursuit of the best possible resolution. A Texas DWI defense attorney can help you protect your liberty, your family, your freedom, and other things that are important to you. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499.
One of the most common reactions to a DWI arrest is surprise. Many DWI defendants report feeling surprised that they were arrested for DWI because they did not think that they were drunk. It’s possible that you might be as surprised as those unlucky drivers were to learn that the law enforcement officers who patrol Texas roadways are not only looking for drivers who are drunk. They are looking for drivers who have been drinking. You can be arrested for DWI if an officer suspects that you have been drinking, whether you are drunk or not.
In addition to the surprise that accompanies the occurrence of a DWI arrest, many DWI defendants find themselves surprised by how quickly the costs of a DWI arrest add up. You’ll need to post bail, and you’ll have to pay any fees involved in towing and impounding your vehicle. Losing your driver’s license forces you to seek alternative methods of transportation to all of the places that you usually go to, and that often involves paying someone to take you there. There are court costs associated with DWI cases, and you’ll more than likely have to pay attorneys’ fees unless you qualify for the services of a public defender. Even if you do qualify for public defender services, you may choose to retain a private attorney to represent you in your DWI case, which costs money. Additionally, the resolution of your DWI case may include the payment of a fine. Many DWI defendants in Texas report incurring costs of between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars throughout their DWI case.
In addition to the monetary costs of a DWI arrest, the personal cost of drinking and driving is high. Many people have hectic lives, and a DWI arrest can add many tasks and burdens to the list of responsibilities and activities you already have on your plate. Meeting with an attorney and going to court takes time, and it is often time that you would otherwise be at work. You may lose additional work time attending any classes, appointments, and probation that are required as part of the resolution of your DWI case. If you lose your job or if you were in the process of looking for a job when you were arrested for DWI, that DWI may make the jobs you want harder to get. You might also encounter difficulties in applying to college or applying for public or private benefits, programs, and even housing. Your DWI arrest may even place a strain on the relationships that are most important to you.
If you consider the financial and personal costs associated with a DWI arrest, you may conclude that it’s simply not worth it to drive after you have had even one drink. If you are already facing the costs of a DWI arrest, do not let the cost of attorneys’ fees prevent you from aligning yourself with someone who can help you walk through your DWI case in pursuit of the best possible resolution. A Texas DWI defense attorney can help you protect your liberty, your family, your freedom, and other things that are important to you. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499.
One of the most common reactions to a DWI arrest is surprise. Many DWI defendants report feeling surprised that they were arrested for DWI because they did not think that they were drunk. It’s possible that you might be as surprised as those unlucky drivers were to learn that the law enforcement officers who patrol Texas roadways are not only looking for drivers who are drunk. They are looking for drivers who have been drinking. You can be arrested for DWI if an officer suspects that you have been drinking, whether you are drunk or not.
In addition to the surprise that accompanies the occurrence of a DWI arrest, many DWI defendants find themselves surprised by how quickly the costs of a DWI arrest add up. You’ll need to post bail, and you’ll have to pay any fees involved in towing and impounding your vehicle. Losing your driver’s license forces you to seek alternative methods of transportation to all of the places that you usually go to, and that often involves paying someone to take you there. There are court costs associated with DWI cases, and you’ll more than likely have to pay attorneys’ fees unless you qualify for the services of a public defender. Even if you do qualify for public defender services, you may choose to retain a private attorney to represent you in your DWI case, which costs money. Additionally, the resolution of your DWI case may include the payment of a fine. Many DWI defendants in Texas report incurring costs of between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars throughout their DWI case.
In addition to the monetary costs of a DWI arrest, the personal cost of drinking and driving is high. Many people have hectic lives, and a DWI arrest can add many tasks and burdens to the list of responsibilities and activities you already have on your plate. Meeting with an attorney and going to court takes time, and it is often time that you would otherwise be at work. You may lose additional work time attending any classes, appointments, and probation that are required as part of the resolution of your DWI case. If you lose your job or if you were in the process of looking for a job when you were arrested for DWI, that DWI may make the jobs you want harder to get. You might also encounter difficulties in applying to college or applying for public or private benefits, programs, and even housing. Your DWI arrest may even place a strain on the relationships that are most important to you.
If you consider the financial and personal costs associated with a DWI arrest, you may conclude that it’s simply not worth it to drive after you have had even one drink. If you are already facing the costs of a DWI arrest, do not let the cost of attorneys’ fees prevent you from aligning yourself with someone who can help you walk through your DWI case in pursuit of the best possible resolution. A Texas DWI defense attorney can help you protect your liberty, your family, your freedom, and other things that are important to you. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499.
