I often get asked, "what will happen on our first court setting / appearance" on a Collin County DWI? The answer is, "not much." The first court appearance is part of what we term the information processing period. It is simply a first chance for us to begin gathering the discovery…
Arrest of the Citizen Accused Your arrest was the first formal step in the criminal DWI process. Your arrest supposedly happened after the officer felt that he had enough probable cause to arrest you.
Bail If you are reading this, you have probably already posted a bond (bail) to get out of jail. You may have either posted a Cash Bond (where you put up the entire amount), or a bail bond through a bondsman. In the case of a cash bond, at the…
Filing of the DWI Criminal Case Once the police believe that their investigation is complete, they will send their arrest report, and evidence in the case to the District Attorney of the county in which they made the arrest. This usually consists of their arrest report, video of the roadside…
Announcements, Plea Settings, and Pre-Trial Dates Depending on the court, there will be 3, 4, or more announcements, plea settings, or pre-trial dates. In general, these are all the same thing, despite the different names. No matter what they are called, these announcements are simply court settings, where I will…
Video Review Session This is not an "official" part of the DWI court process, but an extremely important step nonetheless. With all of my DWI cases, I will hold a video review session. During your video review session, we will look at the police report from you case, and review…
Pre-Trial Hearings If we set your case for trial, we will usually have to attend a pre-trial hearing. This is a chance for me to file any pre-trial motions on your behalf, and help the judge to determine how long your trial is going to take. The judge holds these…
Trial If you have decided to plea "not guilty," you will have a trial for the finder of fact to determine whether or not you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The finder of fact with either be a jury or a judge. In general, almost all of my trials…
Punishment Phase If you are found guilty by a judge or a jury, the case will proceed on to a punishment phase. During this phase, the state may bring up any prior bad acts or history. Before the trial begins, we must decide if it will be the judge or…
Expunction / Clearing Your Record If you are found not guilty by a judge or a jury, the case will be over. However, there is still a record of your trial, arrest, and charge. You will eligible for an expunction of your record, however this does not happen automatically. If…