Well Aren't They Special

Well Aren't They Special

  

Erica Hansen

    Austin, Tx. Feb.8,2016
    This past weekend a Travis County prosecutor Erika Hansen was arrested for DWI.  At 1:30a.m. Sunday police were called to a crash site on East Seventh St. and Waller. When they arrived they found  Ms. Hansen had hit a parked car.
     A witness who saw the accident and called it in said Ms. Hansen attempted to leave the scene of the accident. When they approached her they smelled alcohol and gave her a field sobriety test as well as a blood test. Her blood level was 0.19 which is twice the legal limit. She was taken to jail and booked. At around 4:12p.m. she was released on her own recognizance. On Monday she was back to work in the prosecutors office where she works prosecuting felony domestic violence cases.
     Eight months ago another high profile case from the same district attorney's office began. District attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated. She is Travis County's top prosecutor. She is also back to work and is doing the job she was elected to do.
     In March of 2015 state District Judge Gisel Triana was charged with DWI.  She stated she had four drinks that night while dining at Zax Restaurant and Bar with another judge, defense attorneys, and prosecutors. Triana was pulled over about 2 miles from the restaurant for speeding. She was doing 17 miles over the speed limit. The officers said her eyes were glassy and she smelled strongly of alcohol. When Triana performed the field sobriety test she stopped at one point and said she lost track of her steps and wanted to start over again. She also refused to give a breathalyzer test. Triana later agreed to a blood test which the results were never released.
     Triana was booked and released 8 hours later, Triana was elected to the 200th district court a decade ago; She replaced Judge Wilfred Aguilar who resigned after he faced a state judicial review for his arrest for DWI. If these people had not been court officials or children of one they would have had to face jail time.Yet they didn't, they were allowed to go back to work and continue on with there everyday schedule.
     In Texas, as in many other places, there are double standards depending on what side of the law you are on.