Trial Begins for Former State Representative and HHS Official Accused of DWI
AUSTIN -- More than three years after he was originally arrested, Jack Stick, a former state representative and previous inspector general for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, went on trial Friday for a drunk-driving charge he has fiercely contested in the court system.
Stick was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated on September 11, 2012. Since then, he and his lawyer have fought the charges at every step, attempting to bar the results of his blood tests from the trial and questioning whether there was probable cause to arrest him in the first place. Travis County Judge Nancy Hohengarten ruled against Stick on both counts and allowed the trial, which is expected to continue after the weekend, to proceed.
Stick resigned from HHSC in December amidst controversy after it was reported that, while he was the agency's deputy inspector general, he’d helped arrange multi-million dollar contracts with no competitive bidding process between the agency and an Austin technology company. Stick was promoted to inspector general after his original arrest.
Greg Burton, the assistant Travis County district attorney prosecuting the case, told jurors they should focus on Stick’s blood alcohol level (BAC) on the night of his arrest — but declined to say what Stick’s BAC actually was. His BAC was “so powerful,” Burton said, that he’s saving it for the end of his presentation.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/09/18/former-hhs-lawyer-stands-trial-dwi-charge/
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