A deadly gas tanker accident on a freeway in Fort Worth, Texas, has been blamed on a wrong way driver who was traveling in the opposite direction on the freeway, under the influence of alcohol.  The man has now been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

The 23-year-old motorist was driving a pickup truck the wrong way in the westbound lanes of Interstate 30 in Fort Worth.  Soon, the pickup truck crashed into a gas tanker, and the tanker exploded in flames.  The tanker driver died at the scene of the accident.  The accident occurred on a bridge, and there was some damage to the structure of the bridge from the heat generated by the explosion.

Investigations into the accident have begun.  The driver has admitted to having had at least 10 beers before he began driving.   Investigators are focusing on where the man consumed that amount of alcohol before the accident.  The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission has begun an investigation into the business where the man purchased his drinks.  They have identified one establishment where the man might have consumed his drinks, and are specifically investigating whether the business was negligent in over serving the man.

As Houston DWI lawyers and Houston Auto Accident Lawyers, we always encourage bars, taverns, pubs, restaurants and other establishments that serve alcohol, to remember that they have a responsibility to do so safely.  For instance, staff at an establishment must not serve alcohol to a patron they can see is too intoxicated to drive.  Failure to do so can result in criminal charges being pressed against the establishment.  For instance, an establishment may face misdemeanor charges for serving alcohol to an intoxicated patron.  Also, an establishment may face a civil lawsuit for negligently serving a known intoxicated person additional drinks under the Texas Dram Shop Act.

The study is based on data from the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System. There are some known culprits on the list like Paxil, the antidepressant which has also been linked to birth defects, as well as one of the most widely used antidepressants Prozac, which has also been linked to a high risk of violence.

Tellingly, most of the drugs on the list are antidepressants. These include Desvenlafaxine sold under the brand name Pristiq, and linked to a 7.9 times higher risk of violent behavior, Venlafaxine sold under the brand name Effexor, and linked to a 8.3 times higher risk of violent behavior, Fluvoxamine sold under the brand name Luvox, and with a 8.5 times higher risk of being involved in violent behavior.

Also on the list are Triazolam, a benzodiazepine which is used to treat insomnia. This medication can be addictive, and can increase the risk of violent behavior by about 8.7 times. Also featuring on the list are two drugs used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder- Atomoxetine with a nine times higher risk of violent crimes and amphetamines with a 9.6 times higher risk of violent behavior.  The antimalarial drug Mefoquine has a 9.5 times higher risk of violent behavior. SSRI antidepressant Paroxetine has a 10.3 times higher risk of violent behavior, while Fluoxetine or Prozac has a 10.9 times higher risk of violent behavior.

The most dangerous drug on the list as far as violent behavior is concerned is undoubtedly the antismoking medication, Chantix. This drug has already been tracked by Houston product liability lawyers has a link with violence that is about 18 times higher than for any other medication.

According to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, it plans to screen prospective jurors by going through their Facebook profiles and postings. It will use the information gained from these profiles and postings to decide whether the person is qualified to sit on a jury. This newfound trust in social media at the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office is not exactly surprising. The courtrooms in Cameron County were recently upgraded to make them WiFi-compatible. According to the DA’s office, the decision to use Facebook profiles to screen jurors has been made to give prosecutors every tool at their disposal to find a favorable jury.

Currently, prosecutors use smart phones to do a Google search on a prospective juror. The only other information that prosecutors have to work with is the name of the juror, the number of children he has, religion and the employer. Obviously, that is limited information, considering that Facebook offers a wealth of more private and personal information, including musings, thoughts, and pet peeves and so on, that could offer great insight into a jurors mindset.

However, there’s a tiny problem. Facebook profiles can now be made private, giving only some users access to the person’s private and personal information. As Houston criminal defense attorneys, we don’t understand how this tool can be used to its maximum potential if access is as limited as it currently is.

The best idea is to make sure that your Facebook profile is set to private so that only the people that you want to see your personal information can see it.  If your profile is not set to “private,” your personal and private information can be seen and used by all sorts of people including the District Attorney’s office, insurance companies, etc.

Much of the increase in DWI arrests in Texas happened because of a $2 million grant by the Department of Transportation. The grant was used to target high-risk locations for DWI. About 442 out of the total number of arrests this year were made in areas that have a high number of drunk driving accidents.

