I have never been one to toot my own horn but I have to this time. In light of John Bradley's recent posting on BTR and the new statistics that gave Texas grade of a 'C-' I got a great deal of satisfaction this week with a jury verdict. I had a felony DWI double enhanced and the defense wore me out trying to get me to place his client on probation, send him to SAFPF and he would go back to Kentucky, never to darken the borders of the Texas. I did offer to drop an enhancement paragraph and plead him to 20 years but that was turned down flat. There was absolutely no way I was ever going to offer probation. You ask why? Well, this was the defendant's 10th DWI and he had already been to the pen twice for DWI!!! Not to mention that he was driving north in the southbound lane of Hwy 67 at 3:00 a.m.; a cement truck had to take evasive action to miss him; the defendant failed SFSTs at scene; had no DL but did have his TDCJ parole ID; urinated on himself; passed out in the back of the patrol car; and refused the BT. Okay, I know you have been waiting for the jury verdict. It took them 10 minutes to convict and they then sentenced him to 60 YEARS!!!:D

Thanks. That is good work, and a lot of folks -- including us who have lost loved ones to wrong-way drunks -- appreciate that some truly innocent lives have probably been saved by what you have done....Great work.

What about a deadly weapon finding?

Unfortunately no. There will be one on any of my future indictments. Does anybody have a guess as to how long the defendant will actually spend in TDCJ?

I would hope at least 15 years. Be sure and have them put your name on the parole contact list so you can give feedback when the time comes. Texas may have a low grade but talented Prosecutors are NOT the problem.

R.Alpert

Can I borrow one of your jury panels for about a week?