Austin Texas Drunk Driving Defense, Ken Gibson, Attorney at Law

Travis County Sheriff Deputies will be out in full force looking for folks taht are drinking and driving during the holiday season.

Experts say there are more alcohol-related traffic deaths during December and January than any other time of the year. That’s why the Sheriff’s Office says they are kicking off the Travis County DWI campaign.

The message is this: “There is no tolerance. If you drink, you will go to jail,” according to Deputy Juan Arispe.

What amazes me about statements like that from Deputy Arispe, is that drinking and driving is NOT AGAINST THE LAW, just so you don’t drink to the level of intoxication. (if you are at least 21 years of age) Read the rest of this entry »

Seventeen counties in Texas have the highest alcohol-related accidents, and Travis County is on the list, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Be yee warned, DPS started an initiative Friday that will increase the number of troopers on the highway and aims to decrease the number of accidents and fatalities. (AKA, make more DWI arrests)

At the same time, Austin police is continuing it’s campaign to target drunken drivers during the holidays. Read the rest of this entry »

KXAN reported that an Austin police officer is under investigation for allegedly lying about a case that led to the criminal conviction of an Austin man.

Ernest Smith was convicted in September on drug charges, but the district attorney’s office learned something was wrong, and it had to do with one Austin cop.

It’s unclear exactly what this officer may have lied about, but it was big enough for the district attorney to do something it rarely does. Read the rest of this entry »

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), is expected to launch a new campaign—in conjunction with a number of other groups—under which it will propose that alcohol-detection technology be used by drivers to disable their automobiles if they are found to be over the legal blood alcohol limit, The New York Times reports. Read the rest of this entry »

An increasing number of Texans are being caught driving with invalid or suspended driver’s licenses. So many, in fact, that they are clogging the state’s misdemeanor court system, officials say. Some say it’s the result of a three-year-old state law.

Prosecutors from Travis, Hays and Williamson counties say they have seen the number of such cases, which were already rising because of population growth, take a steep jump in the past couple of years. In Williamson County, where the number of cases has grown to more than one-third of all misdemeanors, court officials created a docket specifically for them this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Each month Travis County court-at-law judges handle thousands of criminal cases. Judges say their average monthly caseload has increased 60 percent since 2002

“So the decision has been made to ask for one new court,” Court-at-Law #3 Judge David Crain said.

The five judges made their requested during a work session with county commissioners last month. Each county court currently has an average of 3,200 cases pending. Read the rest of this entry »

KXAN NBC Austin obtained a list from Austin police identifying the top five bars drunk drivers say they were last served. It’s information meant to help curb DWI’s, but is it working?

Officers are asking suspected drunk drivers this question — “Where have you been drinking tonight?”

Several bars keep popping up as answers. Some more than others.

It’s a top five list no bar wants to be on. So far this year, more and more drunk drivers say they were partying at: Read the rest of this entry »

Souped-up Dodge Chargers cruise streets, aiming to curb road rage before it causes wreck.

Deputy Sheriff Darrell Gibson gets the sort of attention you’d expect a movie star to receive: People take his picture with camera phones, they videotape him when he stops, and as he drives by, he gets honks and thumbs-up signs.

“I am still getting used to all the attention,” Gibson said, his hands wrapped tightly around the wheel of a brand-new 2006 Dodge Charger, one of the two “stealth cars” the Travis County sheriff’s department began using three weeks ago to combat road rage and other common traffic hazards. Read the rest of this entry »

If you thought swigging beer or indulging in a glass of chardonnay was putting your career on a fast-track to nowhere, think again.

In fact, a study conducted by two economists and published Thursday by the Reason Foundation and in the latest edition of The Journal of Labor Research, says that drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than those who refrain from drinking. Read the rest of this entry »

This Labor Day weekend, millions of Texas motorists will be enjoying their last summer road trip.

Thanks to state and local law enforcement, they’ll be in good company.

State troopers and local law enforcement officers throughout Texas are stepping up enforcement of the state’s DWI laws as part of a national effort to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement organizations to get drunk drivers off the road. Read the rest of this entry »