Arrested Brownwood Hit-and-Run Suspect's Attorney Denies Wrongdoing in Pre-Trial Diversion Agreements

BROWN COUNTY, TX – In a previous LIVE! article, we reported on the tragic December 17 hit-and-run crash that left 8-year-old Daylan Franklin dead after an intoxicated Samuel Juarez, 34, crashed into Franklin as he was playing in his front yard. Juarez remains in jail on a $300,000 bond, but KTXS revealed that Juarez, who has previously been caught driving under the influence in the early 2000s, has taken part in a pre-trial diversion donation program to relieve him of multiple DWI fines.

Juarez's attorney who supposedly helped with the diversions denies any wrongdoing.

Juarez’s first drunk driving offense happened in 2001, reported KTXS earlier this week. In 2006 Juarez was arrested for driving while intoxicated, but due to ‘lost evidence’ and several other reasons, his charges were dismissed.

Furthermore, in 2003 and 2006, Juarez entered into pre-trial diversion agreements – an alternative to prosecution that seeks to divert specific offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into a program of supervision and services administered by the U.S. Probation Service – with Brown County Attorney Shane Britton.

Juarez’s pre-trial diversion agreements allowed him to make a donation of a lesser charge to mitigate his DWI charges. Due to his agreements, Juarez was only charged with open container in his 2006 DWI charge and paid $500, allowing his case to be dismissed. Similarly, in 2003, his case was mysteriously dismissed as well. According to court documents, he was able to escape his charges because he fulfilled another pre-trial diversion agreement. KTXS noted that they were unable to independently verify a record of Juarez’s payment to the clerk’s office for his 2003 disposition.

Juarez and Britton’s case was discussed during a county commissioners meeting on Monday due to a request from a Brown County resident to make a public statement.

In a statement to KTXS, County Judge Ray West said, “It is premature to be making a decision; therefore, as far as I am concerned, it is premature for the commissioners to be making any statements what so ever.”

Attorney Shane Britton claims he is innocent and denies any information pointing towards Juarez signing two pre-trial diversion agreements with his office, despite court documents (obtained by KTXS) showing otherwise.

Britton insists, “[Juarez] did not file them in my office. He filed it with the clerk’s office.”

A worker at Brown County Clerk’s office said “she does not have the authority to make pre-trial diversion agreements. They can only be made between the county attorney and the defendant […]; her office only processes them.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is now investigating the pre-trial diversion agreement program that Juarez and Attorney Shane Britton used, and Britton’s office has refused to make any further comments.