Posted on August 13,2020 in DWI

Una preocupación inmediata para muchas personas después de un arresto por DWI es cómo voy a seguir conduciendo. Tengo que ir a trabajar; Tengo que llevar a mis hijos a la escuela; Necesito hacer mandados e ir al supermercado. Para las personas que se encuentran en este tipo de situación, a menudo, una licencia de conducir ocupacional es la solución perfecta. Una licencia de conducir ocupacional es simplemente una licencia de conducir ordenada por el tribunal que le permite conducir durante su suspensión. Estas licencias de conducir ocupacionales no son válidas por más dos años, que generalmente es tiempo suficiente para cumplir con su suspensión, así como para recuperar su licencia de conducir regular de Clase C de Texas. 

¿Cuáles son los beneficios de una licencia ocupacional?

Entonces la buena noticia es que Texas realmente ha aflojado las restricciones con respecto a las licencias de conducir ocupacionales. Ahora puede obtener rápidamente uno que le permitirá manejar para ir al trabajo, a la escuela, hacer mandados día a día, como ir al supermercado. Además, estas licencias de conducir ocupacionales ahora se pueden usar en varios condados. Entonces, si necesita viajar por trabajo, también puede usar una de éstas para eso.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 13,2020 in Criminal Defense

Una orden de no divulgación es el mecanismo legal que utilizamos para sellar los registros de un arresto y los procedimientos judiciales después de un tipo especial de libertad condicional llamada "Adjudicación diferida". Las personas a veces se sorprenden al descubrir que son arrestadas por un delito, van a la corte, su abogado hace un buen trabajo y reciben una adjudicación diferida. Completan con éxito todos los términos de su libertad condicional y obtienen su caso desestimado. Luego, más adelante en la vida, durante una verificación de antecedentes de rutina para un trabajo o para una casa, los registros del arresto y los procedimientos judiciales siguen apareciendo, y esto se debe a que no han dado el paso afirmativo de obtener una orden de no divulgación para sellar todos esos registros de verificaciones de antecedentes privados.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 13,2020 in DWI

Por lo general en Texas, pensamos en conducir en estado de embriaguez como delitos menores, y generalmente lo son. Sin embargo, hay dos circunstancias en las que un DWI puede ser presentado como un delito grave. El primero puede sucederle a cualquiera, ya sea que nunca haya estado en problemas, que nunca haya sido arrestado, que nunca haya tenido un DWI, y que sea DWI con un niño pasajero. Ahora, esta es una situación en la que un individuo es acusado de DWI con el factor adicional de tener un niño menor de 15 años en el vehículo en el momento del delito. Esto será un delito grave con cárcel estatal y en Texas, los delitos graves con cárcel estatal pueden llevar hasta dos años en la instalación de la cárcel estatal con un mínimo de confinamiento de 180 días y una multa de hasta diez mil dólares. 

Delitos adicionales por delitos graves de DWI

Entonces la segunda vez que vemos casos de DWI presentados como delitos graves es un tercer delito o más. Entonces, esta es una situación en la que alguien tiene dos condenas anteriores de DWI en el momento del tercer arresto de DWI. Ahora, en Texas, las terceras partes de DWI son tratadas como delitos mayores y son tratadas muy en serio. Un delito grave de tercer grado castigado con entre dos y diez años de prisión y una multa de hasta $ 10,000 dólares. Ahora, el juez y el fiscal van a tener un interés especial en su caso si tiene un tercer DWI. No lo verán como un error único, sino como signos de que un individuo tiene un problema habitual con el alcohol.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 13,2020 in Criminal Defense

Una Supresión es un mecanismo legal que utilizamos para destruir y borrar completamente cualquier registro de un arresto y un proceso legal. Lo usamos después de un veredicto de no culpabilidad o una desestimación completa de los cargos por parte del estado de Texas. En pocas palabras, con una supresión, todos los registros se destruyen por completo y se le devuelve a un estado como si el arresto nunca hubiera ocurrido; ni el FBI, ni el gobierno, ni la policía tendrán acceso a los registros de su arresto en los procedimientos judiciales.

Si no fui encontrado culpable, ¿pueden los profesionales seguir viendo mi caso?

Lo hemos visto muchas veces a lo largo de los años en que alguien es arrestado por un delito. Van a la corte y se retiran los cargos; Se desestima el caso. Simplemente no son culpables. Años más tarde, durante una verificación de antecedentes de rutina para un trabajo o una solicitud de vivienda, el arresto y los procedimientos judiciales aparecen y les causan dificultades. La verdad es que a menos que tome ese paso afirmativo de obtener una orden de supresión, todavía aparecerá en las verificaciones de antecedentes penales. 

