Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of January 03, 2011

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Alami v. State,   No. 02-09-00151-CR    (Jan. 6, 2011)   (Meier, J., joined by Walker, J.; Daupinot, J., concurs with opinion).  [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]

Held:   Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Alami committed felony DWI and, in the course of and in furtherance of the commission of felony DWI, committed an act clearly dangerous to human life when he caused the speeding Lexus to contact Teel's vehicle, which resulted in Alami's losing control of his vehicle and caused the vehicle to ultimately collide with a concrete barrier, causing Kumar's death.

Concurrence:   Instead of forcing the State to rely on driving facts to prove both felony DWI and an act clearly dangerous to human life in order to convict a defendant of felony murder, the legislature should consider modifying the range of punishment available under the intoxication manslaughter statute for defendants with prior DWI convictions.

Farhat v. State,   No. 02-10-00030-CR    (Jan. 6, 2011)   (Walker, J., joined by Dauphinot and Gabriel, JJ.).

Held:    The trial court committed harmful error by denying Farhat's motion to suppress blood evidence seized with a warrant because the affidavit underlying the search warrant did not provide the issuing magistrate with a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed that Farhat was intoxicated.

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