Home > Austin Legal > Archives > DWI category
DWI
April 6, 2012
6 month sentence for drunken driver who killed motorcyclist
A 31-year-old man was sentenced today to six months in prison followed by 10 years probation for driving drunk and killing a motorcyclist in East Austin last year.
Ruben Banda Flores was sentenced by state District Judge Karen Sage under a plea bargain with Travis County prosecutors.
Flores was driving a 1992 Nissan Pathfinder east on East Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. near U.S. 183 on June 11 when he ran a red light and struck a Harley Davidson motorcycle whose driver was trying to make a left hand turn, according to an arrest affidavit.
Randy Carter was pronounced dead at the scene of the early morning crash and his passenger, Lori Lynn Gallagher, suffered injuries including a broken arm and head contusion, the affidavit said.
Flores smelled of alcohol and told an officer had had drunk two beers and smoked a marijuana joint at Butler Park after getting off work, the affidavit said. He failed sobriety tests, the document said.
His sentence is known as shock probation and is intended to expose offenders to prison for a short period of time in the hopes of impressing upon them the importance of complying with the terms of their probation and staying out of trouble so they don’t have to go back.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment Categories: DWI
April 4, 2012
Drunken driver involved in police chase in Williamson County is sentenced
A man who led police officers in Taylor and Hutto on a chase while driving drunk was sentenced today to a total of 35 years in prison, according to the Williamson County district attorney’s office.
A jury sentenced Sergio Ramos to 10 years in prison for evading with a vehicle, 10 years for driving while intoxicated and 15 years for aggravated assault. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Ramos, an illegal immigrant, will have to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, according to the district attorney’s office. When he is released, he will be deported back to Mexico, according to the district attorney,
Ramos has three previous DWI convictions in Travis County and has already been deported twice to Mexico, the district attorney’s office said.
The incident in Williamson County happened Feb. 8, 2011, when Taylor police received a 911 call from a driver reporting a drunken driver heading north on Texas 95, according to the district attorney’s office.
Ramos slowed down when signaled by police officers but then sped away and turned on Texas 79 headed to Hutto, police said. When he got to Hutto, several law enforcement officers fired at Ramos’ car and struck him several times.
Ramos was taken to a hospital and later recovered, police said. Officials said he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.24, which is three times the legal limit for a driver in Texas.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment Categories: DWI
March 9, 2012
Intoxication manslaughter charges in crash that killed Hyde Park pastor, wife
A Wimberley woman has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter in a November crash on U.S. 290 West that left an Austin pastor and his wife dead.
Terri Munoz Elmore, 40, faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. An arrest affidavit was filed against her Thursday. She was booked into the Travis County jail at 4:30 p.m. today. Bail has been set at $25,000 for each charge.
The wreck that killed the Rev. Ernest Jackson Boyett Jr. and his wife, Barbara, occurred Nov. 29 on U.S. 290 in southwestern Travis County, near Baxter Lane, officials have said.
The Boyetts were traveling east in a 2000 Honda Odyssey minivan about 9:15 p.m. when a westbound 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser crossed into oncoming traffic and hit them head-on, according to officials and the arrest affidavit.
The Boyetts, who were both 64, were pronounced dead at the scene, official said.
Elmore, a registered paramedic, was driving the FJ Cruiser. She was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin after the wreck with injuries. Information on those injuries or her current condition was not immediately available.
The affidavit said that Elmore’s alcohol level at the hospital the night of the crash was .2 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath, which is .12 grams above the legal limit for driving.
Ernest Jackson Boyett founded Dayspring Fellowship, a reformed Baptist church on Avenue G near Hyde Park.
The church began in a South Austin home in 1978 and at the time of Boyett’s death had about 200 members, many of whom traveled from as far away as Marble Falls, San Marcos and Leander to attend, members have said.
