Texas v. T.P.

After a long year and a half battle, the State dismissed a very difficult case. The client was the husband of a criminal defense lawyer. However, at the time of arrest, he was not married and dating another woman. On a raining evening, his car slid off the freeway at a curve, went across the grass median and struck an oncoming vehicle. The client was thrown from the vehicle and his girl friend passed away in the accident. This was only 3 days after he got out of jail for a prior Intox Manslaughter conviction. He was life flighted to Corpus Christi and they withdrew his blood without a warrant. No alcohol was preset; however, Xanax was. The state charged him with Intox Manslaughter, Intox Assault, and a few other cases. I was hired solely to handle the blood evidence. I successfully had the blood suppressed in a McNeely hearing due to a warrantless blood draw with no exigent circumstances. The forensic blood was suppressed but the hospital blood test still showed presence of Xanex. The DA was highly reasonable and the offer went down from 15 years on the Intox Man, to 2 years on the Intox Assault with no deadly weapon finding. The Intox Manslaughter 2nd was dismissed. We were prepared to fight the case to the bitter end based on illegally obtained evidence and the scientific unreliability of hospital blood testing. However, the DA in Wharton is a class act. It was a true pleasure working on this case against him. He was highly profession, courteous, and ultimately very reasonable. I have the utmost respect for him. Client was very happy with the result and I believe it was fair for such a tragic accident.