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A blood draw warrant is a search warrant requested by a law enforcement officer and signed by a judge. It is a search warrant that specifically authorizes the police to have blood drawn from the person of a Driving While Intoxicated suspect. In almost all cases in which the police seek a search warrant for blood, […]

Over the last few weeks, I have received a number of calls and emails inquiring about the surcharge Amnesty and Indigency programs. I am pleased to be able to write the the program is now active.  The following is the important information to determine your eligibility. Amnesty willl be offered from January 17 to April […]

A very recent case decided by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the State’s highest court of appeals to hear criminal cases, has established the lawfulness of roadside checkpoints under certain circumstances. This case will affect not only Driving While Intoxicated cases, but all criminal cases and the citizenry in general.  I’ll explain.  The Fourth […]

A new law proposed this week by Texas State  Rep. Bill Callegari, would change the current law to require that persons convicted of Driving While Intoxicated in Texas have a so called Ignition Interlock Device installed on the car that they own, operate or “most regularly drive.” For those who don’t know, an Ignition Interlock device is […]

Finally, there appears to be relief on the immediate horizon for Collin, Dallas and Denton County Motorists who are subject to the so called Driver Responsibility Program.  The Driver Responsibility Program was established in 2003  as a means of increasing revenue by requiring persons convicted of Driving While Intoxicated in Texas to pay a surcharge […]

In 2003 the Texas Legislature, while casting about for a new source of revenue, came up with the idea to create a surcharge program for those convicted of, among other crimes, Driving While Intoxicated The law provides, essentially that a person convicted of driving while intoxicated will be required to pay a $1,000 annual surcharge for the […]

I’m not the first to blog about this issue, and it has been fairly well covered both by the by the Collin County Observer as well as by Hunter Biederman, but I wanted to share my perspective because I find the WFAA coverage so misleading. For those who are not familiar, WFAA recently broke a story strongly implying that […]

Motorists in Collin and Dallas Counties, and throughout Texas, will now have fewer protections against having forcible blood draws. A few months ago I blogged about SB 261, a bill that sought to expand the authority of police to obtain a sample of blood from driving while intoxicated suspects. The changes proposed to the law in that bill have […]