By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal
(972) 369-0577
Defending intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter is heavy lifting for lawyers and not just anyone can do it.
Like any other major criminal case, it requires attention to detail, the ability to compartmentalize the human components of the case, and the ability to thoroughly analyze the mountains of evidence as a baseline.
On top of that — a lawyer must have an advanced background in defending not only severe car accident cases requiring reconstruction; but more importantly defending intoxication charges which involve science ranging from chemistry to physiology, to pharmacology.
Intoxicated assault is governed by Texas Penal Code 49.07 and Intoxicated Manslaughter is under 49.08. In those cases in Texas, the state must prove that the accused caused the serious bodily injury (intoxicated assault) or the death of a person (intoxicated manslaughter) by reason of that intoxication…
The language of those statutes seems very simple but in practice are highly complex. The statue must show (1) intoxication as defined by Texas Penal Code Chapter 49; (2) and that but for the defendant’s intoxicated state — the injury or accident would not have occurred. This normally implies that the accident was the fault of the intoxicated driver.
*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice. For legal advice about any circumstance you should contact an attorney directly. Communications sent through this forum are not considered privileged or confidential nor do they create an attorney-client relationship.