Monthly Archives:' September 2011
10 things not to do on the road with alcohol in your system!
Every DWI Lawyer in Houston can tell you stories about clients that just set themselves up to get stopped. If you are reading this it might be too late, but you can pass it on to your friends. If you are driving and have had anything to drink at all (even if you are legally sober!) do not be dumb on the road!Every DWI Lawyer in Houston can tell you stories about clients that just set themselves up to get stopped. If you are reading this it might be too late, but you can pass it on to your friends. If you are driving and have had anything to drink at all (even if you are legally sober!) do not be dumb on the road!
As a Houston DWI Attorney I have a lot of potential cases come through my office, and I hear a bunch of stories about traffic stops and why the police pulled them over. I have also seen hundreds of DWI videos, and one common thing is that many of the initial traffic stops resulted from stupidity!
So here is a list of some things you shouldn’t do after drinking:
- Don’t “peel out” at a traffic light! I don’t care if you never got over the posted speed limit, and I don’t care how hot the girl in the next lane was, you are going to get pulled over!
- Don’t weave your steering wheel to the beat of the music!
- Don’t let your best friend stand up with his torso hanging out of the sunroof.
- Don’t tap your breaks over and over to try to make your vehicle “jump” to a beat
- Don’t drive with one leg hanging out of the window…
- Don’t drive naked
- Don’t road rage…who cares if the car in front of you just cut you off.
- Don’t forget to put on those license plates that showed up in the mail…
- Don’t flick a cigarette out the window with HPD right behind you…(sigh)
- Don’t forget to use your blinker…really…is it THAT HARD?
Again, it might be too late for you. But if you are feeling down and want a quick pick me up, ask the DWI Lawyer in Houston that you hired to tell you some stories. This job certainly can be entertaining…
Flat Fee vs. Per Appearance
I am a strong believer that no one should ever hire a Criminal Lawyer in Houston who charges per appearance. What I mean is a lawyer who charges you every time you go to court. If you are a defendant, and you are reading this, I mean the lawyers who tell you…”Just give me $200 every time we go to court”.I am a strong believer that no one should ever hire a Criminal Lawyer in Houston who charges per appearance. What I mean is a lawyer who charges you every time you go to court. If you are a defendant, and you are reading this, I mean the lawyers who tell you…”Just give me $200 every time we go to court”.
This is just wrong on many levels and in my opinion creates a huge conflict of interest. No competent Houston Criminal Defense Attorney would do this. These are the top 3 reasons I think you should never hire someone with this sort of pricing structure.
- Unnecessary resets – Sometimes cases can be won quickly. Many times I have shown up to court only to have a prosecutor tell me that they are leaning towards dismissing the case. It only takes a tiny bit of convincing and we get it done. An unethical lawyer who is getting paid per court date might not have any incentive to get a case thrown out fast. They could simply reset, and reset, and reset to make more money.
- Lawyer feel rushed – Now let’s assume it is a good lawyer trying to do their job. Sometimes cases take MONTHS to evaluate, gather evidence, etc. If you are a good lawyer in this situation then you want to finish your case as quickly as possible (since the client is paying per appearance and you don’t want them to think you are stalling), but it simply might not be possible. Again, you could end up paying more in the long run than you would have if you had only hired someone who charges you a flat fee.
- Results in more pleas – Lets face it, most clients who hire these types of lawyers don’t have that much money in the first place. So they might be sitting there in court with a very defendable case, but they plead guilty. Why, you ask? Because they don’t want to have to pay that lawyer to come back in 3-4 weeks….complete BS.
So save yourself the trouble and hire a Criminal Lawyer in Houston who charges a flat fee. Lawyers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and with all different kind of prices. I ALWAYS charge a flat fee that I feel is fair. The most important thing should be the case, not trying to make (or save) money.
Mandatory Blood Draws
I have mentioned before that you are allowed to (and should!) refuse a breath test if you are arrested for suspicion of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). At point you think, “Great, I followed the no blow rule and now I just need a good Houston DWI Attorney.” I have mentioned before that you are allowed to (and should!) refuse a breath test if you are arrested for suspicion of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). At point you think, “Great, I followed the no blow rule and now I just need a good Houston DWI Attorney.” Unfortunately, in many counties (including Harris) certain weekends are considered non-refusal weekend. If this happens then law enforcement will get a magistrate to sign a search warrant for your person after you refuse a breath test. They will use this search warrant to draw blood from you and use against you in the prosecution of your case.
Harris county does this much more than surrounding counties as money has been granted to the county to have non-refusal weekend every weekend for a period of three years. This recently started, so this should continue for the foreseeable future.