Boyett, who met his wife at the University of Texas, was active at crisis pregnancy centers and at homes for single mothers, and was an anti-abortion rights activist. He graduated from a seminary in Austin in the late 1970s and was a radio host on a Christian radio station.
The couple had homes in the South Austin neighborhood of Travis Heights as well as near Junction, church members have said.
The legal limit of alcohol concentration for driving has been corrected.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: DWI
June 21, 2011
10-year sentence for man accused of driving the wrong way on I-35
Update 3:50 p.m.
A man who struck a woman’s car while driving the wrong way on Interstate 35 while drunk last year pleaded guilty halfway through his Travis County jury trial today and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Primitivo Islas, 22, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and evading arrest, said prosecutor Rob Drummond.
Drummond said Islas’ lawyer approached him after a morning of testimony and initiated the plea discussions. Drummond said prior to the trial, Islas has been offered seven years in exchange for a guilty plea.
“I thought that his conduct was egregious but he’s (young) and has never been arrested before,” Drummond said.
If convicted, Islas could have received up to 20 years in prison. He was sentenced to 10 years on the aggravated assault charge and two years on the evading charge. The sentences will run together. Islas will be eligible for parole after serving five years.
Earlier
One early morning last summer, Austin police Sgt. Michael Barger was driving south on Interstate 35 near the University of Texas football practice field when he saw a scary sight: a car driving right at him.
Barger swerved right from the fast lane as the car barely missed him while heading in the opposite direction, he testified Tuesday.
“I would say that he was doing at least 60 miles per hour,” Barger said. “I don’t think he noticed I was there for the most part, or he didn’t care that I was there.”
Barger’s testimony came during the trial of the car’s driver, Primitivos Islas, 22, who is charged with aggravated assault, intoxication assault and evading arrest.
At about 4:30 a.m. on July 28, 2010, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper spotted Islas speeding in a silver Mazda south on I-35 near U.S. 183 ahead of another speeding vehicle, prosecutor Rob Drummond said during opening statements.
Trooper Don Lundy followed Islas to the exit ramp near William Cannon Drive, where Islas spun out and then drove north in the southbound lanes of the highway, Drummond said.
Lundy did not follow because it is too dangerous for police to follow a car the wrong way on a highway, Drummond said.
“He could get killed,” Drummond said.
After Islas passed him, Barger got in the northbound lanes and followed Islas north along with Sgt. Shane Lee, who was in another police vehicle, according to testimony.
“It was pretty horrifying because I was like, ‘ Man, this is going to be a head on collision,’” Lee testified.
Near Braker Lane, Islas crashed into a car driven by a woman going to work, who survived the crash, Drummond said.
Barger said that when he jumped over the median to arrest Islas, he had to pull Islas out of the way of oncoming traffic as Islas climbed out of his car.
The oncoming traffic came “within 6 or 8 inches” of striking the pair, Barger said.
Islas faces up to 20 years in prison on the aggravated assault charge, the most serious. Intoxication assault is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the state jail felony crime of evading arrest is punishable by up to two years.
Islas’ lawyer, Gilbert Martinez, told the jury in state District Judge Julie Kocurek’s court that Islas was drunk that night “and he made a series of unfortunate decisions.”
But during his opening statement, Martinez said that Islasis not guilty of the aggravated assault charge because he did not intentionally injure the other driver.
“That wasn’t his goal. That isn’t what he set out to do,” he said. “It’s important that we get this right.”
Barger said that when he arrested Islas, “I remember … he had a smile on his face and was laughing about it.”
“Did you think it was funny?” Drummond asked.
“No, I was a little bit scared that we almost just got run over,” Barger said.
Permalink | Comments (30) | Categories: DWI
September 15, 2010
Alvarado sentenced to 50 years in fatal drunken driving case
Update A Travis County jury has sentenced Jaime Bonilla Alvarado to 50 years in prison for driving drunk and killing a businessman in town from Nashville last year.
