Texas v. M.J.

Client was pulled over for taking the illegal left on Shephard and Westheimer. Guess who was watching the intersection at night, yes, DWI Task Force. He pulled in safely and timely into Kenneallys. He was approached by the sergeant and another high ranking member of the Task Force. He looked amazing, borderline perfect on the Walk and Turn and the One Leg Stand. The blood test at the time of driving was three times the legal limit. Again, that’s impossible with how well he looked. He was a young man, not a seasoned alcoholic. The blood had huge issues again with the laboratory and the potential for switching vials. I have to thank some of the jurors for listening and trusting their common sense rather than some ridiculous number out of a crime lab with problems. Unfortunately the client was so exhausted from trial and wanted to move on with his life and move to Colorado, so he took a very generous offer from the DAs. Please note that I do not charge clients to retry the case. And the DA made him an offer to entice him not to go to trial again. I would like to think we would’ve had the NG on retrial, but you never know what kind of jury is going to come in. All I want is a jury to follow the law and hold the State to their burden. With such an obvious disconnect between the ridiculous number and what we know and trust with our own eyes and ears, I think the Not Guilty jurors were absolutely correct. The State just couldn’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt with the evidence they had.