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How long did it take to pick the jury? How long did it take the State to put on their case? How many days did it take after the State rested? Was it the State that took up most of the time or your lawyer? It just blows me away that it would take that long to try a DWI. I’m not doubting what you are saying or anything, I’m just amazed that it could take that long or that a judge would allow it to go on that long. I can’t recall there ever being a criminal jury trial that took a whole week in my county, not even death penalty trials and/or trials involving multiple defendants and multiple charges. I know of one criminal jury trial in another county in my state that lasted two weeks once, and there have probably been a few others that may have been as long or maybe even a little longer, but these were serious complex cases involving a lot of people. I can’t imagine any judges ever allowing a DWI trial to go on for a whole week in my state.

It was a long time ago.. so... some of these details I don’t remember for sure.., but I’ll try.

I honestly do not remember any ‘jury selection’... maybe we did that. I’ve been on jury panels.. so, I know what that entails. Maybe, we did that. But, I sure don’t remember. Seems to me like, they just brought a jury in... then, we swapped them. Maybe we did.... I vaguely remember us striking a couple of people. But, if we did... it wasn’t a long process.

I think, our presentation took most of the day Mon and Tuesday. The State went on Wednesday.... then, closed. When my attorney requested dismissal, the judge recessed until Thursday. I think, we didn’t go very long on Thursday...., but the closing were set for Friday morning. The closings were short... the jury was out for, maybe 30 minutes.. however long it took to get the transcript back. It was not long after that... maybe 10 minutes??

My lawyer did do quite a lot of questioning... he had the two officers each on the stand for more than an hour. I think, my own testimony was fairly short.. maybe, an hour? The experts were each on the stand for a pretty long time... I would guess, 1-2 hours each.

In no way, was this a ‘normal’ DWI trial.. even then. Heck, VERY FEW ever even went to trial. A few months after my case, the Texas Legislature passed a new law that forced Judges to stipulate Breathalyzer readings to the jury... meaning, they COULD NOT be questioned in court. I don’t really know how things went after that.... I lost interest.