It's been almost a year since the crash and the charges were filed Friday afternoon. Navaira was seriously injured in the crash and several of his band mates were also hurt.
That DWI charge is a class A misdemeanor for the accident on Easter of last year.
Navaira is a Grammy-award winning Tejano singer. He suffered a brain injury after he crashed the tour bus March 23 of last year along the West Loop and the Southwest Freeway in Bellaire. The bus was driven by Navaira, who authorities say was legally drunk with a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit.
Although no one died as a result of the accident, several of Navaira's band members were injured, but none seriously. That's one of the factors as to why there wasn't a felony charge issued.
"The two most significant reasons why the case took nearly a year to file is we were waiting on the nature of the injuries to be determined, how that played out with the two victims, number one," said Warren Diepraam with the Harris County DA's office. "And number two, Mr. Navaira's mental status was severely compromised as the result of a brain injury suffered due to the crash. We feel that he's improved sufficiently, so that we can file the charge."
Navaira's not considered a flight risk or a danger to the public, so he's allowed to turn himself in. He's expected to post bond this weekend or early next week. That bond is set at $5,000.
This is Navaira's second DWI charge. The first was in Bexar County back in 2001.
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