Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

April 9, 2008

Texas DWI Officer Training- Don’t Learn Too Much

Texas trains DWI officers with the NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Student Testing Manual. The NHTSA SFST Manual is the national standard for DWI enforcement. Every DWI defense lawyer should own a copy.

The manual includes, inter alia, training on how an officer should testify in court. DWI officers are professional witnesses, trained and paid to speak in court. Some of the manual’s tips are pretty mundane; read the police report beforehand, listen carefully, take your time, speak clearly. Not too exiting.

Training Officers To Be Ignorant

April 7, 2008

Chinese Criminal Defense Lawyers Need Our Help

by Robert Guest

The 2008 Olympics are upon us. While I am not a huge Olympics fan I do enjoy the scrutiny China is facing over their horrible human rights record.

What is not talked about as much is the persecution of criminal defense lawyers in China. Human Rights in China is promoting awareness of the abuse, arrest, and harassment of defense lawyers in China. From HRIC

The detention or harassment of lawyers in China for providing a zealous defense of their clients is of serious concern. More serious, however, are reports of physical attacks carried out on lawyers in China. In 2007, lawyers continued to be targeted for attacks. For example, Li Heping (李和平), a Beijing-based rights-defense lawyer, was kidnapped, beaten, and tortured with electric rods by a group of unidentified masked men on September 29, 2007, the weekend before National Day celebrations in China. Li was held in a basement outside Beijing until early September 30, when he was dumped in the woods outside the city. As he was beaten, Li was told to leave Beijing with his family or face the consequences. When he returned home, Li discovered that his license to practice law and other personal belongings were missing. His computer had also been completely erased.

April 7, 2008

Pushingback.com, Steven Colbert- Comedy, Tragedy and Stupidity Collide

by Robert Guest

Pushingback.com is the “blog” for ONDCP, the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They are a full time propaganda outlet for the War on Drugs. Unlike real blogs PB does not allow user comments. PB also rarely creates any original content. They mostly link and post to articles they see as supporting Prohibition.

I have a fairly low of opinion of Prohibition propagandists. They are humorless moral busybodies with a skill set that makes them only fit for government work.

PB reinforces my beliefs almost daily. Today’s post is a classic. Here it is, verbatim

April 6, 2008

DMN Letter, I-45 Speep Trap, Jury Nullification- Sunday Roundup

by Robert Guest

Jury Nullification-I wrote a piece for a local news outlet on jury nullification. I’ll post a link when it runs.

Here is the short version-

JN is the power of juries to acquit to prevent injustice. JN allows juries to determine if a law should apply or be enforced.

April 3, 2008

Dallas Marijuana, DWI/ALR, and Texas Meth Laws- You Search, I Answer

by Robert Guest

Sitemeter makes it easy to browse the Google searches of my readers. Here are some recent search terms that led readers to DCDLB (formerly IWTS).

where to buy marijuana in dallas?

Reader, no one in America buys, sells, or uses marijuana. Our dear leaders in the federal government have declared that marijuana is verboten. Americans would never violate our divinely inspired federal drugs laws. I would be shocked if marijuana is for sale in Dallas, shocked!

April 3, 2008

American Drug War- Cocaine and the CIA

by Robert Guest

American Drug War is a briliant documentary now playing on Showtime. ADW exposes the history and hyprocrisy of the drug war. It is a much see for any drug war supporter, or opponent.

CIA/Cocaine

I have always taken CIA/Cocaine conspiracy theories with a grain of salt. I believe that government power is almost certain to be corrupted, and the drug war is morally bankrupt. However, the idea that the CIA would actually work with drug cartels struck me as impropable if not incredulous. ADW investigates this dark alliance.

April 2, 2008

Dallas Morning News Drug War Editorial Formula

by Robert Guest

The Dallas Morning News Editorial board has a troubling history of drug war cheer leading. Today’s editorial calls for supporting Bush’s new Plan Meridia. Plan Meridia aims to fight the drug cartels in Mexcio by sending billions in cash and equipment to the Mexican government. Bush foreign policy combined with billions in federal giveaways- how could that not work?

Seriously, this editorial is such drivel that Pushingback.com has proudly linked to it. ( is there not a law that prevents federal agencies from lobbying for specific bills etc?)

Bush foreign policy combined with billions in federal giveaways- how could that not work?

April 1, 2008

Drew Carey on Illegal Immigration

by Robert Guest

Reason.tv hits another homerun with this video on illegal immigration. Drew and I both believe that we should welcome all peaceful people into America. The xeno mania sweeping Texas has led me to add a page for Non Residents on my new website.

Criminal defense lawyers have a history of standing up for the politically powerless. I’m proud to fight for all defendants no matter where they were born. Federal immigration is merely a reflection of which special interest groups bribed Congress last. Why we should violate the Golden Rule to enforce morally bankrupt federal immigration law is beyond me.

March 31, 2008

Dallas Police vs. Latino Nightclub Bouncers

by Robert Guest

Dallas Police teamed up with federal ICE agents to raid Latino nightclubs over the weekend. 50 illegal immigrants were arrested. It is unclear if any had a record. 4 guns were recovered.

What were these illegal immigrants doing that posed such a threat to Dallasites? Working… as security guards… at nightclubs. Hit the xeno panic alarm!! Mexicans are coming to take our bouncer jobs!! Mr. Watkins proudly sums up the operation with this quote-

“Hopefully, this operation will help us send a message that we will not tolerate the falsification of documents for undocumented aliens under the guise of providing security,” Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said.

March 30, 2008

Austin Drug Dog Expert- Victory Story

by Robert Guest

Drug dog expert Steven Nicely helped to defeat a possession case in Nebraska. Based on Nicely’s testimony the court found a drug dog to not be reliable. Steven was kind enough to grant me an interview.

1. Tell us about the case.

Case involved a dog team from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Ne, in which approximately 10 pounds of cocaine was seized. The vehicle was stopped because the officer/dog handler believed some defect with its temporary plate. Handler spent over 30 minutes interviewing the driver and passenger before deploying the dog. This was not necessary the entire incident could have been complete in less than 10 minutes after contact with the driver.