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Today presenting on how to cross examine the Blood Drawer (Nurse, qualified technician, etc) was attorney Kelly Case.

A really great job.  So good, I don’t really want to give up the strategy or specific questions on my blog.  If any attorneys are interested in my notes or thoughts, I’ll send them along.  Just shoot me an email and I’ll send it along.

In general, with the Blood Drawer, you can question if intereferrants are present, if there are problems with the blood draw, about the blood draw kit, about the place it was taken, and about the qualifications of the blood drawer.  Really good stuff.

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Today’s lecture on Cross of the Chain of Custody Witness was presented by Houston DWI Lawyer Tyler Flood.

A very good showing.  It was in the Q & A style of a cross examination, so a bit hard to put into a blog the exact questions.  But here are some of the points brought up, that should be explored with the witness:

  • Get the SOP of the police department.  You can find (sometimes) their procedures of how things should be done.  Tyler did this with Houston PD.  It seems like he then tailored his questions to the witness to explore if they were done.  I presume after his cross, he would cross an officer on the correct procedures to bust up the chain of custody
  • Tyler went through exactly step by step where the sample was, who it was handed to and where it was stored
  • Was it refrigerated?  If it was, what about when you pull it out to put it in a cooler?  How long out?  What about when you brought it to the police station?
  • What about other sample’s proximity to your client’s sample?  Do they stuff everyone’s in an envelope, cooler, or lockbox?  Who else’s samples were in there? 
  • Examine all the numbers on who is signing in and out items?  What if they were mailed?  See if a bunch of them were all sent in the same envelope?
  • Is special handling checked off??
  • What about biological hazard stickers?
  • (From the last lecture, does this mean the sample is being inverted more than it should have been?)

Great job overall on this part of the lecture.

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Well, it seems there are some new rules in store for us as well, however, this time, they are coming from the legislature in the form of Transportation Code changes.  Before, it was SOAH’s rules changes and subpoena form changes.

In the past I wrote about recent rule changes in the ALR, or License Revocation process.  They included mostly changes on how to subpoena the witnesses (officer).  That post has been one of my most popular posts.  I have gotten a lot of feedback about those changes.

The major change that I have been able to find affecting ALRs, is from Section 524.039. It has to do with allowing what I feel is a fundamental right when the government is taking away a liberty or privilege– Confronting your accuser.

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It seems as if the Federal Government is now getting into the mix of deciding what the individual states should and should not be allowed to do to punish first time DWI / DUI offenders.

Today, an article in the USA today explained that the Federal Government has a pending bill that would tie in government funding for roads to the conditions of probation on a  DWI first.  According to the article, if States do not make Ignition Interlock devices a requirement as a condition of probation for DWI 1st. 

device

I’ve always heard that this is how the Government got Louisiana to up their drinking age to 21 . . by tying road funding to it.  But I don’t know if that is true. 

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There is a lot of whispering, some shouting, and other ambient noise about changes in judges in Collin County.  I decided to write a bit about it.  Please keep in mind that none of my information is either verified or has any real sources to it.  None of the attorneys, judges, potential candidates or anyone else has told me anything personally that could be cited as a fact.  I haven’t talked to most of these attorneys about it either.  Lets just call this post part of the rumor express.  If you are mentioned in here and want to comment publicly or privately, have at it.

If you are one of the people running, talking about running, or being talked about as running, you may not want to read further.   I like pretty much everyone running, so I’m going to (at least for now) keep my most of my thoughts to myself on who I think should be a judge.

So here goes. . .

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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 in your case.  Start getting the police reports, videos, any pictures the State may have.  It is also our first opportunity to talk to the prosecutors about the case, and get a feel from them of how hard they are pushing on the case.  We also (assuming we have not yet), enter our name as attorney of record.  This informs the court and the State that they may not talk to you without us being present.

In most cases, you will simply check in with the bailiff proving you haven’t fled the country, and are taking care of your case.  We have most of our clients in and out within an hour.  Your case will then be reset for about a month. 

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A big thank you to Lawrence Taylor, who told us recently about DWI/DUI roadblocks in my former stomping grounds of Gainesville, Florida, home of the Florida Gators (and Tim Tebow).  In fact, I interned at at the State Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office in Gainesville. 

Many states have been pushing for roadblocks.  An excuse to stop drivers suspected of no wrong doing, simply to check them out and see if they have been drinking.  This has been pushed by MADD and other lobbyists on their behalf.

Well, it seems that FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) gave it a shot, and stopped over 1100 citizens.  They were proud to report making over 100 arrests. . . . BUT . . .

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In a DWI case, it is the officer’s opinion that the accused is guilty being the main source of evidence in the case.  Juries are then asked by the State’s attorneys to trust the officer, that his/her judgement was correct.

A friend sent me this picture yesterday which demonstrates how officers always use good discretion.  This is parked in front of the Collin County Courthouse.

 

handicap1 handicap2

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I dont usually post video clips.  Especially because every time I see one posted, I’ve seen it 50 times already.  But here is an old one, that I have just never seen before.  From the 1983 Steve Martin movie, "The Man With Two Brains."  Enjoy.


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