Dunham Law Firm's Austin DWI : Austin DWI Lawyers & Attorneys : Driving While Intoxicated, Sobriety Checkpoints : Travis County

D.J. Monroe expected to return to the Longhorn squad after agreement with the Hays County District Attorney. 

If D.J. Monroe wasn't a football player for UT and the Longhorns weren't headed to the BCS Championship Game, you have to ask the questions:

Would his DWI have been handled this quickly?

Did the BCS Championship Game play a factor in the outcome of his DWI?

Does the Longhorns feel his play is important enough against Alabama?

Given the number of recent DWI arrests of both players and athletic staff, does the Longhorn athletic department have a problem?

In a plea agreement with the Hays County District Attorney, the charges of driving while intoxicated in Hays County against D.J. Monroe have been dropped. He entered a guilty plea to obstruction of a passageway and received deferred adjudication. This opens the door for the University of Texas kick returner to rejoin the football team.

Monroe was arrested for drunk driving in the Austin area last November, shortly after the Longhorn win over Baylor. He was suspended indefinitely by head coach Mack Brown, and missed the final three games of the season. Before that, the freshman had contributed significantly to the Texas special teams, running back a record two kickoff returns for touchdowns. He also averaged over 5 yards per carry as a reserve tailback. Monroe and his parents are expected to meet with Coach Brown to determine if he can rejoin the team.

Second ranked Texas faces number 1 ranked Alabama for the national championship on January 7, 2010. 

See related story: Longhorn Football Player Arrested for DWI in Austin

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The United States tax code allows taxpayers to deduct property damage, using Form 4684 to claim a casualty loss deduction. One motorist took that to an extreme when he wrote off the value of his wrecked pickup truck following a DUI accident.

In 2005, Justin M. Rohrs attended a party where he anticipated he would be drinking, so he arranged for a ride to and from the gathering at his friend’s house. But after arriving at home after the party, he decided to drive to his parent's house in his new 2006 Ford F-350 pickup truck, originally valued at $40,210. En route, he slid off the road and rolled the vehicle. Rohrs registered a blood alcohol content of .09%, just above the legal limit for intoxication, and he was charged with driving under the influence.

Rohrs' insurance company declined to pay for the loss of his truck because of the charge of drunk driving. The IRS initially denied his deduction of a $33,629 casualty loss.

Rohrs elected to take the issue to Tax Court, where a judge had to decide if there was willfull negligence. The judge said that drinking and driving in itself does not amount to willful negligence, and that the degree of impairment would be important in making that finding. Noting that Rohrs had arranged for a ride earlier in the day and had a BAC just above the legal limit, the judge found in Rohrs' favor.

The U.S. Tax Court was established by Congress to resolve taxpayer disputes with the IRS. The court is based in Washington, D.C., though its judges travel across the United States to conduct trials.

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The Texas Department of Transportation has unveiled a holiday campaign aimed at reducing incidents of driving while intoxicated in Texas. Images of Santa’s reindeer have been printed on bar coasters, street posters and assorted advertisements that will be placed in or near bars. One of the more creative aspects of the campaign are decal of reindeer antlers placed on the mirrors above the sinks of bars and night clubs.

Patrons will see their head adorned with antlers. A message nearby says,

Don’t drive if you’re tipsy, buzzed or Blitzen. Call a cab or get a safe ride home.

Penalties for drunk driving in Texas can include loss of driver’s license for up to one year, up to six month’s in jail, a fine of up to $2,000, a criminal arrest record, significantly higher auto insurance premiums, and a mandatory fee payable to the Department of Public Safety for the privilege of renewing a license.

The TX DWI prevention effort is sponsored and promoted by the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Package Store Association, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas Municipal Police Association, and the Texas Petroleum marketers and Convenience Store Association.

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Texas Longhorn football player DJ Monroe was stopped in Hays County hours after UT win over Baylor for DWI.
 
D.J. Monroe, a standout freshman player for the University of Texas Longhorns football team, was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Austin, Texas. Monroe was stopped by a Hays County Sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 35 hours after the UT team defeated Baylor University. Monroe was booked at the Hays County jail and released early Sunday after posting $3000 bond.
 

Head coach Mack Brown expressed disappointment in Monroe’s actions and suspended him from the team indefinitely.

Brown said he would review the situation after his DWI has been resolved.

Monroe, 20, is a red-shirt freshman kick returner and occasional running back who has made an impact this season for the 10-0 Texas Longhorns. He has returned two kick-offs for touchdowns, setting a UT record.

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As a DWI criminal defense attorney in Austin, I have watched the debate over sobriety checkpoints with extra interest. In recent years the state legislature has considered allowing sobriety checkpoints in Texas, with one such measure failing to come out of committee just this past Spring. The legality of checkpoints is questionable and their implementation in Texas could violate existing state laws. One of the more vocal arguments against checkpoints, however, is their effectiveness in relation to cost, a point well made in the following article.

The American Beverage Institute recently released statistics showing that of the one million motorists stopped at sobriety checkpoints in California during 2008, the percentage of people arrested for suspicion of drunk driving was minor:

For example, in 2008, over a million vehicles went through 1,469 California checkpoints. Police arrested just one-third of 1 percent of those motorists for drunk driving.

A similar analysis in Arizona found that over a two year span, sobriety checkpoints caught less than one percent of 46,000 drivers stopped. On top of that incredibly low arrest rate, the program cost taxpayers over $140,000. 

That low percentage points out the relative ineffectiveness of checkpoints. The number of defendants is even lower when factoring in those who were found to not be legally defined as under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and had their cases reduced or dismissed.

