By Samantha Smith
Hays County Court at Law No. 2 Judge David Glickler, arrested for DWI in Hays County in May 2015, is set to go to trial in May after waiving his right to a trial by jury.
Glickler, 46, was arrested after going Southbound on I-35 just after the Yarington Road exit in San Marcos around 11:30 p.m. on May 26, 2015.
Hays County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Terreo wrote in an arresting affidavit that Glickler was initially pulled over because he was exceeding the 70 miles per hour (mph) speed limit on IH-35.
In the affidavit, Glickler was driving at 79 mph and failed to signal when switching lanes, as well as failing to stay in a single lane.
Terreo said in the affidavit that he smelled alcohol when he was approaching the vehicle and that it was more pronounced on Glickler’s breath when he spoke.
According to Terreo’s account of the arrest in the affidavit, Glickler appeared to be “nervous and frustrated.” Glickler also displayed signs of intoxication, such as bloodshot, watery eyes, a flushed face, and profuse sweating.
When asked about his destination, Glickler allegedly told Terreo that he was headed home to Buda after drinking a few beers at a friend’s house a few hours prior to the traffic stop.
Concerned that Glickler was over the legal limit, Terreo asked Glickler to exit his vehicle and move to the rear of the vehicle to administer Standardized Field Sobriety tests to determine if Glickler was intoxicated.
According to the affidavit, Glickler stumbled to the rear of the vehicle and refused to perform one of the three sobriety tests, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, the most accurate field test to determine intoxication.
He displayed three out of four clues for intoxication during the One Leg Stand Test, and four out of eight clues during the Walk and Turn test. Terreo arrested Glickler for DWI.
Glickler also refused to take a blood or breathalyzer test to determine intoxication, the affidavit reports.
According to a May 2015 report by the Austin American Statesman, this is not the first alcohol related arrest on Glickler’s record.
In 2004, Glickler was arrested after driving backwards on a one-way street in Travis County and refused to take a breathalyzer test at that time as well.
Glickler, a former prosecutor in the State Attorney General’s Office, had only been on the bench in Hays County for seven months before his arrest.
The Hays Free Press reached out to Russ Savlatura, Glickler’s attorney, for comment about the resaons he waived his right to a jury trial.
Savlatura was unable to comment on the matter.
