Harris County DWI Laws

Texas DPS Amnesty Program Ends, Indigency Program is Born

February 24, 2012

Unfortunately, DPS has ended their Amnesty Program with no plan on offering another amnesty period in the future BUT you may still have a chance to catch a break on surcharge fees. The Texas Legislature recently authorized an Indigency program that will provide drivers with a chance to pay surcharge fees owed and maintain driving [...]

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Harris County District Attorney’s Office DIVERT Program and Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 2, Judge Harmon

November 3, 2011

David Mitcham may have successfully figured out how to professionally and respectfully handle the DIVERT issue in Court 2, the issue being that Judge Harmon has (probably correctly) used his informal veto power and said he will not allow an otherwise qualified DWI defendant to enter into the DA’s makeshift deferred adjudication program for first [...]

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HPD Officers Coverup Fellow Officer’s Drunk Driving Accident – Get Rewarded

October 10, 2011

Local news station ABC 13 Eyewitness news ran a featured news story regarding the case in April where HPD officer Sgt. Ruben Trejo vehicle hit a school bus while drunk. Seven officers on the scene proceeded to attempt to coverup the fact that alcohol was involved with the accident, when in fact, officer Trejo’s blood [...]

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Harris County DA’s office wants guilty pleas despite problems with Bat Vans

August 18, 2011

Today, the Harris County DA’s office decided that instead of doing the right thing and dismissing all cases involving a breath test taken in the controversial Bat Vans, they drafted the attached one page “waiver” of all rights to fight a Bat Van case if the defendant still would like to go ahead and plead [...]

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Texas DPS Surcharge Indigency Program

August 8, 2011

DPS now offers an indigency program to help individuals living at or below 125% of the federal poverty level pay surcharge fees so they are able to drive legally. This program does not waive surcharge fees but may reduce the amount you owe. Each individual must apply by completing an application with a notarized signature [...]

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HPD Crime Lab under more heat

July 29, 2011

The Houston Chronicle wrote another article posted in today’s newspaper regarding the current and past issues the HPD crime lab has faced with regards to faulty equipment that is used in the prosecution of Harris County DWI Cases. Read the full article at: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7674665.html

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ABC 13 Reports on Amanda Culbertson and BAT Van Controversy

July 28, 2011

Local Houston TV station ABC 13 also reported this evening on the questioning of accuracy of the HPD BAT Vans. For the past several days, Houston DWI attorneys and prosecutors have been in court debating the possibility of faulty results and questionable convictions from those results. Read the article at http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8276767 or view the segment [...]

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HPD Crime Lab Workers Quit over BAT Vans

July 28, 2011

The Houston Chronical is reporting today that HPD crime lab supervisor, Amanda Culbertson and two other scientists quit because they couldn’t trust the integrity of results from several of the mobile breath testing vans in Houston and Harris County, aka BAT Vans. Amanda Culbertson stated that she supported the idea of a mobile testing site, [...]

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Harris County DA changes DIVERT contract to not agree to full expunction

July 12, 2011

On Monday July, 11th, 2011, the DA’s office changed its DIVERT policy to no longer agree to a full expunction of all information relating to the DWI arrest. Here is the exact language found in the contract a person will be required to sign: “The defendant further acknowledges and agrees that in the event that [...]

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DPS Amnesty Program Comes to an End

July 6, 2011

The DPS Amnesty Program has come to an end. The last day to file for the program was April 7, 2011 and all surcharge fees had to be paid by April 17, 2011. At this time, DPS has no plan to extend the program or offer amnesty at a later date. As of March 30, [...]

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