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

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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The Dunham Law Firm has represented many members of the military so there was increased interest in this article about a soldier whose career has apparently ended due to a criminal conviction for drunk driving in Texas.

Edison Bayas, a soldier at Fort Bliss, was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $10,000 for driving while intoxicated (DWI). KFOX 14 has the story:

Police said [victim Valerie] Talamantes was westbound on Montana waiting at a red light at Hawkins. Another car was right next to hers when police said 35-year-old Edison Bayas, a staff sergeant with the 4-1 CAV, came barreling through and collided into the back of both vehicles. Talamantes' car took most of the impact. She was transported to Thomason Hospital where she later died. Police said speed and alcohol were factors in this collision.

The accident happened at around 2:30 a.m. Downs said they had just finished watching a movie at his place and she was driving home. He said she was only a few blocks away from her house when the crash happened.

The penalties were so severe because Bayas killed Talamantes, a teenager, during a drunk driving accident.

The United States Army administratively dismissed the soldier after he was sentenced for DWI in Texas. His military case now heads to a dismissal board, and a military spokesperson indicated that the result will likely be a ‘less than honorable’ discharge. Bayas had served two tours of duty in Iraq.

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