Texas crime labs recently partnered with Sam Houston University to develop a lab test to analyze the THC content of plant material or oil. The test is an important step forward following the legalization of hemp in Texas. The test enables authorities to determine whether a sample of oil or plant material is legal hemp, with a THC content of 0.3%, or illegal marijuana, with a THC content above 0.3%. However, the test has come too late for some defendants. Some individuals have already been penalized wrongfully for hemp use, sale, or possession after being arrested on suspicion of possessing, using, or selling marijuana. While the TCH test is helpful, it is not instantaneous, like the breathalyzer tests often used to screen drivers suspected of driving drunk. Defendants in hemp and marijuana cases face the possibility of detention while their substance sample is analyzed.
One man has already paid a steep price for possessing and transporting hemp. On December 6, as Aneudy Gonzalez was driving a rental truck full of hemp from California to New York, he was pulled over outside of Amarillo, Texas. The officer who made the traffic stop arrested Gonzalez and sent him to prison on federal drug charges. During the traffic stop, Gonzalez told the officer that he was a contract driver transporting hemp from California to New York. He also showed the officer a lab report that indicated that the THC content of his cargo was within the legal limit. The officer who arrested Gonzalez claims that he relied on his training and experience in determining that he believed the plant material in the truck was marijuana.
Gonzalez spent a month in jail, facing federal drug trafficking charges that could have kept him behind prison bars and away from his family for the rest of his life. During the month he was incarcerated, Aneudy Gonzalez missed out on celebrating Christmas with family, including his children. Fortunately, Gonzalez was released from jail earlier this month, after test results from the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) crime lab in Dallas confirmed that the 3,350 pounds of plant material he was hauling in the rental truck is legal hemp. Federal prosecutors have requested that the charges against Gonzalez be dismissed. The truck and its cargo of hemp are to be returned. Attorneys for Gonzalez plan to pursue a civil lawsuit in connection with his arrest and incarceration.
The state of Texas has legalized hemp. The state also claims that it does not want to interfere with the interstate commerce of hemp. Unfortunately, the officers who are responsible for enforcing criminal penalties for marijuana sale, use, and possession sometimes mistakenly arrest and charge individuals who are in possession of hemp. A Texas Criminal Defense Attorney can help you set the record straight in your hemp case. To learn more about how a Texas criminal defense attorney can help you, call Attorney Alex Tyra today. Call us today, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a convenient online contact form on our website.
Criminal convictions stop people right in their tracks. Whatever they were doing in their life before they were charged with and convicted of a crime gets put on hold. For individuals who are wrongfully convicted, their convictions place their lives on hold as they wait for the day when the truth sets them free.
The criminal justice systems in Texas and elsewhere do not function perfectly. Sometimes, innocent people are not only charged with crimes, but they are also convicted of them. Five years ago, Greg Kelley was convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a child. He went to prison and spent three years behind bars. Recently, prosecutors took another look at his case after Kelley’s defense attorneys brought new evidence and alternate suspects to their attention. This November, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Greg Kelley’s conviction. At a subsequent hearing, District Court Judge Donna King approved the decision to overturn Kelley’s conviction and declared him “fully exonerated.”
Before Greg Kelley’s life path took a sudden and unexpected detour into prison, he was a star athlete with dreams of attending college and playing football. His performance as a defensive back for Leander High School had gotten the attention of multiple colleges, including the University of Texas-San Antonio, Rice, and Texas State. Six years after a wrongful accusation and conviction sidelined his hopes and dreams, Greg Kelley can move forward again. He is engaged and plans to marry his fiance in January. His hopes of attending college are also about to be fulfilled. Recently, he received word that he is accepted to the University of Texas at Austin. Greg Kelley may even get to play college football. He could walk-on for the Longhorns, pending a successful tryout before the start of the upcoming football season.
It’s possible that Greg Kelley will not only be able to move forward with the dreams he had to put on hold but that he will also receive compensation for the years that were taken from him during the time that he was wrongfully incarcerated. If a person who is convicted of a crime in Texas is later declared “actually innocent” in a Texas court order, they may pursue a claim of wrongful incarceration against the State of Texas. That order has been granted for Greg Kelley, and his defense attorney plans to pursue a claim for wrongful incarceration against the State of Texas on his behalf. If the claim is successful, Greg Kelley will be able to attend college without incurring any student loan debt. Compensation under the Texas wrongful incarceration act includes free tuition at any Texas college and additional payments of approximately eighty thousand dollars per year that the individual spent in prison.
Greg Kelley’s story is a hope-filled example of how individuals who are exonerated can regain what they lost when they were convicted, and sometimes gain even more. If you have been convicted of a crime that you did not commit, do not give up on fighting for your freedom. Align yourself with a Texas criminal defense attorney and take a stand against your wrongful conviction. To learn more about how a Texas Criminal Defense Attorney can help you pursue exoneration, call Attorney Alex Tyra today. Call us today, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a convenient online contact form on our website.
