Rockwall Criminal Defense Lawyer

January 4, 2019

Can I get a CHL with a DWI conviction?

Texans love guns. We love booze. We live in a state with crappy public transportation. The result? A lot of people with concealed handgun licenses (CHL) get arrested for DWI in Texas. And a lot of people who want to get a CHL have a DWI conviction on their record.

The answer is no, you can’t get a CHL after a DWI conviction, at least for a while.

A misdemeanor DWI conviction will disqualify you from getting a CHL for a period of 5 years. Don’t take my word for it. Here is a DPS statement on the subject

December 1, 2016

Rockwall Municipal Court- Don’t just pay the ticket!

by Robert Guest

So you’ve got a ticket case in Rockwall and you want to take care of it. No one really has time to spend fighting a ticket case, so many people who get a citation just pay the ticket. Let me tell you why that’s not a great legal strategy.

Paying a ticket means being convicted. Now if your case is in Rockwall Muni court, then it is a class C misdemeanor. The most commonly litigated class C misdemeanors are traffic tickets. If you have a CDL, you don’t want any convictions. It really screws up your ability to CDL. If you have a regular license to convictions can screw up your license and insurance. If you just pay the ticket, guess what? You just got convicted.

There are also common non-traffic cases heard in Rockwall Municipal Court like

November 22, 2016

Do I have to show up for misdemeanor court in Rockwall or Kaufman County? Can my lawyer appear for me?

by Robert Guest

One way the criminal justice system breaks defendants into pleading is by wasting their time. Nowhere is this more evident than in making a defendant appear for a misdemeanor announcement PNC (plea negotiation conference), or first setting.

In Kaufman and Rockwall County (think the counties east of Dallas), the judges require defendants to attend all misdemeanor settings. What’s wrong with that? Let’s talk about the first setting in a misdemeanor case.

90% of the time at the first setting I have not received discovery yet. We usually pick this up in court and sign for it at the first setting. Not having discovery means I haven’t reviewed discovery. If I haven’t reviewed the discovery, then I can’t do anything on your case. If I can’t do anything on your case then we have to reset it (also called a pass). Which means you, the defendant is going to sit there for an hour while all this happens. We used to be able to appear for our clients on first settings in Kaufman County, but that’s gone away as a thing.

July 30, 2014

Rockwall Municipal Court

by Robert Guest

As you should be aware Guest and Gray’s criminal defense team has an office in Rockwall now. We don’t handle a lot of ticket level offenses, but I spent an hour in the Rockwall Municipal Court this afternoon and thought I’d share the experience.

Where is the Rockwall Municipal Court?

Well, it’s no longer near downtown, and your GPS may not put in the right location unless you use the 2860 Williams Street Address instead of 2860 Highway 66. Here’s

July 26, 2014

A Detective called and wants me to come in for an interview, what should I do?

by Robert Guest

So a detective has called you up and invited you down to the local police sheriff’s department for an interview? When you arrive they will tell you that you are free to go at any time, and that they just want to get your side of the story. THIS IS A TRAP. Here’s how it works.

First, they only tell that you are free to go so they do not have to Mirandize you. You have to be under arrest and/or in custody for your Miranda warnings to apply. By telling you that you are free to go, they can ask whatever they want without telling you about your right to remain silent, or right to end questioning, or right to have an attorney present. They do this because the do not want you to have a lawyer there. They want to trick you into confessing.

Second, the “get your side of the story” line is meant to diffuse your anxiety. The detective wants you to think that they are going to help you and that they have an open mind as to what you tell them. Here’s the deal, before you show up the detective has already decided if they think you are guilty. Nothing you say will change their mind. They are going to take parts of your story that fit their theory of how are you guilty and assume those are true, they are also going to assuming you are lying if you make statements that don’t fit their theory that you are guilty. It is a lose-lose situation.

June 4, 2014

Rockwall DWI Investigations, Just Say No

by Robert Guest

Potential Rockwall DWI clients are usually surprised to learn that they havd the right to refuse to participate in their DWI investigation. All you are required to do is provide your license and insurance. If you’ve been drinking at the Harbor and get pulled over you’re going to jail anyway. It’s just going to happen. Not getting arrested isn’t the goal, the goal is to not give the State fake junk science evidence (field balancing tests) they will use to convict of DWI (and DWI is the most expensive misdemeanor conviction in Texas).

That’s right, in Texas you do not have to answer any questions, including the most common DWI questions such as

– where you are going

April 18, 2014

State Jail Felony Drug Possession Cases

by Robert Guest

Have you been arrested for a State Jail felony drug possession in case in Dallas, Rockwall, or Kaufman County? Are you currently a recreational meth, coke or heroin user? Here is what you need to know.Possession of small amounts (less than one gram) of street drugs (coke, meth, heroin but not weed or some pills) is a State Jail felony in Texas.

What is a State Jail felony? Good question. Let’s start with that.

State Jail felonies are the lowest degree of felony in Texas, but it can still leave you as a convicted felon which has life altering consequences. The range of punishment for a SJF is between 6 months and 2 years in a State Jail unit. But here’s the good news, the State Jail system was originally designed to make drug addicts sit in jail until they were cured, so there is no parole from State Jail. But the State Jails filled up too fast and cost the State too much money, so if you have no prior State Jail drug cases then you are going to be looking at probation.

August 31, 2013

“No-Refusal” Labor Day Weekend In Fort Worth

by Robert Guest

It’s another No-Refusal weekend across the Metroplex. That means cops are going to seek blood warrant, and hold you down and take your blood vampire style. Murica!

First, let’s remember how we got here. The legislator passed laws limiting the ability of officer’s to hold you down and steal your blood.That wasn’t good enough for our convict-at-all-costs prosecutors, who got activist judges to effecitvely destroy the protections that were in place.

So now officers will fax their fill-in-the-blank warrants to friendly Judge Rubberstamp to take your blood, because the system needs arrests so we can justify more government employees and higher budgets fora agencies.

August 28, 2013

Rockwall Criminal Defense Lawyers- Guest and Gray

by Robert Guest

Pardon the generic title, but I need the internet to know that the Guest and Gray Rockwall Criminal Defense office is for business. Our firm been taking cases in Rockwall for years and we decided it would better serve our clients to open an office there.

If you are searching for a Rockwall criminal defense lawyer let me take this moment to introduce myself. I’m Robert Guest, Chief of the Criminal Defense Division. I’ve been blogging about criminal defense for a few years now. There is some great information available on the left, sorted by category. I’m a true believer member of the NORML legal committee. I think it’s insane and immoral that we arrest pot smokers, sellers, retailers, dealers etc. So if you are charged with a drug crime and want a lawyer who won’t judge you and thinks the drug war is a crime against humanity, consider our firm (and check out my War on Drugs posts).

I’ve been working criminal cases for a decade now. I prosecuted for 2 years, and my former blog was called “I Was The State”, which morphed into this blog. Being a former prosecutor has some advantages, but really it’s overrated. Clients like to know that you use to prosecute, but prosecuting doesn’t teach you anything about defending a case at trial, or investigating a case. It does offer some insight into criminal law, law enforcement, and it gives you a chance to watch some good defense lawyers try cases. Looking back on it, prosecuting was the easiest job I ever had as an attorney.