A longtime KSAT 12 sports director charged with DWI has hired an expert in defending such cases.
Greg Simmons, who was arrested Friday and released the same day, retained Louis D. Martinez.
Arrest records also indicate that Simmons was not given any special conditions, such as requiring an ignition interlock device, prior to his release on a personal recognizance bond of $1,000. An ignition interlocking device requires a driver to provide a breath sample showing they are not intoxicated to enable the car to be started; judges commonly order one as a condition of release following DWI arrests.
An arraignment in Simmons’ case is set for Feb. 28, according to court records.
Simmons was pulled over early Friday morning after Bexar County deputies responded to reports that he had been drifting from side to side. According to an arrest report, a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy observed Simmons driving erratically before he came to a stop on Evans Road near TPC Parkway on the far North Side.
It took five minutes for Simmons to pull over after a deputy signaled him to do so, a report states. He had trouble maintaining focus and believed he was driving on U.S. 281, investigators said. He also gave the deputy a gold American Express card when asked for his license.
Simmons struggled to recite the alphabet during a field sobriety test, the report states. A breath sample could not be obtained, but a blood test was done to determine his blood alcohol level, the sheriff’s office said.
Chris Porter, a spokesman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, said that as of Monday, there was no investigation into the bar that served Simmons, the Green Lantern. But that could change depending on the evidence that becomes available.
In most cases, Porter said, the TABC only gets involved in DWI-related investigations if there is serious injury or a fatality, or in cases where a single location is suspected of contributing to multiple DWIs over time.
Recently, the TABC began an investigation into Evil Olive, the bar that served District 10 City Councilman Clayton Perry on Nov. 6. That night, Perry was arrested for DWI following a hit-and-run crash. He allegedly consumed 14 alchoholic beverages at the bar in four hours, according to police.
Martinez is a partner at the small downtown law firm Price & Martinez. The firm has two to five lawyers, according to information on file with the State Bar of Texas.
Martinez became a partner there in 2009, according to his LinkedIn profile. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1995 and went on to Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and government in 1995. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin in 2002.
In a statement Friday on Simmons’ DWI arrest, KSAT asked other news organizations to “respect the privacy of all involved and refrain from speculation or conjecture.”
It continued: “We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as they become available.”
jbeltran@express-news.net