Members of Alvarado’s family, in court for the verdict, cried when the prison term was announced, as did the daughter of accident victim Robert Benn, 64.
Earlier A Travis County jury is deliberating a sentence for a Honduran construction worker who pleaded guilty to murder for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a businessman in town from Nashville last year.
Jaime Bonilla Alvarado, 24, who pleaded guilty in the case, had been previously convicted three times of driving while intoxicated and had been deported from the United States twice when he crashed into a rental car driven by Robert Benn last year.
He faces up to life in prison.
Alvarado’s lawyer, Brad Urrutia, suggested that a 25-year-sentence would be fair. Urrutia said that Alvarado should receive some leniency because of his young age.
“He took a life. He admitted to taking a life,” Urrutia said. “He took a man from his family and he told you that he did that.
“He is remorseful and he is repentant.”
In closing arguments, prosecutor Erik Sipiora asked for a 50-year sentence. She noted that according to Alvarado’s own testimony he was warned four times the night of the crash not to drive drunk — by two store clerks, a friend and his wife.
For the second time in the trial, she showed the jury a video of the smoky crash, taken by a police officer’s dashboard camera.
“Where on this video does it show that Jaime Alvarado was taking into consideration anyone but himself?” she said.
She told the jury to look at a photograph of Benn, a 64-year-old information and technology consultant from Tennessee, after they choose a sentencing verdict. If they can find peace after looking at the photo, Sipiora said, then they chose the right amount of time.
The jury in state District Judge Jim Coronado’s court began deliberating at about 4:10 p.m.
Earlier in the day, Alvarado took the stand and told the jury about his life. He said he grew up poor and received only an elementary school education in the small Honduran town of Santa Rita Yoro.
He said he first came to the United States in 2005, when he was 19, but was caught on his way to Houston and deported. He said he returned soon after and settled with his twin sister and two brothers in Austin.
Alvarado was arrested for DWI three times, all in East Austin in 2006 or 2007. He did not show up for court each time and when he was finally arrested he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 80 days in jail. He was then brought into federal custody, prosecuted for illegal re-entry by a deported alien and deported again.
Alvarado returned to the U.S. within a month of his deportation, he said, and worked as a construction worker. He testified that he did a stucco job on a house near Loop 360 on the day of the crash — a Monday. He said that after work he bought a 24-ounce Dos Equis beer, a 12-pack of Corona beer and a six-pack of Dos Equis. He drank most of the beer, he said, in a park and in the car near a disco on East Riverside Drive.
He was heading home when he drove north on Pleasant Valley Road past a police car, who noticed him speeding and playing loud music, according to testimony.
Alvarado did not stop, even though Officer Christopher Geck turned on his lights and sirens attempting to make a traffic stop. Alvarado said he was afraid of being deported and ultimately decided he would try to drive home before being arrested so his Lincoln Navigator would not be impounded.
After Alvarado turned east on Bolm Road from Springdale Road he gunned the engine and went through a red light at Airport Boulevard where he hit Benn’s driver- side door, according to the video and testimony. Benn, a married father and grandfather, who was driving from the airport to the hotel, died at the scene.
Alvarado, who had a .20 blood/alcohol level, two-and-a-half-times the legal limit, suffered only minor injuries.
“I can’t believe it,” Alvarado said, choking back tears. “I want to ask the family to forgive me for that.”
“You understand you should be punished for what you did?” Urrutia said.
“I understand,” Alvarado said.
Reporter Steven Kreytak is posting live updates from the courtroom via Twitter below.
Permalink | Comments (32) | Categories: DWI
September 14, 2010
Drunken driver who killed man had .20 blood/alcohol content
A Travis County jury is expected to deliberate a punishment Wednesday for a man who caused an East Austin wreck that killed a consultant from Tennessee last year.
Jaime Bonilla Alvarado, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to murder in the death of Robert Benn, 64. Alvarado faces up to life in prison and is expected to testify when his punishment trial continues Wednesday.
