The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas.
If you don’t accept a plea deal for a DWI charge, then odds are good you’ll have a trial. What happens if you lose your case and the jury comes back with a guilty verdict? Believe it or not, a conviction in court doesn’t necessarily end a criminal case. Sometimes, the trial was so flawed […]
One of the cardinal rules of criminal law is that police must normally obtain a warrant before conducting a search. The warrant itself must specify the scope of that search. In other words, it is unlawful for a judge to issue a “general warrant” that gives the police broad discretion to search an unspecified place. […]
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects all Texas residents from “unreasonable” searches and seizures. This includes mandatory testing of one’s blood following a drunk driving arrest. If you do not consent to a blood test–and you always have the right to refuse a blood test–then police must obtain a warrant before drawing or […]
Not all drunk driving cases are treated the same under Texas law. For instance, if you are charged with a first-offense DWI, that offense is by default classified as a Class B misdemeanor. However, if the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that your Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) was 0.15 percent or more, you can […]
Recently, the highest criminal court in the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, has ruled that blood search warrants are required for officers to obtain blood samples from those who they suspect are driving while intoxicated. Blood samples are to be used as evidence of the suspected drunk driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) level, […]