Not only that, drivers in Texas can expect to be pulled over for intoxicated driving more and more frequently over the next year. The Department of Public Safety plans to use its $2 million grant to increase its DWI enforcement efforts through 2011. There are plans to have more troopers stationed during prominent holidays, including the Fourth Of July, Labor Day and over spring break.

Texas’ strong DWI laws can result in offenders being penalized with heavy fines, community service, probation and a license suspension. As Houston DWI attorneys, we have severely criticized these laws and their lack of effectiveness. For instance, in spite of having some of the harshest anti-DWI laws in the country, Texas continues to have some of the highest drunk driving accident rates in the US. In particular, Harris County and the Houston area have substantial number of fatalities every year in drunk driving accidents. That’s proof that the state’s DWI laws are simply aimed at racking up meaningless arrest numbers, regardless of the impact to innocent drivers.

As Houston car accident attorneys, we often come across patients who have suffered a brain injury in an accident or fall. Brain injuries are some of the most life altering injuries, because they have repercussions that go beyond the physical limitations. A person with a brain injury may have his powers of concentration affected. He may suffer from a much lower attention span. There may be behavioral changes. Sometimes, these changes may be dramatic. All of these can have a profound impact on a person’s emotional and mental well-being. A brain injury can cause behavioral changes, which if not treated properly, can lead to the development of antisocial behavior or susceptibility to criminal tendencies.

What the study does show is that brain injuries in children must be taken seriously. This is true even if the child has suffered a minor concussion, which leads to a momentary lapse of consciousness. A child with a brain injury must be given access to neuropsychiatric treatment, and must be monitored carefully over the next few years. Look for falling grades, disinterest in studies, or aggressiveness at school. These could be effects of the injury.

Under the Texas Penal Code, it is a third-degree felony to possess visual images of a person below the age of 18 engaged in sexual activities. It is also a second-degree felony to possess child pornography. Under those laws, a 17-year-old boy, who receives pictures of his 17-year-old girlfriend in a nude state on his cell phone, could be charged with possession of child pornography. The teenager would be prosecuted as a felon. Conviction could result in up to 10 years in prison for possession of explicit images of a minor, or up to 20 years in prison for promotion of child pornography.

The new proposed initiative however, will result in prosecution as a misdemeanor. This would result in less severe punishment, and would also help deter teenagers from this practice.  According to Sen. Watson, and the Atty. Gen., the new legislation would give law enforcement officers the powers they need to prosecute sexting. However, sexting would be prosecuted as a less serious offense, and would lead to less severe punishment.

Sexting is rampant among teenagers, who may fail to understand the legal ramifications of these practices. Unfortunately, we also come across parents who are unaware that such practices, even though they seem harmless, still constitute a violation of the laws.

Just a few months before the nation focuses its attention on the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas during the Super Bowl, the city’s police chief is trying to create a “prostitution exclusionary zone” that will keep sex workers out of the city’s main entertainment district.  Millions of people are expected to converge on this area, during the game, and law-enforcement agencies are trying to make sure that prostitutes don’t sully the city’s image.

According to Arlington police chief Theron Bowman, areas frequented by prostitutes tend to become magnets for other kinds of crime, including burglaries, thefts and assaults.  The police chief wants the creation of a zone in the entertainment district that would specifically keep out prostitutes.  It’s a move that Houston sex crimes lawyers would find highly offensive, discriminatory and objectionable.

If a zone like this is actually created, it will be the first such zone in Texas. When the rules go into effect, Arlington prostitutes and their customers will be arrested if they are found inside the zone.  In other words, the police want to make it expensive for prostitutes to ply their trade in this area.

So, exactly what is this prostitution-free zone that the Arlington police wants to create?  According to their research, most prostitutes are concentrated north of Abrams Street between Centers and Collins Street.  The zone will also include a stretch of Texas 360 between Lamar Boulevard and Avenue J.  The Arlington police department has come up with these areas based on the number of prostitution offenses committed there over the past four years.

