Dallas Criminal Defense Law Blog

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released the results of a nationwide survey designed to learn more about the prevalence of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and the general attitude toward this type of conduct.

According to the NHTSA survey:

• 8 percent of people admitted to driving while intoxicated at least one time during the course of the past year
• 20 percent of people admitted to operating a motor vehicle within two hours of consuming an alcoholic beverage during the course of the past year
• 8 percent of people admitted to riding as a passenger in a motor vehicle being driven by someone they believed was too intoxicated to drive
• 40 percent of people believed they could drive safely after consuming three drinks
• 11 percent of people believed they could drive safely after consuming five drinks

Last Thursday, federal authorities charged 40-year-old Justin W. Lewis of Katy, Texas, with two counts of distributing child pornography.

The case gained the attention of media outlets across the state due to the fact that Lewis was a seventh grade teacher at Katy Junior High School and had been employed by the district since the 2004-2005 school term. 

State and federal officials began investigating Lewis in the beginning of August after receiving a tip that his computer was using peer-to-peer software to distribute child pornography via the Internet.

According to the federal criminal complaint, investigating agents were able to use the aforementioned software to download multiple illegal images from Lewis' computer.

"The trading of it had occurred over a period of time. We tracked it back to his house, did a search of the home and did recover several child pornography items," said Eric Devlin, chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Child Exploitation Services.

Lewis was arrested by the Houston Police Department at his home without incident. 

In recent criminal law news, a judge in Dallas County has dismissed a host of drug charges against a convicted felon with a substantial criminal history. The reason? He did not believe that the officer in charge of the investigation was truthful in his sworn testimony.

The case in question involves Dennis Morrow, a Garland narcotics officer, and Patrick Woodard, a convicted felon and subject of the drug investigation at issue. According to police reports, Morrow was working undercover to build a case against Woodard, who he believed was selling drugs.

Morrow eventually arrested Woodard and later testified during an extensive pretrial hearing that 1.) he used a phone number provided by a confidential informant (CI) to arrange a drug buy from Woodard and 2.) that Woodard had an open bag of plainly visible narcotics in his car at the time of his arrest.

However, at the same pretrial hearing, Woodard testified that the bag of drugs was closed and not plainly visible. In addition, defense attorneys called other Garland police officers to the stand who testified that Morrow had distorted the facts in a previous drug arrest and that the testimonial inaccuracies were not uncommon. 

Late last week, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed an extradition order that will send Warren Jeffs, former head of the FLDS, to the state of Texas to stand trial for felony sexual assault.

Jeffs was the anointed "prophet" of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), a polygamist sect of roughly 10,000 followers that broke away from the primary Mormon Church more than 100 years ago. He quickly gained notoriety in 2006 following his apprehension in Utah on child sex crime charges. At the time of his arrest, Jeffs had ascended onto the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.

Critics of the FLDS allege that the sect encourages "spiritual marriages" between older men and young girls, a union that results in repeated sexual abuse. The FLDS vigorously denies that any such sexual abuse occurs. 

The group currently maintains a presence in the towns of Eldorado, Texas, Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah.

In DWI-related news, a judge in Williamson County, Texas, recently sentenced a man to life in prison for his ninth DWI conviction.

In the early part of July, 54 year-old Bobby Stovall was arrested in Round Rock, Texas for driving while intoxicated (DWI). According to police reports, Stovall veered his pickup truck across several lanes of traffic and struck another motor vehicle, causing serious injuries to the other driver.

His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was subsequently determined by law enforcement officials to be .32, more than four times the legal limit (.08).

Upon discovering that Stovall had eight prior convictions for driving under the influence, the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

In addition to his DWI convictions, Stovall had also been convicted for various other offenses, including credit card abuse, burglary, theft, possession of a controlled substance and supplying alcohol to a minor.

In recent DWI-related news, the House Public Safety Committee heard arguments from both opponents and proponents of the Texas Driver Responsibility Program earlier this week.

Started in 2004, the Texas Driver Responsibility Program is designed to discourage certain types of vehicular offenses by levying large additional fines (referred to as surcharges) against those found guilty. Targeted offenses include DWI and speeding in excess of 10 miles-per-hour over the speed limit.

To illustrate, those convicted of a first offense DWI must pay a surcharge of $1000 a year for three years. If the person had a blood alcohol content that was double the legal limit, the surcharge rises to $2000 a year.

The funds gathered through the Texas Driver Responsibility Program are supposed to be used to fund highway projects and emergency room/trauma care. However, the program has not been a resounding success. Emergency rooms/trauma centers have only received a portion of the intended funds ($75 million) while highways projects have received no funds whatsoever.

In addition, over 60 percent of those ordered to pay surcharges (1.2 million motorists) have failed to do so. This amounts to more than $1.1 billion owed to the state.

The Dallas Police Department is currently dealing with a substantial rise in the number of sexual assaults reported this year. Through the end of July, the department reported 333 sexual assaults. At the same time last year, the department reported 258 sexual assaults.

What's behind this increase of more than 25 percent in the number of sexual assaults?

The early theory (law enforcement officials are still examining the data) seems to be that half of the reported cases involve two common factors: alcohol and people who are already acquainted with one another (i.e., dates, social outings with friends).

Dallas police are responding to this perceived trend by launching a public awareness campaign designed to alert potential victims of the dangers posed by excessive drinking.

"We're needing to create a message to the victims of these types of crimes on a prevention kind of component related to first date, second date, someone you don't know that well. You're at a club, you had a little bit too much to drink, have your friends or someone help watch you or maybe have someone that doesn't drink in the group," said Dallas Police Chief David Brown at a recent City Council Public Safety Committee.

While victim advocacy groups generally support the move by Dallas police, many believe the message of the public awareness campaign needs to be broadened to include a message to potential offenders.

"My message would be more to the men that you have to have consent and silence does not mean consent. If she's drunk, she can't give you consent because she's not all there. She doesn't have the capacity to give you consent," said Jana Barker, executive director of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center.

The large number of reported sexual assaults is surprising given the steady decline over the last few years.

• In 2006, there were 665 reported sexual assaults
• In 2007, there were 511 reported sexual assaults
• In 2008, there were 499 reported sexual assaults
• In 2009, there were 485 reported sexual assaults

Stay tuned for further legal developments in the area of sexual assault ...

Related Resources:

• Increase in Reported Sexual Assaults in Dallas Raises Concerns  (Dallas Morning News)

On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the U.S. Department of Justice was officially releasing its first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy provides a comprehensive threat assessment of the many dangers facing children (child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation) and outlines several ways in which the federal government plans to combat these various dangers.

The strategy's many highlights include:

• The creation of a national database that allows authorities on the state, federal, tribal and international level to share information, as well as coordinate undercover operations.

• The creation of 38 new Assistant U.S. Attorney posts dedicated to prosecuting child-exploitation cases.

• The launch of an operation by the United States Marshals Service targeting 500 of the most dangerous, noncompliant sex offenders across the nation

"Although we've made meaningful progress in protecting children across the country, and although we've brought a record number of offenders to justice in recent year, it is time to renew our commitment to this work. It is time to intensify our efforts. This new strategy provides the roadmap necessary to do just that - to streamline our education, prevention and prosecution activities; to improve information sharing and collaboration; and to make the most effective use of limited resources," said Attorney General Holder.