Legal Question in DUI Law in Texas

Dwi

My brother in jail waiting to go to safep. Been waiting 2mths The county he is in is hard on DWIs. Had to request safep, wasnt offered. They wanted to give him 6 years hard time. Been told by a probation officer in another county they are moving offenders out to safep wkly. Brothers probation officer is over safep but has not come to see him, states he will, but doesnt come. Can you please inform me on what can be done to get the process started. The only trouble my brother has been in is for DWI's nothing else. I am starting to become concerned about the time it is taking simply because of the county he is in has such a reputation for being hard on drunk drivers. Can you help?


Asked on 4/07/08, 9:30 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

ERICK PLATTEN LAW OFFICE OF ERICK PLATTEN

Re: Dwi

Hello there,

Unfortunately, he is going to have to wait for a bed to become available before they will send him to SAFEP.

It�s actually best for him to remain incarcerated at this time so he doesn't go out and re-offend.

Or he could go back to the judge and ask him to reconsider his punishment. If he were to accept the six years TDCJ time he would become eligible for parole after eight months. And after his release from prison he would be on parole for the remainder of his sentence. Parole is much easier than probation.

The SAFEP program usually lasts 8 months and then you have to go to a halfway house when you get out. You have to do all these things for the program and he isn't getting any credit for this time if he does something to revoke his probation.

So he could essentially go through the program and do all this time and then mess up on probation and if he is revoked he would be wouldn't have received credit for any of the time he is currently doing now or while at SAFEP.

If my office can be of any assistance or if you have any further questions feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Erick Platten

PLATTEN LAW OFFICE

STATE WIDE REPRESENTATION

9035939100 OFFICE

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Answered on 4/07/08, 2:14 pm
John Armstrong The Law Office of John W. Armstrong

Re: Dwi

I am sorry, but while I agree Mr. Platten, your brother will need to wait, the SAFEP program from start to finish takes approximately a year and one half from start to finish. Probation's claim now will be that they are waiting on a bed to become available and for your brother to be dried out and sober by the time he gets there. While Mr. Platten is correct about your brother being eligible for parole in about 6 months if he took the sentence, it has been my experience that individuals convicted of felony DWI will do almost half to 3/4 quarters of their time in IDTDCJ. In other words, he would be there from 3 to 5 years before getting paroled. There have been occasions when they get so overcrowded that inmates will parole earlier, but that has not happened in awhile. I have been told by experts that the SAFEP program is a good program if he wants to dry out and guit drinking.

However, if I or my office can be of assistance to you please let me know.

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Answered on 4/07/08, 3:09 pm


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