“I texted at eleven at night from the parking lot. She wrote back before I'd driven home, and told me exactly what to bring Monday.”
Danielle R.DWI client
Criminal defense in New Orleans
Same white shirt, same courtroom. I stand next to you.
Before your first court date, I'll tell you to wear something plain: a clean white shirt, nothing loud. I wear the same one. Then I stand at the table beside you, for a DWI, a drug charge, or an old record you want gone.
Sample case endings
Where the last few cases landed
Four kinds of matters I see every month, and how each one closed. Written as samples, for the owner of this site to replace with her own.
Dismissed
First-offense DWI
The dash video showed a signaled lane change, not weaving. With no lawful reason for the stop, the breath result went with it.
Sample matter
Reduced
Intent to distribute, down to simple possession
The lab had weighed the bag with its packaging. Weighed alone, the amount fit simple possession, and the intent count was dropped.
Sample matter
Not guilty
Second-offense DWI
A bench trial. The officer's own notes put the walk-and-turn on a wet, sloped sidewalk at two in the morning.
Sample matter
Expunged
An arrest that never became a charge
It still came up on every background check. The record was cleared, and the client's next job offer went through.
Sample matter
These are invented sample matters. Every case turns on its own facts, and how earlier cases ended doesn't predict how yours will.
What I take on
Three kinds of cases, and nothing else
Keeping the list short means I know these courtrooms, these labs and these forms by heart.
DWI and DUI
A first or second offense, a refused breath test, a crash with no one hurt. The criminal case and the license hearing move on two clocks; I watch both.
About DWI casesDrug charges
Possession, possession with intent, paraphernalia. Most of these cases come down to the search and the lab sheet, so that's where I start.
About drug chargesClearing a record
An arrest that never went anywhere, or a conviction you finished paying for years ago. If it can be expunged, I'll file it and follow it through.
About expungement
What people said once it was behind them
“My son was nineteen and terrified. She talked to him like a person, and she told me what she could and couldn't promise.”
Lorraine B.A client's mother
“That old arrest had cost me two jobs. Four months after I called, it was gone from the check.”
Terrell M.Expungement client
Each client's case is different. These describe their experience, not a promise about yours.
Who answers the phone
You get Odile, not a call center
Odile Thibodeaux
Criminal defense lawyer
Odile grew up in Gentilly and has spent her whole career in the criminal courts on Tulane Avenue. She takes a small number of cases at a time so every call and text reaches her, and she reads the whole file, video included, before she tells you what she thinks.
The questions people text me first
Can I really text you?
Yes. Text the number with your name, the charge and your court date. I'll reply myself, usually the same day. Don't text details of what happened; we'll talk about that by phone or in person.
I was just released. What do I do first?
Write down your next court date and keep every paper you were handed. Don't post about it, and don't talk about the night with anyone but your lawyer. Then call or text me.
Do I have to go to court myself?
For most first appearances, yes. I'll be there with you, and I'll tell you beforehand where to go, when to arrive and what will happen.
What does this cost?
A flat fee for most cases, quoted in writing after we talk and before you pay anything. It depends on the charge and whether the case goes to trial.
Call or text. Either one reaches me.
Tell me the charge and the court date. You'll hear back from Odile with what happens next and what it will cost.
If your court date is this week, say so first.