20 Aug 2013
A prosecutor in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. According to police, there was a crash in the southbound MoPac Boulevard service road at 3:30 p.m. on August 11, with one of the vehicles hitting the rear of the other car, which had stopped. The driver of the car that hit the stopped vehicle, according to police, had a strong smell of alcohol, was swaying, and slurred his speech. Police also say the driver refused a breath test, but his blood was drawn after a search warrant was obtained. He was identified as an assistant district attorney in the DA’s Office. Blood results are still pending, and the prosecutor has been charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
There are two interesting things about this case. One has to do with the conditions on which the suspect was released. The second involves the review of the case by his employer.
- For a first-time DWI conviction, the court can mandate that an ignition interlock device (IID) be installed in any car driven by the defendant. The IID measures alcohol in the driver, requiring that he or she blow into the device in order to be able to start the ignition, and periodically after that. In this case, installation of an IID was ordered to be installed in the vehicle as a condition of his bond. This is an unusual step, and likely had to do, at least in part, with the fact that the defendant is a prosecutor.
- The other interesting aspect of the case is that the situation is being reviewed, for purposes of any impact on the defendant’s employment, by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Several months ago, Lehmberg herself pleaded guilty to DWI, was sentenced to jail, and served 22 days this past May. According to Lehmberg, the policy of the District Attorney’s Office is that a first (misdemeanor) DWI does not ordinarily result in termination of employment.
We’ll have to wait to see what happens as the case moves forward.
Law Office of David D. White, PLLC
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Austin, TX 78701
(512) 369-3737