Collin County DWI Lawyer & Attorney : Hunter Biederman : Texas DWI Defense : Serving Collin County, Denton County, Dallas County

In yet another showing of solidarity, a recent Dallas Civil Court Judge refused to take a breath test after being arrested for suspicion of DWI.  His answer to the officer was "not until I get some water and insulin".  Do you think the officer obliged, or just charged him with DWI?

This is just one of a long line of people who know the system, and refuse to take a breath test on the State's often faulty machine.  You can read about other Judges refusing breath tests HERE.  Along with judges, the police refuse breath tests as well.  Along those lines, Mark Bennett has been blogging about what the Police know that you don't know (not even talking to the police during their investigations).

Dallas civil court judge arrested on suspicion of DWI

08:14 PM CST on Wednesday, November 14, 2007

From Staff Reports

A Dallas civil court judge was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Judge Bruce Priddy, who was elected in last year's Democratic sweep, had just left a north Oak Cliff bar around 2:45 a.m. when Dallas police saw him stopped at a green light at Colorado and Zang boulevards, according to a police report.

When the light turned red, he drove through it, turned too sharply and brushed against the curb, police said. The officers noted that the judge had bloodshot eyes, smelled of alcohol and slurred his speech. He refused a breath test, saying "not until I get water and insulin." According to the report, Judge Priddy said he has a motor-coordination problem and is diabetic.

Police arrested him after he continued to refuse a test. Judge Priddy declined to comment, but his attorney, Barry Sorrels, said, "I would just hope that everybody would extend to him the same presumption of innocence that applies to any citizen at this point."

Judge Priddy has been under fire after being sued twice by the Texas attorney general's office for failing to file campaign finance reports on time.

Michael Grabell

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In an interesting development in Plano DWI news, it appears that four officers are now on trial for THEIR misconduct...

Four Plano officers face federal lawsuit
By Stephanie Flemmons, Staff Writer

A Driving While Intoxicated arrest has led to the unveiling of what Tray Boswell believes was a “set-up” by four Plano police officers and his ex-wife.

A federal lawsuit was filed against Plano officers Ron Kress, Michael Nunns, Scott Copeland and Jon Britton.

Boswell’s attorney Don Tittle said the lawsuit is in the initial stages and a dollar amount has not been determined.

On Oct. 18, 2006, Boswell was arrested and charged with a DWI by Kress and other police officers.

According to court documents, probable cause did not exist for the detention or arrest of Boswell, nor was he intoxicated at the time.

Boswell claims the four officers and his ex-wife, Sarah Boswell, planned the conspiracy to charge him with a crime, he said he did not commit. “There is a lot of police misconduct,” Tittle said. “It is beyond outrageous. The Plano Police Department didn’t even bother to conduct an internal investigation.”

During Boswell’s DWI trial, his criminal attorney Phillip Linder, requested the cell phone records from Sarah Boswell. The records indicated that numerous phone calls were made between Sarah Boswell and the police officers over a number of weeks. The calls were initiated by both parties.

Kress, Copeland and Britton claimed they had never met Sarah Boswell despite records showing the calls between the officers’ personal cell phones, both before, during and immediately after Boswell’s arrest.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on,” Tittle said. “The charge was tried and the district attorney dismissed the case, due to evidence supporting the conspiracy.”

He said Boswell is a musician and his ex-wife knew his routine.

Court records state, at the time Boswell was going through a divorce. There were child custody issues in controversy during the divorce proceeding. Boswel claims his ex-wife used her connection with Nunns to encourage an arrest in an effort to gain leverage against him in their ongoing divorce.

Plano City Attorney Dianne Wetherbee said the officers conducted themselves in an appropriate manner involving the incident.

“We will vigorously defend them,” Wetherbee said.

A few months before Boswell’s DWI arrest, he claims he was illegally detained and then released 30 minutes later.

Court records state Copeland detained Boswell without probable cause and issued two traffic citations. Phone records state on that day, at least four phone calls were made from Sarah Boswell to Copeland, despite their claim of never meeting before.

Boswell has requested a trial by jury, which will take place at the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas.

The Plano Police Department denied comment. Sarah Boswell could not be reached

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Congratulations to Birmingham, AL DUI lawyer and fellow blogger Steven Eversole on  his recent induction into the membership of the NCDD.  NCDD is the National College of DUI / DWI Defense.  NCDD is the premier organization among DWI and DUI defenders across the nation.

Other recently inducted members in Texas include:

• Jamie Gonzalez of Edinberg, TX
  
• Pilar Espinoza of Edinberg, TX
• Edward Chernoff of Houston, TX (and fellow blogger -- Thanks Mark!)
  

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     What happens if you have had your license suspended because of a Breath Test failure or Breath Test refusal, and during the suspension, you are acquitted of DWI on the criminal charge?

     524.015 of the Transportation Code is controlling in this case.  The code reads:

EFFECT OF DISPOSITION OF CRIMINAL CHARGE ON
DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection
(b), the disposition of a criminal charge does not affect a driver's
license suspension under this chapter and does not bar any matter in
issue in a driver's license suspension proceeding under this
chapter.
(b) A suspension may not be imposed under this chapter on a
person who is acquitted of a criminal charge under Section 49.04,
49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, or Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage
Code, arising from the occurrence that was the basis for the
suspension. If a suspension was imposed before the acquittal, the
department shall rescind the suspension and shall remove any
reference to the suspension from the person's computerized driving
record.

     When my clients are found Not Guilty by either a jury or a judge, I always send a letter to DPS with a certified copy of the judgment, and reference this statute.

      In order to find out if your license suspension has been rescinded, you can call DPS at 512-424-7120.

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