Texas v. J.S.

Client was pulled over for going the wrong way on Franklin right in front of the court house. Two Houston Metro police officers pulled him over and threw him in handcuffs in 2 minutes. These officers were terrible witnesses and embellished their stories, i.e. they could smell alcohol on the client from 3 feet away standing over Buffalo Bayou and stated it was “quite pungent.” I bet it was. The called HPD DWI Task Force to examine the client. After sitting in handcuffs for 24 minutes, the client refused all tests and did not want to discuss his evening. Understandably. The client was very coherent, but argumentative. Of course DWI Task Force arrested him for alleged strong odor of alcoholic beverage and red blood shot eyes. The client was the son of a lawyer and did exactly what his mother told him to do. There was a blood test taken in this case, but since the DWI Task Force officer didn’t go get a warrant, he unreasonably and unconstitutionally drew client’s breath. The blood was suppressed before trial. The jury returned the just verdict of Not Guilty. The jury recognized that it is not, and should not, be illegal for a citizen to assert their constitutional rights. We as citizens don’t have to prove our innocence or prove we are not intoxicated. The client did exactly what I recommend to my friend and family: refuse the tests because they are easy to fail and refuse any chemical test because Houston’s forensic science is not accurate nor reliable. The client trusted the jury and not HPD DWI Task Force. And the DA could not reward his noncompliance so they had to try it. But, it’s not illegal to be noncompliant either. Thank you to the jury for seeing justice was followed.