Competence is an issue that can come up in any Texas criminal case, including a DWI case. For court proceedings to be just, a defendant must be competent to stand trial. An individual who is competent to stand trial is both capable of understanding the proceedings that have been brought against them and capable of helping their defense counsel represent them in those proceedings. Capability does not necessarily require a high level of understanding or skill. Instead, it describes an elementary type of intelligence and ability that most people have most of the time.

It is imperative that all criminal and DWI defendants understand that raising the issue of competence is not a defense to the crime that they are charged with. Raising the issue of competence is a tool that a defense attorney can use to ensure that their client’s trial is fair by putting court proceedings on hold until the defendant’s competence is assessed and the court decides whether the defendant can become competent to stand trial. For example, if a defendant is found to have a type of mental impairment that could respond well to therapy, medication or a combination of both, the defendant will be ordered to receive those treatments for a period of time that could enable the treatments to take effect. The case could then proceed to trial once the defendant demonstrates that have achieved competence.

An example of a case in which competence was at issue is the case of Thomas Gene Riddle, of San Antonio. Shortly after Riddle was accused of murder in 2016, he was declared incompetent to stand trial. In July of 2017, he was transferred from prison to North Texas State Hospital, where he received treatment. A year later, Riddle was returned to jail and declared competent to stand trial. Riddle’s attorney reports that he plans to use the insanity defense during his upcoming jury trial.

Some of the issues that can come up in cases where competence is disputed involve differing opinions among the professionals who have evaluated the defendant’s competence. At other times, there may be questions about whether the professionals who evaluated the defendant followed the proper procedures in examining them and reporting their findings.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – An Ally for Texas Defendants

Competence is just one of many issues that can arise during a Texas criminal or DWI case. DWI and criminal defendants have a lot at stake, and a Texas defense attorney can help them protect their rights. If you’re currently facing criminal or DWI charges in Texas, you do not have to develop a defense strategy on your own. In fact, doing so is not recommended because there is so much at stake, including your freedom. No matter what charge you face, whether it is a misdemeanor, your first DWI, a repeat offense DWI, a felony, or something even more severe, you are probably worried about the penalties you are facing. An experienced Texas defense attorney is prepared to help you protect the people and things that matter most to you. Your attorney knows your rights, they can help you understand them, and they can help you develop a plan for resolving your Texas criminal law matter. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a contact form on our website.

Three recent incidents serve as reminders that if you have been convicted of driving while intoxicated one or more times, the penalties increase with each subsequent conviction. Some drivers get one DWI charge and leave drinking and driving behind for good, whether they are convicted or not. Other drivers continue to get behind the wheel after they have been drinking, for whatever reason. Some of those drivers get caught and convicted a second time, and others go on to continue drinking, driving, and racking up more DWI arrests and convictions. Those decisions are not without significant personal costs, and, unfortunately, they sometimes affect the lives of other people, too.

An Upshur County grand jury recently indicted a driver on his fifth first-degree Driving While Intoxicated charge. He could get sentenced to life in prison if he gets convicted in connection with his May 5th DUI/Habitual offender charge. DWI convictions add up, regardless of where you get them. This particular defendant had three prior DWIs in Texas and one in Illinois. He has served five years out of a total of twenty years that he got sentenced to for his proper DWIs, and before this most recent arrest, he was on parole that was scheduled to end in 2026. A conviction on this most recent charge is sure to lead to even more time in prison.

An Arkansas driver who has at least five prior DWI convictions recently got indicted two counts of murder in connection with a Texas DWI wreck. Two people died in the crash, and both were passengers in a truck that he was driving. The man swerved off of the road as he was driving, and collided with a tree. He was arrested at the accident scene, and his blood alcohol content was over the legal limit. Since the deaths happened while the driver was committing the offense of felony DWI, he can be charged with murder.

Another Texas driver who has five prior DWI convictions recently got arrested and charged with DWI and evading arrest. His arrest occurred after authorities eventually stopped him, sometime after a critically injured woman who had fallen out of his vehicle was found lying in the road. This man’s most recent DWI charge has been enhanced to a third-degree felony.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Trusted Support for Texas DWI Defendants

Are you charged with DWI or a related crime in Texas? Whether you are accused of having committed your first DWI, a repeat offense DWI, a felony DWI, or something even more severe, you are likely very concerned about the penalties you are facing. A Texas DWI defense attorney is equipped to help you protect the people and things that matter most to you. Your attorney knows your rights and can help you understand them. They can also help you develop a strategy for resolving your Texas criminal law matter. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a contact form on our website.

A student at Texas’s Santa Fe High School recently brought two of his father’s guns to school and used them to kill eight students and two teachers and to wound twelve other people. Since the shooter was seventeen years old at the time he opened fire on his schoolmates and teachers, under Texas law, his father cannot be held accountable for having made the guns accessible to him. The teen’s father legally owns the guns, so no charges related to illegal gun ownership can be brought either.

The legal definition of “child” in Texas state law as a person who is age sixteen or younger controls the outcome of this situation. Had Dimitrios Pagourtzis been sixteen years old or younger at the time he committed the school shooting, his father could have been prosecuted under Texas’s “negligent storage law.” Texas has a law that enables prosecutors to hold gun owners criminally liable for gun crimes committed by their children. As noted above, since Pagourtzis was not a child when he committed the crime, his father cannot be charged.

Thirteen other states have similar laws to the Texas “negligent storage law.” It is estimated that criminal charges against an adult are brought in approximately half of the reported incidents where children under the age of twelve have obtained a gun and used it to kill themselves or someone else. Data on children in other age groups, particularly teenagers, are not as readily available. Based on the Texas situation described above, it is reasonable to assume that the percentage of times that charges get pressed against adults when teens and kids over the age of twelve commit gun crimes vary according to the language of those laws and the ages of the people to whom they apply.

Whether you reside in a state that has a “negligent storage law” or not, the more significant issue is that gun owners should be locking their guns away safely so that nobody – not children, and not anyone else – can get their hands on them. It is reported that approximately one-third of all households in America contain at least one gun. Safe storage of firearms is a much bigger problem in our nation than many of us may be aware of, as a study recently published in the Journal of Urban Health recently revealed that a little over our and a half million American children live in homes where one or more guns are stored unlocked and loaded.

Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra – Uncompromising Support for Texas Defendants

Have you been charged with a gun-related crime, or with any other type of crime in Texas? Whether you are accused of having committed a felony or something less severe, there is a lot at stake, including your freedom. Protect the things that you value most by seeking the aid of a Texas Criminal Defense Attorney. Your attorney will help you understand the rights that you have, and they can help you resolve your Texas criminal law matter in the best possible way. Call Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Alex Tyra, at (903) 753-7499, or fill out a contact form on our website.