While fleeing police last year, Alvarado plunged his Lincoln Navigator into Benn’s rented Dodge Charger after running a red light at the intersection of Bolm Road and Airport Boulevard, according to testimony.
Today, jurors learned that Alvarado, who had been convicted three times previously for drunken driving, had a .20 blood/alcohol level, two-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.
Benn was an information technology consultant in town for business, his wife, Sherrie Benn testified. He had three children and three grandchildren.
“He was my best friend,” Sherrie Benn said. “He was my joy in my life and without him things are really difficult for me.”
Permalink | Comments (22) | Categories: DWI
August 26, 2010
Drunken driver in fatal Austin crash strikes deal for 3 years in prison
This story has been updated since it was originally filed with information from prosecutor Buddy Meyer. Also, the term of probation Blackerby would receive has been corrected.
A drunken driver involved in a 2008 crash that claimed the life of a 21-year-old woman struck a plea bargain in a Travis County court today to serve three years in prison, a term that would likely be followed by six years of probation.
James Kevin Blackerby, 35, had been convicted three times of driving while intoxicated prior to his arrest after the Aug. 2, 2008, crash in Southeast Austin that killed Heather Heyns.
Jimmy Saucedo, a man Heyns had been dating, who was driving a pickup in which she was a passenger, has also been charged with driving drunk that night. A misdemeanor charge against him is pending.
Assistant District Attorney Buddy Meyer said that the plea bargain was reached because prosecutors anticipated it would be difficult, given that Saucedo was also accused of being drunk that night, to prove that Blackerby caused Heyns’ death.
“You not only have to prove somebody is intoxicated but you have to prove that the intoxication caused the death,” he said.
Hank and Kelli Heyns, Heather’s parents, were in state District Judge Bob Perkins’ court for the hearing holding large pictures of their daughter.
Outside court, Hank Heyns remembered his daughter, a Westlake High School graduate, as his best friend. Kelli Heyns recalled how in high school, when some girls her age were embarrassed to be seen with their parents, Heather Heyns would invite her mom to have lunch with her during school. Kelli Heyns said before her death her daughter was considering pursuing a career as a teacher or in real estate.
“She was truly a gift to her whole family,” Kelli Heyns said.
Heyns’ parents said that they had hoped for a stiffer punishment for Blackerby but that a trial would have been painful and time-consuming, and a tougher sentence would not have been guaranteed.
“I don’t know if we got justice,” Hank Heyns said. “We got what we could.”
According to an arrest affidavit, Blackerby told officers that he had drunk beer at Ego’s bar near Riverside Drive and South Congress Avenue when he left for Hot Bodies Men’s Club in Southeast Austin.
At about 2:40 a.m. at the intersection of Burleson Road and Montopolis Drive, Blackerby’s silver Ford F250 pickup crashed into another pickup, an affidavit said.
Police said the other pickup was driven by Saucedo, who was 24 at the time.
An officer overheard Blackerby, who was on probation at the time for a previous DWI, tell an EMS official at the scene: “I’m inebriated,” the affidavit said.
About three weeks after his arrest, Blackerby pleaded guilty to felony DWI and was sentenced to four years probation, according to court records.
Perkins said that at some point Blackerby was put in a substance abuse rehabilitation program run by Travis County, but Blackerby did not complete the program.
Meyer said a supervisor at the district attorney’s office “had concerns” over how the case was handled and continued investigating.
In June 2009, Blackerby was indicted in Heyns’ death on charges of manslaughter, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and criminally negligent homicide, punishable by up to two years. In November, a charge of intoxication manslaughter, also punishable by 20 years, was added by another grand jury.
Saucedo was indicted on those same charges.
Meyer said that until recently it was not clear from the evidence which driver was at fault in the crash. He said in the past week authorities re-interviewed a witness from the scene who indicated that Blackerby ran a red light.
