A 48-year-old Houston man was charged with driving under the influence, disorderly conduct, and public intoxication.

Motorists noticed the man driving recklessly and running stop signs before wrecking his vehicle on Sunday afternoon. Many of the motorists called 911 to report the erratic driver.

According to North Strabane police who arrived to the scene, the man was noticeably intoxicated, and was acting aggressive toward the officers. The man was also being very uncooperative and shouting obscenities when officers attempted to administer a field sobriety test.

The man is currently being held in Washington County Jail with bail set at $5,000. Judge Jay Weller is scheduled to oversee his preliminary hearing on September 14th.

If you or a loved one has been charged with driving under the influence in Houston, you need experienced representation on your side to help fight the charges. Contact the Houston DUI defense attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. by calling 713-222-0400 today to discuss your case.

Every state in the U.S. applies two statutory offenses to driving under the influence.

In a drunk driving case, the driver is first charged with driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated/impaired (DWI), or operating while intoxicated/imparired (OWI). This first offense is based upon a police officer’s observations, such as the results of a roadside sobriety test and driving behavior.

The driver is also charged with a second offense called “illegal per se.” This second charge stems from driving with a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.08 percent or higher. It has been illegal in all 50 states to drive with a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.08 percent since 2002.

If you have been charged with drunk driving in Texas, please contact the Houston DUI Attorneys of Johnson Johnson & Baer, P.C., at 713-222-0400.

A man in Austin has been charged with DUI after intentionally ramming several cars Thursday morning.

According to officials with the Dallas Police Department, Matthew Byron Hurd was arrested Thursday morning after he collided with at least one car in Carrollton and as many as six others in Dallas. He is also suspected of ramming a vehicle in Farmers Branch.

Police say Hurd resisted arrest, kicked an officer in the face and tried to steal police dashcam video. One of Hurd’s alleged victims said he had a wild look in his eye and was shaking his fist as he rammed her vehicle three times.

Hurd is being held in Carrollton County Jail. His criminal record includes convictions on assault and firearms charges.

If you or a loved one has been is facing a DWI or DUI charge, please contact the Houston DUI Lawyers of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C., by calling 713-222-0400.

A six-member jury acquitted former Dallas police officer Dwight Govan of driving while intoxicated Thursday.

The verdict came after Govan’s attorney, George Milner III, successfully argued that the prosecutors had not proven he was drunk at the time he was behind the wheel. Govan was arrested on January 26, 2008, after he ran into a Toyota Camry at a stop light. As the other driver checked out the damage to his bumper, Govan drove away, heading the wrong way on Victory Avenue.

Govan was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, police said. He declined to take blood-alcohol breath and blood tests. The field sobriety tests, however, were not conducted until nearly two hours after the accident.

Senior Cpl. Mike Bryan testified that even though Govan failed the tests later, he could not say whether he was intoxicated when he was behind the wheel, because it takes time for alcohol to be absorbed into a person’s bloodstream.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving, don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Houston DUI Lawyers of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C., today by calling 713-222-0400.

A Galveston Assistant District Attorney was recently arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.  ADA Lester Blizzard was arrested by Galveston police on December 29th.  Blizzard was suspended from his position as head of the county’s felony division without pay after the arrest.

Another Galveston official was also arrested for driving while intoxicated around the time Blizzard was arrested.  Galveston County deputy Tino Ramirez and Blizzard were 2 of 30 people arrested during a 30 hour drunk driving enforcement in Galveston.  Officials will be investigating both men’s charges and special prosecutors will be assigned to their cases to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Contact the DWI defense attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer P.C. at 713-222-0400 if you or someone you know has been accused of driving while intoxicated.

The recent fervor over a recent proposal to institute a new “driving-while-ability-impaired” law is dying down, and policymakers say it is unlikely to work out.

The proposal would make it so that those who imbibed moderately might still be punishable for illegal drinking and driving even if their blood alcohol level was under the currently legal limit of 0.08.

“It created a lot of dialogue, but I don’t think will ever be workable,” state Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston.

The idea would not lower the legal alcohol limit, but instead create a new classification for those with blood alcohol levels between 0.05 and 0.07.

“If you’re going to write up people for that and test ‘em on the side of the road for that, you’d probably have to shut down all your bars and restaurants and your sports events. … Essentially, wine with dinner would have to go out the window,” Whitmire said.

If you are seeking experience legal counsel when it comes to drunken driving charges, contact the Houston DWI lawyers of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C., by calling 713-222-0400.

A Montgomery County jury sentenced a man with eight drunk driving convictions to life in prison this Wednesday.

The prosecution claimed the man was a habitual offender on his third trial that would lead to jail time, making his sentence 25 years to life. His last crash, which prompted this trial, happened as he backed out of his driveway with the headlights off around midnight, April, 2009. He was struck by another drunk driver as he was pulling out.

Police responding to the scene reported the man’s voice was extremely slurred and he had trouble keeping his balance. The man refused to perform field sobriety tests or take a breathalyzer but he police say he told them he had been drinking for three days straight.

Current Texas law states that if one’s blood alcohol level is .08 or higher, they are driving under the influence and too drunk to drive.

Now, however, there is a new push –spearheaded by Mothers Against Drunk Driving — that would designate a new, lower, blood alcohol level for a label of driving while intoxicated.

“We have a glaring hole in our system where people that the law presumes to be under the influence, but their cases are being bargained down to non-DWI charges like blocking the roadway or reckless driving,” Austin Chief of Police Art Acevedo said.

The new law seeks to make a blood alcohol level of .05-.07 be labeled as “DWAI,” or Driving While Ability Impaired.

State Senator John Whitmire, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee chairman, is against this new idea. “I just think the .05 is probably an over reach,” Whitmire said. “It’s getting pretty close to prohibition.”

Whitmire does agree that the system is broken and something must be done about these plea bargains and other legal machinations, but does not believe that this is the way to do it.

If you or someone you know has been charged with driving under the influence, contact the Houston DUI defense attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer P.C. at 713-222-0400 to learn more about your rights.

A Texas judge recently sentenced Bobby Stovall to life in prison after his 9th driving under the influence conviction.   In his latest arrest, Stovall’s blood alcohol content was over four times the legal limit at .32 percent.

In addition to the drunk driving charges, Stovall has a series of other charges including providing alcohol to a minor, burglary, and credit card abuse.

Stovall and his attorneys believe the ruling was too harsh and expressed that he would prefer entering into alcohol rehabilitation. “You’re essentially doing just that, ending this man’s life, at the expense of taxpayers,” stated Stovall’s attorney.

If you or someone you know has been charged with driving under the influence, contact the Houston DUI attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer P.C. at 713-222-0400 to learn more about your rights.

A 38-year-old man who led police on a 140 mph high speed chase while intoxicated has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty in court Wednesday to felony driving while intoxicated after a judge ruled that he had used a car as a deadly weapon while fleeing from officers.

This ruling means that the man will not be able to apply for parole for at least 12 1/2 years, despite there being no injuries during the chase.

Authorities say the incident began when they tried to pull the man over after seeing him racing another vehicle in a 1984 Porsche 944. The man refused to stop and took officers on a chase from Florence to Liberty Hill and then to Cedar Park.

Police managed to spike the man’s tires, at which point he fled on foot until he was caught and arrested. A blood alcohol test showed a 0.15, about twice the legal limit.

The misdemeanor DWI was elevated to a felony charge because the man had four prior DWI convictions in Florida.

If you or someone you know has been charged with drunk driving, contact the Houston DWI attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer P.C. at 713-222-0400 to learn more about your rights.