Rafael Martinez, JD

Yo crecí en Pleasant Grove. Mi apá trabajaba dos trabajos — construcción en el día, bodegas por la noche. Cuando yo tenía 17, mi hermano mayor se estacionó mal después del trabajo. El oficial olió cerveza. Primera ofensa DWI.

Nadie nos explicó lo que un DWI significa cuando eres residente. Pagamos $2,500 a un abogado que nunca contestó el teléfono. Firmamos una deferred adjudication porque no entendimos las consecuencias. Mi hermano todavía lidia con eso — en su trabajo, en su seguro, en el DMV, cada vez que se renueva su green card.

I went to SMU, worked three jobs, paid my own way. Then I did something that surprised everyone — I became a prosecutor. Three years in the Dallas DA’s DWI unit. I wanted to see exactly how the other side thinks. How they build these cases. What they’re looking for. What they miss.

I prosecuted hundreds of DWIs. Now I defend them. Same playbook — different side.

I switched to defense in 2014 because of what I saw from inside the DA’s office: too many working people signing plea deals they didn’t understand, losing more than they had to lose. A DWI is never “just” a DWI. It touches your license, your insurance, your job, your papers, your family. If you’re not citizen-born, it can touch whether you stay in the country.

I take first-offense DWIs on flat fee. I offer payment plans. I return your calls. I explain in the language you speak at home. And when a case is outside my lane — felony, intoxication manslaughter, complex immigration removal — I send you to someone better, because I’d rather lose your business than lose your case.

Defensa Martinez is what I wish my family had called in 2004.
— Rafael Martinez, JD