DWI Newsletter

The next DWI Court Team Training will be held May 16-20, 2010 at the Westin Austin at the Domain in Austin, Texas.

The next DWI College will be held July 19-23, 2010 at the Westin Austin at the Domain in Austin, Texas.

Did you know that the DWI Grant Project recently won the Jacqueline Saburido Award?

More info available on the DWI website!

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Legislative Update
The Legislature passed very few bills this session which had a direct, significant impact on impaired driving cases. Those of significance are as follows:

Mandatory Blood Draws and Blood Search Warrants
Senate Bill 328 is one of the few bills passed this session which makes significant changes to certain aspects of impaired driving and boating while intoxicated cases. It amends the Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 18.01 to provide that any magistrate who is an attorney in authorized to issue a search warrant for the blood of a person arrested for an offense under Section 49.04-49.08 who refuses to submit to a blood or breath test. Under prior law, such a search warrant had to be obtained, as any other evidentiary search warrant, from a judge who presides over a court of record.
It further amends certain sections of the Transportation Code to clarify that drivers’ license suspensions apply to boating while intoxicated cases in the same way that they apply to driving while intoxicated cases.

Read more here.

Plea in Absentia
House Bill 107 should facilitate the disposition of a defendant’s ancillary out of county criminal charges. With the exception of certain 3g offenses, it allows for a defendant confined in a penal institution to dispose of cases pending in other counties without the necessity of having to be bench warranted back to the county of original jurisdiction. The procedural safeguards and written disclosures necessary enter a plea in such cases are set forth in the statute. To read the final version of the bill, click here: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/HB00107F.pdf

Operating a Motor Vehicle or Watercraft While Intoxicated
Senate Bill 328 amends the Alcoholic Beverage Code, Chapter 106 and Transportation Code, Chapter 524 to include the operation of a water craft while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol to the driver's license suspension statutes relating to driving under the influence by minor. It also amends the Transportation Code to add to the circumstances under which a peace officer would be authorized to take a specimen of a person's breath or blood. The bill also increases the reinstatement fee for a license suspended under sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code from $50 to $100. To read the final version of the bill, click here: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/pdf/SB00328F.pdf

MADD National Files Judicial Conduct Complaint Against Texas Judge
The national office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving has filed a judicial conduct complaint with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct based on the alleged failure of one of our judges to install a breath interlock device when required to do so by statute. The case in question involved a DWI with a breath test in excess of .15 in which the defendant was granted probation and not required by the trial judge to install a breath interlock device on his vehicle, nor was there a waiver of the requirement in the record. It is further undisputed that, when the plea was heard, neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney notified the judge that the defendant's breath test exceeded 0.15. Nevertheless, it is MADD's position that is the judge’s responsibility to comply with the statute and make requisite inquiries to determine if any of the mandatory statutory provisions apply. The complaint is now pending review before the Conduct Commission. For further details, see the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay in the System?
There is an oft repeated misunderstanding in the judicial/supervision community that when marijuana is consumed, it remains in the system at testable levels for up to 30 days. Unfortunately, these statements are propagated as a result of early unreliable research, conducted 20-30 years ago, which indicated that occasional individual subjects might be able to retain trace amounts of THC for up to 28 days after consumption.