Houston Criminal Lawyer and DWI Blog – Scheiner Law Group, P.C.

As a criminal defense lawyer, I frequently get the question, “If I am stopped for DUI, should I take a breath test.” Nobody has ever been surprised by my answer. Yet, the reasons, and there are many, not to take a breath test are far more complex than simply not incriminating oneself. People ask, “what if I only had one drink, then should I take the breath test?” I am not in the business of telling people what to do, but my answer is still no. Deetrice Wallace is another reason why.

Deetrice Wallace was a contract employee for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Her day job was a Houston ISD school teacher. From the looks of it, Ms. Wallace was a fine teacher and she was recognized as the 2007 Harris County Teacher of the year.

Ms. Wallace’s contract position with DPS was that of a Breath Test Technical Supervisor. This position is responsible for maintaining and calibrating the “infallible” intoxilyzer 5000. Apparently Ms. Wallace was too busy teaching because the Texas Rangers (guns and badges not baseballs and gloves) investigated Ms. Wallace for falsifying breath test maintenance records. The Harris County District Attorney’s office announced in a press release that Ms. Wallace has been charged with a state jail felony Tampering with a Governmental Record.

I have two DWI clients that I have found so far that have directly been affected by Ms. Wallace’s conduct. I do not think Ms. Wallace was some nut on an anti-dwi crusade. If I had to guess, I would just assume apathy and laziness caused this problem. That is truly sad considering people’s freedom, reputation, and employment abilities are drastically affected by a DWI conviction. DPS has invalidated 2600 breath tests.

So here is the question: What policy is DPS, the State of Texas, and our local prosecutors who are legally bound to “seek justice” going to change. Are we just going to keep letting DPS employees tell us if DPS machines are working. I wonder how long a DPS chemist or DPS breath test supervisor would last if one was honest about how unreliable and unscientific the intoxilyzer 5000 really is.

In every Breath Test Refusal case, prosecutors always say, “the defendant did not take the breath test because he/she knew it would show he/she was over a .08.” Actually, citizens should not take the breath test because NOBODY knows what it will show.

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November 4, 2008 was not only a big night for the national stage, but locally as well.

Nine felony district courts were up for election. Democratic challengers won 8 out of the 9 criminal judicial races.

The results are as follows:

174th District Court was vacant because Judge George Godwin is set to retire. The Judge-Elect is Ruben Guerrero.

176th District Court- Judge Elect Shawna L. Reagin

177th District Court – Judge Elect Kevin Fine

178th District Court- Judge Elect David Mendoza

179th District Court- Judge Elect Randy Roll

337th District Court- Judge Elect Herb Ritchie

338th District Court- Judge Elect Hazel Jones

339th District Court- Judge Elect Maria Jackson

35st District Court- Judge Mark Kent Ellis

Judge Ellis of the 351st District Court was the only Republican incumbent to hold onto his bench. Several of the newly elected candidates are fixtures down at the criminal courthouse and others are fresh faces.

It goes without saying that Harris County voted out top-notch, qualified judges like Judge Roger Bridgewater and Judge Caprice Cosper. On the other hand, I think it is fair to say that other courts were due for a change. At this point, we can only hope our new judges are ready to maintain in some courts and create in others, a forum where a citizen can receive a fair trial.

We’ll see what happens.

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Ms. Wallace’s contract position with DPS was that of a Breath Test Technical Supervisor. This position is responsible for maintaining and calibrating the “infallible” intoxilyzer 5000. Apparently Ms. Wallace was too busy teaching because the Texas Rangers (guns and badges not baseballs and gloves) investigated Ms. Wallace for falsifying breath test maintenance records. The Harris County District Attorney’s office announced in a press release that Ms. Wallace has been charged with a state jail felony Tampering with a Governmental Record.

I have two DWI clients that I have found so far that have directly been affected by Ms. Wallace’s conduct. I do not think Ms. Wallace was some nut on an anti-dwi crusade. If I had to guess, I would just assume apathy and laziness caused this problem. That is truly sad considering people’s freedom, reputation, and employment abilities are drastically affected by a DWI conviction. DPS has invalidated 2600 breath tests.

So here is the question: What policy is DPS, the State of Texas, and our local prosecutors who are legally bound to “seek justice” going to change. Are we just going to keep letting DPS employees tell us if DPS machines are working. I wonder how long a DPS chemist or DPS breath test supervisor would last if one was honest about how unreliable and unscientific the intoxilyzer 5000 really is.

In every Breath Test Refusal case, prosecutors always say, “the defendant did not take the breath test because he/she knew it would show he/she was over a .08.” Actually, citizens should not take the breath test because NOBODY knows what it will show.

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