Under the terms of his plea bargain with prosecutors, Blackerby pleaded “true” to violating the terms of his 2008 probation and was sentenced to three years. He also pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter. If state District Judge Bob Perkins follows the plea bargain, Blackerby would be sentenced to six years probation on that count after he is released from prison. If he violates that probation he could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison. Blackerby has served about two years of that three-year sentence.
All but the misdemeanor DWI charges against Saucedo were dismissed after Blackerby’s plea, Meyer said.
Prosecutor Marianne Powers said in court that while on probation, Blackerby will be required to wear an alcohol detection device, will lose his driver’s license for at least half of his probation and will be required to install a device on his car that does not allow it to be started if the operator has been drinking, among other terms.
Kelli and Hank Heyns said they would address Blackerby in court at that time.
Permalink | Comments (56) | Categories: DWI
February 12, 2010
Drunken driver who killed construction worker gets 15 years
A drunken driver who struck and killed a construction worker on South Interstate 35 near Onion Creek in June pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter in a Travis County court today and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
David Delacerda, 30, pleaded guilty under a plea bargain with prosecutors, said State District Judge Bob Perkins. He also pleaded guilty to failure to stop and render aid, for which he was sentenced to 10 years. The sentences will run together, Perkins said.
On June 24 at about 1:30 a.m., Delacerda, at right, drove a dark-colored sport-utility vehicle through a construction zone near Onion Creek Parkway, killing 36-year-old Fontino Cortez-Cruz, who was laying reflective tabs on the highway, according to police and transportation officials.
Delacerda did not stop and continued south, prompting Austin police to tell law enforcement in Hays County to be on the lookout for his car, police have said.
Hays County sheriff’s deputies found a burned dark-colored SUV outside of Kyle about 4 a.m., police said.
Shortly after, police received a call from South Austin Hospital after Delacerda had checked in with burns on his body, police said. He was later arrested.
Intoxication manslaughter is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: DWI
January 8, 2010
25 years for drunken driver who killed 3 motorcyclists
A 22-year-old drunken driver admitted today in a Travis County court to causing an April crash on East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that left three people dead, his defense lawyer said.
Mario Hernandez-Rodriguez, at right, pleaded guilty to three counts of intoxication manslaughter and three counts of failure to stop and render aid under a plea bargain with prosecutors that will land him in jail for 25 years, said defense lawyer Leonard Martinez.
At 1:47 a.m. on April 5, Hernandez-Rodriguez was driving a pickup on East Martin Luther King near Springdale Road when the truck veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a Mercedes and two motorcycles, police said. Hernandez-Rodriguez fled on foot but was caught by police, officials said.
The driver of one of the motorcycles, Maurice Britt, 36, died at the scene. His passenger, Audra Britt, 30, died later, as did the driver of the other motorcycle, Keith Haliburton, 42.
State District Judge Mike Lynch today sentenced Hernandez-Rodriguez to 20 years in prison for each count of intoxication manslaughter. The sentences will run concurrently. On Jan. 21, Lynch is scheduled to sentence him to five years on each count of failure to stop and render aid, with those sentences to run concurrently. The five-year sentences will run consecutively to the 20-year sentences, Martinez said.
Family members of the victim will be allowed to address Hernandez-Rodriguez on the 21st.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Categories: DWI
October 9, 2009
DWI charge against FBI agent dismissed
Travis County prosecutors have dismissed a driving while intoxicated charge against an Austin FBI agent.
Assistant County Attorney Corby Holcomb said that last week prosecutors struck a deferred prosecution agreement with Donna Cowling, who was arrested in North Austin at 1:47 a.m. Nov. 15, 2007. Under the agreement, the case would refiled only if Cowling does not complete 30 hours of community service in the next year or is arrested on another charge.
