Recently, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office announced that they would not prosecute possession of marijuana cases involving less than an ounce of marijuana. Does this mean that you can walk down the street in downtown San Antonio, smoking marijuana without getting arrested? If you have a possession of marijuana case from before last week, will it be dismissed? If they’re not arresting people on those cases, Read More
5 Choices That lead to a DWI Arrest
1. Speeding or Breaking Some Other Traffic Law Most drivers who are arrested for DWI are not pulled over because they’re driving like they’re drunk. Most people are pulled over for speeding or other traffic violation. Once the officer pulls them over and starts talking to the driver, he expands the stop investigate the driver for DWI. Follow all traffic laws and if you don’t feel like paying attention to your Read More
Should You Do Field Sobriety Tests?
Every day, across the country, officers ask people to perform tests, “to make sure they’re ok to drive.” Usually, the driver will perform the tests, but is it better to perform the tests or refuse them? Motorist trying to walk a straight line while a police officer looks on. There are two ways that I see the officers make the request for drivers to perform the test. The most common way is for the officer not to Read More
Just Say No…to the Cops
Growing up in the 80’s, I was told many times to “just say no” if anyone offered me drugs. When I was older, girls were told they shouldn’t feel pressured by boys; that it was ok to say "no." But one public service announcement that I never heard was that I should say no to police. The Constitution gives us the right to say no to police, and we should. If an officer asks if he can search you, your car, your home, Read More
Why “Just Don’t Drink and Drive” Doesn’t Always Work
I regularly hear people say, “just don’t drink and drive.” The implication is that if you don’t drink an drive, you won’t be arrested for driving while intoxicated. Statements like this assume that everybody who gets arrested for DWI is guilty, when people are sometimes arrested when they have not had anything at all to drink. I have represented several people in the past who were arrested and charged with DWI. Read More
How You Can Keep a DWI from Affecting Your Future
If you don’t know my story, I was arrested and charged with DWI in 2001. It was a difficult thing to go through when it happened. It was just as difficult every time I applied for a job, when I applied for law school, and when I applied for my law license because I would have to explain that I had been arrested and why I had been arrested. What I didn’t know until I became a lawyer was that there are things that Read More
Driving While High
In Texas, someone can be charged with driving while intoxicated whether they are intoxicated from alcohol, marijuana, or some other intoxicating drug. Most people know that the legal limit for alcohol is a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher. What many people don’t know, is that there is no magic number for marijuana. In some states, like Colorado, you are above the legal limit if you have .05 nanograms Read More
What Happens When an Officer Doesn’t Read You Your Rights?
Ernesto Miranda A comment that I frequently receive from clients is that the officer didn’t read them their Miranda rights when they were arrested. How does this affect their case? The Supreme Court held in Miranda v. Arizona, that the Fifth Amendment of The Constitution requires officers to advise people of certain rights before a custodial interrogation. This means that an officer only needs to read a person Read More