But don’t worry, a blood test is not an automatic conviction! Get yourself a DWI Lawyer in Houston that can identify the issues and help you work through your DWI. These particular types of cases tend to drag on more than others. The main reason is they usually ship the blood to labs outside of Houston to be evaluated. It is not uncommon to have a case where you are almost near the point of having to set the case for trial simply because the blood results have not come back.
A good Houston DWI Attorney can work with you and the state to fairly evaluate the entire case and come up with an adequate resolution or prepare for trial. Even if you know that there might be blood drawn, it is still in your best interest to refuse a breath test because there have been situations where people either slip through the cracks or the agency is just too lazy to get a search warrant. Again, don’t give the state any free evidence…make them take it.
Should You Take A Breath Test?
A question I get asked all too often as a Houston DWI Attorney is “should I take a breath test if I am stopped and have been drinking”. The simple answer is, no!A question I get asked all too often as a Houston DWI Attorney is “should I take a breath test if I am stopped and have been drinking”. The simple answer is, no!
Giving a breath test in a DWI case is essentially giving the officer, and the district attorney’s office more evidence to use against you if you happen to fail the test. If you do not think you are going to pass, then there is no reason to take the test at all. I am confident that any DWI Lawyer in Houston would give you the same advice.
Many people are asked to do sobriety tests, and even if they do wonderful the officers still “take them down to jail for further evaluation”. So basically, you do everything that the officer asks you to do and all is gets you is arrested! Why would you continue to cooperate with law enforcement when you are only seeing negative results? It does not make any sense.
On top of that, your case is much more likely to get dismissed if you do not take the breath test (assuming you do not get blood drawn). The district attorney’s office is usually very reluctant to dismiss a case if there is a breath test above .08 (but will dismiss cases time to time). If you do not take the test, and do good on the standard field sobriety tests (or refuse those too!), there is much less evidence for a prosecutor to use against you. They feel much better letting cases like this go as opposed to cases where some machine is telling them (and potentially jurors) that you were drunk on the night in question.
So to sum it all up, unless you have had absolutely nothing to drink just do not take a breath test! You put yourself, and your Houston DWI Attorney, in a much better situation if you just refuse!
In Person Consultations
Finding a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney is not hard. Chances are, if you need one, you are going to be contacted by many. What is tough is finding a Criminal Lawyer in Houston that you can trust. I have been a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney since the first day I was licensed in the State of Texas. In my blog I hope to have an avenue to share my thoughts, and hopefully give advice to those needing the assistance of a good criminal lawyer in Houston.Finding a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney is not hard. Chances are, if you need one, you are going to be contacted by many. What is tough is finding a Criminal Lawyer in Houston that you can trust. I have been a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney since the first day I was licensed in the State of Texas. In my blog I hope to have an avenue to share my thoughts, and hopefully give advice to those needing the assistance of a good criminal lawyer in Houston.
The first thing I advise anyone who asks me about hiring an attorney is to make sure you personally meet with every attorney that you are interested in hiring. All too often (my law firm being no exception), individuals just hire an attorney over the phone. I just think it makes more sense to go in and have a face to face consultation. Most consultations are free, so there is little excuse for not making time for such an important decision. There are three main reasons I believe consultations are better in person:
- You have the opportunity to see the person who is going to represent you. The last thing you want is to walk into court not knowing who the heck your lawyer is. Meeting an attorney in person prevents the awkward moment in court where your lawyer has to say your name because he has no clue what you look like. You also might not want to hire an attorney if he doesn’t present himself professionally. Meeting him before will give you an idea of how the person carries himself from one day to the next.
- You get to see the environment where your attorney works daily. A lawyer’s office can tell you a lot about how he is going to handle your case. Is his office a mess? Are there piles of trash in the corner? Does he even have a physical office? Does he seem organized? These are all things that are impossible to determine over the phone.
- Your lawyer can get a better feel for you, and for your case, in person. Sometimes it’s about what’s best for the lawyer too. It is hard to read people over the phone. Many times an individual’s physical traits or demeanor can help an attorney decide what the defense of a case is. It’s always best for your lawyer to know as much about you as possible prior to getting to court.
Overall it is a win/win for a client/attorney when the consultation is in person. I know it’s tough to miss days from work, but many attorneys (myself included) are available on weekends and evenings to meet. Picking a Criminal Lawyer in Houston is an extremely important decision, and you owe it to yourself (and your record!) to inform yourself to the best of your abilities prior to signing an attorney/client contract. If you are facing a criminal charge and have any questions or would like to set up a free consultation , please feel free to contact me at 713-222-2828.