Posts Tagged ‘Mark Bennet’

Justified Shooting

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

[update: Thanks to David Hardy of Arms and the Law for the link.]

Keep in mind, as you read what follows, that I am not a lawyer, just a citizen trying his best to understand the rules I’m expected to live under.

Mark Bennett, a criminal defense lawyer here in Houston, on his blog Defending People, forwards “notes from the portion of DEA training dealing with the use of deadly force. [My source] tells me that the students would be given certain fact patterns and told to stand up in class and respond with the exact phrases described in the notes to justify a shooting.”

This is life-and-death crucial, but very long, so I’m reproducing the whole thing, with my comments, below the fold: (more…)

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Posted in Cops, Drug War, Fighting Back, First Responders, Guns and Ammo, Militia, Self-defense | 1 Comment »

Nobody Said Defending Your Rights Would Be Easy

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Over at Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer, Mark Bennet explains why you should never agree to take an alcohol breath test in Texas:

In Texas, the administrative license suspension for refusing to blow is 180 days. We frequently beat the ALR suspension. If we don’t, an occupational license is available.

The administrative license suspension for blowing and failing is 90 days. But a failed breathalyzer gives the government a lot more leverage at trial. And in Texas a first DWI is a criminal offense that’ll significantly restrict your liberty, give you a lifelong criminal record, and cost you a whole lot of money (H/T Austin DWI defense lawyer Ken Gibson).

So if you knew you were going to blow higher than .08, you might rationally decide that the improved chance of beating the DWI was worth the possible extra 90 days of driving on an occupational license.

This extends an earlier post, in which he explains the breath tester in use here in Texas, the  Intoxilyzer 5000, has a 25% margin of error.

And here, he explains why the whole DWI thing is ridiculous anyway: DWI is a victimless crime. Sure, it makes you more likely to cause injury, but in fact, most of the time it doesn’t.

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Posted in Drug War, Law, Political Correctness | 1 Comment »