In 1992 I was certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the area of criminal law in Texas. In 1993 I was certified as a criminal law specialist in the area of criminal trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Later I became a founding member of the National College for DUI Defense. While my practice has been primarily criminal law in Central and South Texas and throughout the Southern United States, I have concentrated on DWI and intoxication cases during the last decade.

During these past ten years I have done ground-breaking work in the area of DWI defense involving breath and blood testing. My cases, such as Hartman v. State, 946 S.W.2d 60 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997); Mireles v. Tex. Dept. of Public Safety, 9 S.W.3d 128 (Tex. 1999); Mata v. State, 46 S.W.3d 902 (Tex.Crim.App. 2001) and Bagheri v. State, 87 S.W.3d 657 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 2002, pet. granted November 6, 2002), have opened new avenues of defense in breath and blood test cases which previously were unavailable to the bar. In July, 2001 Lawyers Weekly USA reported that, as a result of my work in Mata v. State : "Drunk driving defense lawyers have more ammunition to get breath tests suppressed."

I have had a book published on this topic entitled "Post-Mata DWI Practice" by Texas Courtroom Publicatons, and I continue to write papers and speak at seminars on this and other topics involving DWI defense.

I represent clients in every level of the United States and Texas State court systems.

HONORS AND DISTINCTIONS:

FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL COLLEGE FOR DUI DEFENSE

TWO BOARD CERTIFICATIONS IN CRIMINAL LAW

CRIMINAL TRIAL ADVOCACY - BOARD CERTIFIED BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCACY

CRIMIMAL LAW – BOARD CERTIFIED BY THE TEXAS BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION

FOUNDING PRESIDENT OF SACDLA

AUTHOR AND FREQUENT LECTURER AND WRITER FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION COURSES FOR THE STATE BAR OF TEXAS, THE TEXAS CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS ASSOCIATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

CRIMINAL LAWYER BUT BEEN PRACTICING IN DWI CASES FOR THE PAST 14 YEARS. NOW THE PRACTICE IS PRIMARILY DEVOTED TO DWI

RECOGNIZED BY THE LAWYERS OF THE STATE OF TEXAS AS A “SUPER DWI LAWYER”

ACTIVELY PRACTICING IN ALL LEVEL OF COURTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS – TRYING JURY TRIALS WEEKLY.

CASE PREPARATION AND EVALUATION

In each case where the individual comes to this office within 15 days from the date of arrest the following defense tactics will be applied:

*Request a license suspension hearing

Set the matter for an immediate hearing

Obtain all discovery documents of the arrest including the officer’s narrative report, the jail interview, legal documents read to or given to the client, the breath test slip and any certification of the State’s breath test expert concerning the operating condition of the machine used for testing.

Subpoena the police officer and have him personally served with a subpoena to appear at the hearing as soon as possible.

Aggressively conduct the defense at the license hearing and take the sworn testimony of the police officer concerning his report and his memory of events at the time of the arrest.

Obtain a copy of the transcript of the hearing when necessary and conduct any appeal from the hearing concerning the license

*Protect your driving privilege

Once the hearing has been requested the State may not suspend your license unless the judge rules against you at the hearing.

We aggressively contest these hearings. However, if we lose the hearing we will obtain an occupational drivers license immediately. This allows you to drive 12 hours per day, six days per week. Second and third offenders have a statutory waiting period before an occupational license may be obtained.

If your license is suspended it is not a permanent stain on your record. If we win your case, the suspension may still be erased under most circumstances.

*Aggressively prepare a defense for the DWI trial

Based upon the client interview, obtain the testimony of each witness and subpoena those who will not appear voluntarily.

Obtain a copy of the State’s video tape of the stop, arrest and field sobriety tests.

File pretrial motions in order to obtain a dismissal of the case based upon lack of probable cause, violation of Miranda vs. Arizona, Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial or any other legal right which has been violated.

File pretrial motions in order to obtain a fair and impartial trial before fair and impartial jurors.

Conduct a jury trial in an aggressive and expert manner with care to preserve the client’s constitutional rights to a fair trial and to the effective assistance of counsel.

Prepare the client for his testimony should that testimony be advisable or necessary in the case

The trial tactics are specific to the individual, but some include demonstrating to the jury the false statements or inconsistent statements and actions of the police officer or other State witnesses the lack of qualifications of the expert or the lack of opportunity of the witnesses to observe the actual events the lack of proof of the breath alcohol concentration at the time of driving rather than merely the time of testing (the individual is on trial for driving while intoxicated, not testing while intoxicated)

ERASE YOUR CRIMINAL RECORD

If you win your case before the jury, the fee includes an expunction proceeding which will erase your record of arrest and any record of license suspension, and you may be able to say the you have never been arrest or convicted, and you can deny the existence of the expunction order.

Under certain circumstances, even when the case is dismissed based upon pretrial motions, the arrest record can be expunged.