Some things are worth repeating. A DWI arrest is not one of them. It seems as though not much time passes in between news reports regarding repeat DWI offenders, so it’s time for us to repeat a message that we have discussed multiple times before. One DWI arrest can cost you many of the things that art important to you, and each subsequent DWI arrest and conviction will cost you even more of your freedom, your money, and your time, among other things.
Last month, a jury in Austin, Texas, convicted sixty-four-year-old Irby Allison of felony DWI. The charge was filed in connection with Allison’s DWI arrest in October of 2017. Irby Allison chose to have the jury decide on his punishment. After less than a half-hour of deliberating the issue of his penalty, they sentenced him to twelve years of imprisonment. Twelve years is a lengthy period of time for any person to spend in jail. At his current age of sixty-four, Irby Allison will likely spend most, if not all, of the remainder of his life behind bars.
A twelve-year sentence is not something that every DWI offender is likely to face. The evidence presented to the jury during the sentencing phase of Allison’s trial gave the jurors important information about him that weighed heavily on their decision. The prosecution showed the jurors evidence of Allison’s three previous standard DWI convictions. They also presented evidence regarding his 2007 conviction for intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter following a DWI wreck that killed one person and seriously injured another. Irby Allison’s arrest in October of 2017 was his fifth DWI offense, and that’s why the jury did not hesitate to issue a lengthy sentence for him.
Unfortunately, a fifth-offense DWI is not unheard of in Texas. A Texas man in his mid-thirties killed two women in a crash that resulted in his sixth DWI offense. Jonathan Moore’s five previous DWI convictions resulted in a total of only two months spent behind bars because almost all of his sentences had been reduced.
In Texas, first and second offense DWIs are misdemeanors. After that, each time that driver is arrested again for DWI, they face felony charges. While there are numerous reports of individuals like Jonathan Moore receiving probation after they have been convicted of DWI three or more times, some felony DWI offenders pay a far higher price. For example, a judge sentenced Donald Middleton to life in prison following his ninth DWI conviction. Middleton is not eligible for parole for thirty years.
One out of every twenty inmates in Texas prisons is a repeat DWI offender. Whether you are charged with your first DWI or a subsequent offense, a lot is at stake, including your freedom. DWI convictions carry severe consequences, especially for third and subsequent offenses. A Texas DWI defense attorney can help you protect your liberty, your family, your freedom, and other things that are important to you. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499.
The circumstances of each DWI case are unique. However, within each DWI case, there are similarities between that case and other DWI cases that can provide a skilled DWI defense opportunity with opportunities to challenge the State’s case against the defendant. Today, I would like to share three possible areas of your DWI case that your attorney might be able to use to challenge the validity of the State’s case against you.
The first challenge to your DWI charges could come from something that happened even before you were pulled over. The law enforcement officer who stopped you must have had a reasonable suspicion that you were breaking one or more laws. Things like speeding or swerving can contribute to an officer’s reasonable suspicion. Courts tend to accept most officers’ explanations of why they had a reasonable suspicion that a driver was violating one or more laws. Sometimes an officer cannot articulate why they stopped a driver or which law they suspected the driver of breaking, so drivers must be aware of the possibility of a challenge to the traffic stop itself. If a court finds that there was not a reasonable suspicion behind an officer’s decision to pull a driver over, any information or evidence that the officer obtained during that traffic stop is inadmissible and cannot be used in a case against the defendant.
A second opportunity to challenge your DWI charges comes from the officer’s decision to continue the traffic stop for a longer time than they needed to write you a ticket. An officer must have probable cause to believe that you are intoxicated before they continue to keep you stopped on the side of the road to investigate the situation further and possibly arrest you. Things like open alcohol containers, bloodshot eyes, and slurred speech can contribute to probable cause. If a defendant can show that the officer did not have probable cause to continue the traffic stop and make the arrest, a court could decide that the arrest was unlawful. Evidence and charges that result from an illegal arrest can be challenged. If the State has too little evidence to pursue a case against a defendant, the charges against that defendant may be dropped.
Law enforcement officers must make arrests in accordance with all applicable laws, without violating the constitutional rights of the defendant. For example, if the officer who pulled you over did not read you your rights, you can challenge the lawfulness of the arrest. A skilled Texas DWI defense attorney can identify possible challenges to the State’s case against you and build a defense strategy that could reduce the State’s chance of success in its case against you. To learn more about how a Texas DWI Defense Attorney can help you work through your DWI case, call Attorney Alex Tyra today. Call us today at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a convenient online contact form on our website.