James "Jimmy" Angelino

A long and distinguished career as both a police officer and a prosecutor allows Jimmy to bring a unique level of expertise in the area of Intoxication offenses, especially in Intoxication Manslaughter and Intoxication Assault cases.

Originally from New York State, Jimmy began his legal career as a police officer for the City of Dallas in 1988.  Not long after becoming a police officer, Jimmy decided to attend law school.  In 1991, Jimmy began his legal career as a SMU law student, while continuing to work for the department.   Jimmy graduated law school in 1994, became a member of the State Bar in 1995, and continued working as an officer until 1996.

That same year, Jimmy began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Denton County, Texas.  Jimmy was one of the office’s most successful trial attorneys, only losing four cases in his 11+ years as a prosecutor.  During this time period, Jimmy also maintained his Texas Peace Officer’s License, continuing his career as a law enforcement officer in Texas. 

Due to the complexity and focused knowledge a prosecutor must have to successfully prosecute intoxication offenses, Jimmy identified a need for a specialized position in the Denton County District Attorney’s Office to prosecute these types of cases.  In 2000, Jimmy wrote a grant that funded a DWI Prosecution Unit, which consisted of a prosecutor, an investigator and a paid intern. Jimmy  was awarded the prosecutor position, which started in 2001.  The Denton County District Attorney’s Office was the second office in Texas to have a unit specifically focused on handling Intoxication Offenses.  As the Chief Prosecutor of this felony prosecution unit, Jimmy began spending a lot of time not only training both fellow prosecutors and police officers in Denton County, but prosecutors and police officers from across the country. 

Since 1997, Jimmy was a speaker and faculty advisor at the bi-annual Texas Prosecutor Trial Skills Course, a course that every new prosecutor attends.  In addition, he was a speaker and course curriculum specialist for the Texas District and County Attorney Association (TDCAA) Intoxication Manslaughter and Investigation Trial Advocacy Course for over 8 years. This program, attended by experienced prosecutors from across the nation, was highly recognized as one of the best of its kind.   In addition, Jimmy has participated in a number of speaking engagements on Intoxication offenses for groups across the country.

In early 2007, Jimmy was asked to work with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office on what was termed the “Regional DWI Initiative.”  Jimmy, the Denton County representative, worked with the representative from both the Dallas District Attorney’s Office and the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office to establish guidelines and protocols for DWI detection and enforcement across the region.   This experience provided Jimmy with invaluable knowledge of not only how other jurisdictions handle Intoxication cases, but also an insight of what is to come.

Jimmy maintains memberships in many organizations across the country, and also is a Captain in the United States Army Reserve JAG Corp. He was mobilized to active duty in January 2003 where he spent 16 months on active duty. Jimmy was sent to Tikrit, Iraq for a 6 month tour where he defended soldiers accused of misconduct. For his service, Jimmy was awarded the Bronze Star, The Army Commendation Medal, The Iraqi Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.