San Antonio Legal Blog

Texas sees its fair share of accidents in which a vehicle goes off the roadway and crashes into a building. The people inside the home or business sometimes escape serious injury due to being protected by the structure. In one recent incident, however, circumstances took a twist that resulted in serious personal injuries to the occupants and may have raised insurance issues.

On Saturday afternoon, April 7, a 40-year-old man lost command of his vehicle and crashed into a private home in Hurst, which is about 12 miles northeast of Fort Worth. The Hurst Police Department reported that the vehicle severed a gas line inside the home, causing an explosion that rattled the whole house and brought neighbors outside. The three inhabitants were a couple and their minor son.

One of the biggest drawbacks of having a drunk driving conviction on your record is the way it can affect your future employability. Texas employers normally are not permitted to discriminate against prospective new-hires, but this isn't the case when someone has a bad mark on his or her criminal record.

Since Texas employers can legally choose not to hire you because you have a DWI conviction on your record, you may want to take your DWI defense seriously. However, what if you've already been convicted? What should you know about background checks?

The traditional way that child support is handled in Texas is for the noncustodial parent to pay the custodial parent a certain amount on a monthly basis. This is calculated based on tables published by the state. They consider both parents' income, their expenses and other relevant factors. If the parents do not agree on the amount under the auspices of the county child support department, a hearing is scheduled in front of a family court judge and a support amount is ordered after the presentation of evidence.

However, some modifications in that general scenario are occurring due to evolving changes in family law philosophy. Here in Texas and in most states, there is now a prevailing policy that favors shared or joint custody of the minor children. This creates an equality of rights and duties of the parents that carries over also to child support determinations. It does not mean that each parent gets exactly 50 percent of the time with the child, but it does do away with  the concept of primary physical custody and sets up a joint sharing arrangement.

Drug arrests in Texas must comport with all state and federal constitutional mandates. Whenever there is a drug arrest, criminal defense counsel must investigate the police procedures in detail to evaluate whether any violations occurred. In a recent arrest of five people in Bowie County, these principles will be important to determine whether any of the accused persons has a viable defense to the drug charges filed by the authorities.

County deputies allege that they received a tip that a suspect would be delivering methamphetamine to a certain address in Texarkana. Deputies say that they surveilled the location and saw a vehicle that fit the description given to them. They reportedly stopped the car for speeding. After making the stop, they say that they got permission to search the person's car and person.