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 29,2020 in Criminal Defense

Weapon laws across the United States have always been under scrutiny—are they too restrictive or not strict enough? Texas is one of the states that allows Texas residents to obtain a concealed carry license and carry a weapon a number of places while keeping it concealed from the public eye. After COVID-19 hit the United States, many states now require social distancing practices to be followed and face masks to be worn in all public places. Before this virus became an infamous pandemic, wearing a mask in a public place would likely have others wondering about your intentions. Masks are often used by those attempting to hide their identity while conducting a criminal act. For this reason, many gun owners are concerned about the status of concealed carry permits in the midst of the pandemic.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 24,2020 in Criminal Defense

So if you're on probation, the thing you're trying to avoid at all costs is the motion to revoke your probation commonly referred to as an MTR. Now what happens in an MTR is your probation officer sends a letter or a violation report to the state's prosecutor, letting them know they believe you violated one of the terms of your probation. The prosecutor's office is, in turn, going to file that MTR, send it over to the judge for signature and then a warrant is going to be issued for your arrest.

What are common violations of probation?

Failing to appear, not completing court ordered classes, or failing a drug test are all common examples of probation violations we see but by far the worst violation you can possibly have is the allegation that you've committed an additional or a subsequent crime while on that probationary period. Now when a judge issues an MTR, they may or they may not set a bond when they do. Some judges wait till here physically arrested to set that bond, others wait until your attorney actually approaches them and ask for a bond. All of this can be avoided by working with a local criminal defense attorney and a bondsman to turn yourself in the jail and then immediately bond yourself right back out.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 24,2020 in DWI

Absolutely. In Texas you can be charged with driving while intoxicated either by alcohol, drugs or pain medications prescribed to you by a doctor or a dentist. Now most people know that in Texas the legal limit for alcohol in your system is 0.08. What we don't know is that there's not really an equivalency for how much THC or other drugs you can have in your system before you're deemed to be intoxicated.

How can the state prove that I was high while driving?

So just because Texas doesn't have a legal limit, certainly doesn't mean that it's legal to smoke marijuana and then to drive. Prosecutors in the state of Texas can prove intoxication by marijuana in two ways. First, they can prove that you've lost the normal use of your mental faculties. Second, they can show that you lost the normal use of your physical faculties. Either one of those ways is going to be sufficient for the state to prove that you were driving while intoxicated by marijuana.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 24,2020 in Criminal Defense

What should I expect on my first day in court?

So people that don't have a lot of experience in the criminal justice system often wonder what's going to happen on my first court date. Now your first court date is generally called your arraignment and it's the first time the court has asked you to come to court and to address the criminal allegations against you. While most cases aren't and certainly shouldn't be resolved in one court setting, it's still an incredibly important part of your case.

What is the court process like?

Traffic, parking, and security all make getting to court take longer than expected. If you've ever been to the County Courthouse, you'll see these long lines in the morning, of people trying to get through security to get to their courtroom. Now what happens is eventually the judge will come out and he'll call all the names on the docket for that morning. We're gonna stand up with you, we're gonna let the judge know that we're there; we're your attorneys and that we're working on your case. Now judges don't like if you're late and will not hesitate to issue a warrant if you fail to appear.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 24,2020 in Criminal Defense

So a really common crime we see in Texas is shoplifting. Shoplifting is a variation of the theft statute. Theft in Texas law is defined simply as taking someone else's property without their permission. The idea in a shoplifting case is that you're taking retail stores’ items -- their products -- without permission from the store. Now the punishment range associated with shoplifting or other theft cases is directly correlated to the value of the items that are taken. Stealing gum is very different from stealing an iPhone. 

What are the penalties for shoplifting?

So a lot of the information on the Internet is actually incorrect and outdated. In September of 2015 the Texas Legislature updated the statute and the value ladder associated with it. Currently as it stands, any item less than $100 is going to be a Class C violation. Any item valued at $750 or less will be a Class B misdemeanor. Anything under $2,500, it's going to be a Class A misdemeanor. Above $2,500, and you end up looking at felony offenses and the possibility of prison and convictions. Now it is worth noting here that the cases stack as well. What that means is as you get further arrested and further convictions, the punishment ranges become more severe. The idea is that courts and prosecutors want to punish more severely someone who has multiple convictions for shoplifting as opposed to the individual that commits the offense just once in their life.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 24,2020 in DWI

So people use these terms interchangeably but really in Texas, they're very different things. DWI is an acronym for "Driving while Intoxicated." While DUI stands for "Driving Under the Influence."

Which charge is worse?

DWI is much much worse than DUI. In the DWI case the state has to prove intoxication which is a high standard. They have to prove that you either had a blood-alcohol concentration above 0.08 or that you had lost the normal use of your mental or physical faculties. Conversely, in a DUI, all the state has to prove is that someone under the age of 21 had any detectable amount of alcohol in their system. The idea here being that people under the age of 21 aren't supposed to be drinking alcohol at all. So even a sip of alcohol and then getting behind the wheel can have you be found guilty for DUI.

What are the punishment differences?

So in Texas a DWI, even for a first-time offender can result in up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. While in a DUI, the state is limited in their punishment options. The maximum punishment is a $500 fine, some community service hours, may be an alcohol awareness class, but certainly no jail time at all.

Continue Reading ››