The effort to fight drunk driving is not the issue, and drunk driving is never condoned. Rather it is the methods employed in an effort to achieve road safety that are questioned.

Checkpoints are costly due to the manpower required to staff them and the overtime pay associated. In addition, conducting a single location drunk driving crackdown that by law must be advertised is generally ineffective.

Sobriety checkpoints became legal following a 1990 ruling by the US Supreme Court. Then Chief Justice William Rehnquist agreed that such checkpoints violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments protecting citizens from unreasonable searches and guaranteeing due process of law. Despite that position, in what has now been considered an example of judicial activism, he still granted broader government power by saying that a state’s interests in reducing drunk driving, however ineffective, outweigh basic constitutional rights.

Alternatives to checkpoints include saturation patrols in areas known for high incidents of driving while intoxicated and roving patrols with officers specially trained to observe behavior indicative of intoxication. Not only do such activities uphold constitutional rights, they are based on probable cause when initiating a traffic stop.

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As a DWI lawyer in Austin, I think it is right to aggressively pursue these charges. Not diminishing the need for personal responsibility on the part of the patron, those serving alcohol should be sufficiently trained to identify those who are intoxicated and to properly ID potential underage customers.

The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission has reportedly gathered enough evidence to file criminal charges against a Buffalo Wild Wings waiter in connection with a customer’s death. The unidentified waiter is accused of over-serving Phillip Lara and failing to stop underage drinking.

Receipts show that Lara, 19, had been served five, perhaps six, 23-ounce beers, without being asked to present identification. That is the equivalent of nearly a 12-pack of beer. Lara weighed only 140 pounds and would have been over the legal limit for drunk driving in Texas after just two or three beers.

Lara left the restaurant and shortly thereafter lost control of his vehicle, struck a tree and the car burst into flames. His mother accepts that her son contributed to his own death, though she and the TABC feel there is also liability on the part of the waiter. The waiter could be sentenced to up to one year in jail if convicted of selling beer to a minor.

Besides filing criminal charges against the waiter, the TABC has cited the restaurant and is considering suspension of its liquor license.

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Police officers take an oath to uphold and enforce the law. It is unfortunate when individuals act in ways that tarnish the image of the law enforcement industry as a whole. These officers in Florida perjured themselves and should be held accountable.

Last February, a police officer ran into another vehicle with his squad car at a stoplight in Florida around midnight. When his fellow cops got to the scene, they thought the woman whom the cop ran into was driving drunk, so the they decided to frame her for the accident. Unbeknownst to the cops at the scene, the dashboard camera recorded the incident. From YouTube:

Joel Francisco, the officer involved in the original collision, together with Sgt. Dewey Pressley, made up a story of how Alexandra Torrensvilas was driving with a cat on her lap and that the cat jumped out the window, causing Torrensvilas to swerve and stop unexpectedly. Torrensvilas was charged with drunk driving and for an improper lane change. While getting their stories straight, Pressley is heard saying,

We’ll do a little Walt Disney to protect the cop because it wouldn’t have mattered because she is drunk anyway.

He also said he didn’t want to make things up, but he was willing to:

Bend it a little bit to protect a cop.

The scene photographer was told to take shots from certain angles to make it look like Torrensvilas swerved in front of the cop. The officers acknowledged they knew what they are doing was illegal, but were unaware they were being recorded.

As a result of the audio from the dash-cam, four veteran police officers and a crime scene tech have been placed on administrative duty with pay until an internal affairs investigation is completed and the States Attorney’s office can review the findings. County officials have asked state investigators and the FBI to become involved.

The drunk driving case against Torrensvilas has since been dropped. Other cases the officers have been involved with may also be jeopardized, as they are now on record falsifying testimony.

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An arrest for DWI in Texas with a passenger under the age of 15 is a state felony. The penalties are the same as a third conviction for Texas DWI and can include jail time and up to $10,000 in fines. Following a horrific auto accident in New York that left 8 dead, including four small children, that state is looking to strengthen their laws and make them more in line with the child endangerment penalties of Texas.

Gov. David Patterson of NY has called for new laws increasing the penalties for driving while intoxicated with children in the vehicle. Patterson proposed the legislation following the recent accident involving Diane Schuler who allegedly was intoxicated while driving the wrong-way on major hghway. She ended up striking another vehicle, killing a total of eight people, including her daughter and three nieces.

Under current New York DWI law, motorists caught for drunk driving with a child in the vehicle are charged with a misdemeanor. Patterson wants to make the offense a felony subject to up to four years in jail.

According to Patterson’s office, in 2007 there were 9,480 alcohol related accidents in New York, resulting in nearly 200 deaths or injuries to those under the age of 14. Thirty-five other states have child endangerment laws with increased penalties for DWI violators.

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According to KFOX 14, an El Paso deputy constable was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Texas last Tuesday. Daniel Cortez, with Precinct 6, allegedly caused an accident around 10:30 am while driving his personal vehicle:

Deputy Constable Daniel Cortez was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated with an open container.

Deputy Daniel Cortez was arrested yesterday for allegedly driving while intoxicated. He was involved in a minor accident and taken into custody by El Paso Police Department.

The occupants of the truck that was hit said the officer was swerving and nearly struck a road sign moments before the crash. After approaching Cortez' SUV they observed a bottle of vodka and a glass inside. When Cortez put his vehicle into reverse in an effort to leave the scene, one of the victims was able to secure the keys. Cortez told responding officers from the El Paso Police Department that his brother had been driving, though he was the only one in the vehicle.

Investigating officers booked Cortez on charges of DWI in Texas with open container at the El Paso County Jail. He has been suspended from the force for three days and could lose his job as a result of the drunk driving arrest.

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