Holcomb said that Cowling, 46, spent the hours before her arrest at a Junior League of Austin Christmas event. He said that Cowling’s defense lawyer provided prosecutors with “numerous witness statements” from people who had been with her earlier in the evening and said Cowling was not intoxicated. Two Austin police officers who were working security at the event also signed affidavits stating that Cowling was not intoxicated.
Holcomb said that Cowling did not take a breath or blood test. He said that her lawyer also gave prosecutors medical records showing she had a foot injury that could have affected her ability to perform field sobriety tests.
Cowling’s lawyer, Betty Blackwell, could not be reached.
Holcomb said based on the evidence, if the case is ever refiled, it would be for reckless driving.
Cowling is a supervisory special agent in the Austin office and was one of the three Austin law enforcement officers who helped convict the men who kidnapped and killed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair and two of her relatives in 1995.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: DWI
May 1, 2009
DWI with under .08 BAC?
So I heard this morning from Leon Grizzard, the magistrate for the criminal district courts in Travis County. Grizzard, who was appointed by the criminal district judges earlier this year after a long career as a criminal defense lawyer, was following up on an earlier Austin Legal post about Joshua Villalobos, a Lockhart man charged with intoxication manslaughter in a December crash that killed an 11-year-old boy in Southeast Travis County.
In that piece, I wrote that state District Judge Brenda Kennedy “said that Villalobos had a .14 blood alcohol level, more than the .08 legal limit to drive.”
Grizzard had this to say about my wording:
“Maybe a minor point, and please forgive me if you know this, but .08 is not the legal limit; it is the bac that defines intoxication. Many people are intoxicated below .08. Having a bac of .08 or higher at the time of operating the motor vehicle is one of the definitions of intoxication (the other being having lost the normal use of mental or physical faculties because alcohol or other substances). If the judge or jury believes the person was .08 or higher while operating, they must convict; they may convict at a lower level, based on loss of normal use. “Legal limit” is a convenient shorthand, and I really don’t have a better one for use in its place, but it is a little misleading. “.08 presumptive level?” “.08 definition of intoxication?”
I did not know that you could be convicted of driving while intoxicated if your blood alcohol content is below .08. Thanks, Leon.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: DWI
April 29, 2009
Man in drunken driving case had numerous speeding tickets
A man accused of driving drunk and killing an 11-year-old boy who was walking in Southeast Travis County in December had received six speeding tickets in the five years preceding the crash, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
At a hearing in state District Judge Brenda Kennedy’s court, Assistant District Attorney Judy Shipway argued that Joshua Villalobos is too much of a danger to the community to have his bail lowered so that he can be released from jail pending trial. Shipway noted that Villalobos was believed to be driving 65 miles per hour in a 30-miles-per-hour zone before the accident that killed Gerardo Corona and injured his 11-year-friend James Ball.
“The defendant is a time bomb your honor,” Shipway said.
Kennedy lowered Villalobos’ bail from $100,000 to $75,000 on a charge of intoxication manslaughter and from $100,000 to $50,000 on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It is unclear if Villalobos, of Lockhart, will be able to raise that amount of money and secure his release.
One of Villalobos’ lawyers, Chris Harris, had asked for the bail to be set at $20,000 in each case, the amount originally set by a magistrate after Villalobos’ December arrest.
“The $20,00 bonds would never be set, when there’s a death involved, by this court,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said that another judge — state District Judge Charlie Baird — signed a personal bond on December 29, allowing Villalobos out of jail without paying any money.
After he was indicted in February, Kennedy followed the grand jury’s recommendation to increase the bail to $100,000 in each case, she said. On Wednesday she ruled on a defense motion to lower the bail.
Harris argued that Villalobos, 28, complied with the terms of his release in the approximately two months that he was free. He had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes and outpatient alcohol classes when he was re-arrested, Harris said.
Gerardo and James were walking along rural Evelyn Road at about 5:11 p.m. on December 19 when a Pontiac driven by Lobos struck the pair, according to a police affidavit.