Under the proposed ordinance, anyone who has been convicted of a prostitution offense in the past couple of years will be informed that they are not allowed within the proposed exclusionary zone for at least one year.  To make things clear, these people will also be provided a map that shows the boundaries of the exclusion zone, as well as a list of reasons that would allow them to visit the zone.  For instance, a doctor’s visit would count as reason enough for a former prostitute to visit the zone.  Persons, who violate these zone rules without a valid reason, would be charged with a class C misdemeanor.

This year, the country’s highest court made several revisions to the Miranda warnings.  The court did not make any changes to the actual wording of the Miranda rights, although it did approve one version that is being used in some parts of Florida.  That Florida version goes like this:

You have the right to talk to a lawyer before answering any of our questions.  If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed for you without cost and before any questioning.  You have the right to use any of these rights at any time you want during this interview.

Criminal defense lawyers in Florida argued that this version of the warnings did not make it clear to suspects that they could have a lawyer present WHILE the police was questioning them.  But the 7-2 Supreme Court majority obviously did not agree.

There are other more serious changes to the Miranda rights.  For the first time, a suspect’s request for an attorney is only good for about 14 days from the time he is released from custody.  Once those 14 days are up, police officers can question the suspect again without having to repeat his Miranda rights, and without doing anything unconstitutional.

In yet another change, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that suspects who want to remain silent, must inform the police that they intend to remain silent.  In other words, suspects who want to remain silent, must inform the police that they intend to remain silent, and thus, break their silence.  It’s enough to make your head spin.

If you have been charged with a crime, or have questions about criminal legal issues, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm for a free legal consultation by calling 713-226-9900.

According to the report, the number of deaths in local prisons in the United States increased from 905 in the year 2000, to 1,103 in 2007. In all, between 2000 and 2007, there were 8,110 deaths in custody. The mortality rate in prisons decreased from 152 per 100,000 inmates, to 141 per 100,000 inmates. During this period of time, the prison inmate operation increased by 31%. More than half of all prison deaths took place within a month after the inmate entered the prison.

More than half of all deaths in local prisons were due to illnesses including AIDS. Among these, heart disease was the number one cause of death among inmates, with 42 % of prison inmates dying from cardiac disease.

The one statistic that jumps out from the study is the fact that suicide is the #1 cause of unnatural death among prison inmates. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of all unnatural prison deaths were linked to suicide.  This was even as the overall suicide rate among prison inmates declined from 49 per 100,000 inmates in 2002, to 36 per 100,000 in 2007.  Suicide also seems to be a much bigger factor in prison deaths in smaller local jails, than in large prisons. In prisons which had 50 or fewer inmates, the suicide rate was 159 per 100,000 inmates, while in some of the largest prisons, the rate was just 27 per 1,000 inmates. In fact, after the researchers adjusted for age, sex and race differences, they found that suicide as a cause of death increased at a much higher pace in US prisons than in the US general population. What this indicates is that prison inmates are committing suicide at a rate that’s increasing faster than the suicide risk for the general population.

According to the New York Times, sobriety education in classrooms-something we champion-is not such a great way to drive home the “don’t drink and drive” message. Results from sobriety education programs have not been as effective.  We don’t believe that there is sufficient reason for educational institutions to stop offering these programs to their students. Even if these programs can save one life or prevent one teenager from going on to become a binge drinker or repeat drunk driving offender for life, it’ll be worth it.

However, education seems to be more effective when the parents are involved. This is something we definitely agree with. We would encourage all parents in Houston to have free and honest discussions with their children about alcohol-related excesses.

A DWI offense on your record can seriously the impact the college you attend, or the kind of job you get, and will follow you around for the rest of your life. Besides, you are a serious danger to other motorists, if you drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Other measures like advertising campaigns and other forms of social marketing, as well as warning labels on alcohol, have not been found to be that effective. That is not so surprising to us. These measures may be effective in the short term, but it’s hard for the message to stay ingrained in your mind for months or years after.

Ultimately, we would encourage schools to keep the focus on not drinking and driving, and parents to continue talking openly with their kids about drunk driving, in order to avoid Houston DWI license suspensions, and drunk driving accidents.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an alcohol-related accident or arrested for DWI or other alcohol-related offense, contact the Husband & Wife Legal Team at The Kahn Law Firm today for a free consultation at 713-226-9900 or toll free 1-877–226-9940.