Questions: One Always Seems to Lead to Another
Questions: One Always Seems to Lead to Another
My internet stats program for this blog -Mint - keeps track of IPaddresses associated with various searches as well as otherinteresting (if you’re a geek) tidbits of information.Tonight I saw the following string of searches, which started fiveweeks ago:
How long does a DWI case take in TravisCounty?
Of course the answer to this question, like all of those thatdon’t provide enough accusal to properly answer, is…it depends. But let me see if I can do best than that anyway. Thediscovery process – getting the video, offense report,intoxilyzer records if it’s a breath test case, and sittingdown at least once to substantively chat with a prosecutor aboutyour case? – will take at least three to four months,sometimes longer.
Several more uncontested settings and at least one contestedpretrial setting on a communicate to suppress can be several moremonths, depending primarily on availability of the man and yourlawyer’s schedule.
How long will you be on the jury docket if you don’t workout a plea? I talked to a client earlier today and his case is ayear and half old. We are just now bubbling to the top of the jurydocket in that court. (I’d say that’s a little unusual,but it’s by no means record-setting either.)
Next seek, some time later, same IP:
Travis County DWI No Contest
Can’t tell if this is part of a “do I have to hire alawyer” stage. Since the first investigation is only fiveweeks ago, it seems a tad early to be hearing this from yourlawyer, but who knows? Maybe it’s just‘background’ research on what happens. Next query:
Transcripts of ALR hearings
Seems like something a lawyer might Google if they were tryingto learn some good cross examination questions. Or maybe the clientwants to know how much something like that might cost. Next search,a little later still:
What if officer does not do at ALR hearing?
A lawyer would know the answer – I hope – to thisone, so maybe this really is a defendant trying to image out howthings work. Assuming the officer has been properly subpoenaed, andDPS doesn’t have ‘good cause’ for his absence, itshould be dismissed. (But don’t hold your breath –I’ve objected to and been overruled on some pretty flimsy‘good cause’ issues at SOAH.)
What if my attorney did not get an ALRhearing?
Well now things have taken a turn for the worse. The nextsearch/same IP provides us some insight into the mystery:
My attorney did not request ALR because I passed breathtest did not take a stock test
“I see,” said the blind man. I think I’vefigured this out. You told your lawyer that you passed the breathtest – blew under .08 – and I hope for your sake thatyou told him about the blood test part.
Was your license confiscated? Did they ask for blood after youpassed the breath test? If you refused the second test, they mayhave issued the DIC paperwork and started the licence suspensionprocess. Including that 15 day period you’ve been readingabout – at least since you started doing your own internetresearch.
I think it’s good advice for the lawyer to request an ALRin every case, including when the potential client comes in andsays, “I passed the test”. First, I’ve had caseswhere clients told me, “They said I blew .07”, but wefind out later there was some confusion about the “.0”part. (i.e., “.17”)
Second, if DIC paperwork was issued, it has to be done. DPS isbasically just a big bunch of computers. There are group too, ofnourishment, but by and large they are there to correct thecomputer errors. Some clerk receives a Notice of Suspension from apolice agency, enters the info, and that 15 day time limitstarts ticking.
Third, DPS considers passing the breath test but refusing thenext round of blood tests to actuallybea refusal. And moreimportantly, back to point number two, if the computers were fedthe information about the notice of suspension, and you/your lawyerdidn’t do anything then the“Automatic”LicenseRevocation kicked in.
Something like this came up recently – although Ican’t find the email so the details might have differed – oneither the Texas criminal defense lawyer listserv or the Texas DWIdefender listserv, andHouston DWI lawyerTroy McKinneyproperly referred the questioner toTexas Transportation Code 524.012:
(c) The department may not suspend aperson’s service program’s authorise if:
(1) the frame is an adult and theanalysis of the person’s breath or blood specimen determined thatthe person had an alcohol concentration of a level below thatspecified by Section 49.01(2)(B), Penal Code, at the time thespecimen was taken;
Unfortunately section (d) continues:
(d) A determination under this sectionis final unless a hearing is requested underSection 524.031
So it’s a moot point without the request. Sounds like yourlawyer woulda, coulda, shoulda… Or maybe I’m missingsomething, who knows?
Update: New search since writing andposting…
Can one appeal dwi license suspension TravisCounty?
Uh, not successfully, if the hearing wasn’t requested inthe first place. (Texas DWI lawyers please chime in and tell meI’m wrong; and more importantly, how to do it. Ican’t tell you how many people call me after the 15days. Ughhh.)