Kennedy said that Villalobos had a .14 blood alcohol level, more than the .08 legal limit to drive.
The road has no shoulder or sidewalks and the boys were believed to be walking in the roadway.
Residents on the street said at the time that they had warned county officials for years that someone was going to die on their street. Cars and trucks that use the road as a shortcut between FM 1327 and U.S. 183 regularly blow the 30-mph speed limit away, they said.
Gerardo’s family members, who called him “Lalo,” said he was a smart sixth-grader at Creedmoor Elementary who loved science, the history channel and playing guitar.
Shipway, who did not say whether Villalobos’ license was ever suspended because of the speeding tickets, said that James has recovered sufficiently to return to school.
“He does bear a lot of emotional scars,” she said.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: DWI
February 2, 2009
Garrido pleads guilty
During a hearing that took less than 30 seconds, University of Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido pleaded guilty to drunken driving in court this morning.
Sentencing was scheduled for April 30.
Garrido said nothing in court, other than entering his plea. Outside the courtroom, he said only that the sentencing “is not up to me. I’m just going to do what’s right.”
Garrido and his attorneys then walked away from a group of reporters.
Austin police have said Garrido was driving a Porsche Cayenne west on Sixth Street at about 1 a.m. Jan. 17 when an officer in the department’s DWI enforcement team noticed the car’s headlights were not on.
After a sobriety test, Garrido told the officer he had five glasses of wine and was intoxicated, police have said.
Garrido has since issued a public apology, calling his actions a “serious mistake,” and said that he would learn from what happened.
UT officials have suspended Garrido for the first four games of the upcoming season, a home series against Illinois-Chicago from Feb. 20-22. He will be paid during his suspension.
Permalink | Comments (43) | Categories: DWI
January 24, 2009
A drunk driver did this
Elizabeth Smith, whose 16-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver in 2006, recently emailed the photo below of the car her son was driving during the crash.
Adam Smith, a Dripping Springs High School student who had talked about becoming a marine biologist, was driving the truck in the picture on Hamilton Pool Road, heading home with friends after a day at the Barton Creek Square Mall. A car driven by now four-time convicted drunk driver Richard Laney crossed the divider and hit Smith’s truck, killing him and injuring two of his friends.
Under a plea bargain, Laney was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday. Prosecutors acknowledged problems with the evidence in the case, including uncertainty about whether a blood test showing Smith was intoxicated would be allowed at trial. Another blood test was ruled inadmissible by state District Judge Mike Lynch in September.
Read the story about Laney’s case here.
Elizabeth Smith wrote in her email to the Statesman:
“Our case seems to highlight everything that is wrong with Texas’ drunk driving laws. We want to do anything we can to strengthen the laws because we KNOW we are not the only family that is going through this, and, unfortunately, will not be the last. “
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: DWI
October 3, 2008
Still no action in FBI agent's DWI case
It’s been more than 10 months since an Austin FBI agent was arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge, but while Donna Cowling is due in a Travis County court today, nothing is expected to happen in her case, according to a Travis County prosecutor.
Cowling’s case remains under review by prosecutors, who have not determined whether to file an information, or formal charge, in the case or to dismiss it, said First Assistant Travis County Attorney’s Office Trial Chief Corby Holcomb.
Holcomb would not discuss details of Cowling’s case, including the reason no decision has been made on charging her. He did say that sometimes prosecutors delay a case when defense lawyers want to bring them evidence to negotiate a disposition, which could include medical information, witness statements or photographs.
Cowling’s lawyer, Betty Blackwell, could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.
Cowling, 45, is a supervisory special agent in the Austin office. Erik Vasys, an FBI spokesman, said she remains on the job.
Austin police arrested her at 1:47 a.m. on Nov. 15 in North Austin.
Cowling was one of the three Austin law enforcement officers who helped convict the men who kidnapped and killed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair and two of her relatives in 1995.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: DWI
