Posted on February 12, 2019 in DWI / DUI

You will occasionally see news stories about a person who was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after police found him or her driving the wrong way on a highway exit ramp. Driving the wrong way on a road is dangerous but not a serious offense by itself. In Texas, it is a traffic violation with a fine of as much as $200. You would need to commit the offense four times within a year in order for your driver’s license to be suspended. If prosecutors charge you with reckless driving, the maximum jail sentence upon conviction would be 30 days. However, driving the wrong way on a road could hurt your defense against a DWI charge in several ways:

1. You Are Conspicuous: In order to conduct a DWI stop, a police officer must have reason to believe that you are committing a traffic violation or are a danger to yourself or others. Driving the wrong way on a road qualifies as both. Even if a police officer is not there to witness it, other drivers will notice and likely report it. Authorities sometimes set up traffic cameras at highway exit ramps in order to identify people who drive the wrong way. If you are identified as the driver, you will have a difficult time claiming that the stop was not justified.

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 Posted on January 26, 2019 in DWI / DUI

You may be familiar with the Texas laws regarding driving while intoxicated, but what happens if you are charged and convicted for DWI in another state? Do the penalties from another state also apply in Texas? What if you are a visitor to Texas who is charged with DWI? Your criminal case would take place in the state where you are charged. If convicted, you could pay fines and serve jail time in that state. However, some DWI penalties, such as a driver’s license suspension, can be transferred to your home state.

Interstate Compact

Texas is one of 45 states that are members of the Driver License Compact Commission. Participating states agree to share information about any traffic violations and convictions with the subject’s home state. A state court’s authority is limited to your activities within that state. Thus, it cannot suspend your driving privileges within another state. With the Interstate Compact, your home state will know about your DWI arrest or conviction and has agreed to suspend your license as if you committed the offense in your home state.

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 Posted on January 10, 2019 in DWI / DUI

The top concern for a youth charged with driving under the influence of alcohol is to prevent that charge from ruining his or her life. A criminal record could limit his or her options when going to college or looking for a job. Spending time in jail is a jarring experience that may do more to traumatize a youth than rehabilitate him or her. In Texas, the age of a youth charged with DUI makes a significant difference. A juvenile court hears DUI cases for defendants age 16 and younger, while defendants age 17 to 20 are tried as adults.

Juvenile System

A DUI charge for someone age 16 or younger is a class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by:

• A maximum $500 fine;
• A minimum 60-day driver’s license suspension;
• 20 to 40 hours of community service; and
• Required completion of an alcohol awareness course.

The goal of the juvenile court system is to rehabilitate the youths it convicts without hindering their ability to be healthy adults. Juvenile records are automatically sealed from most background checks and can be permanently sealed if the person does not receive any more criminal charges. A juvenile court is unlikely to sentence a defendant to jail time, even if the juvenile had enough alcohol in his or her system to qualify for a charge of driving while intoxicated.

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 Posted on December 28, 2018 in DWI / DUI

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers made 400 arrests for suspicion of driving while intoxicated during the Christmas and New Year’s weekends last year. Local and state law enforcement always anticipate an increase in DWI incidents during holidays, but prosecutors believe there may be even more arrests than normal because of the day of the week that New Year’s Day falls on. Having the weekend followed by New Year’s Eve on Monday and New Year’s Day on Tuesday could mean a long weekend of drinking leading up to the holiday.

How Police Prepare

Local police departments often use public information campaigns to educate people about the dangers of drunk driving and the potential consequences if you are caught. For a major holiday, they prepare for an increased number of drunk drivers by increasing their own enforcement efforts:

• More police officers are on patrol, watching for drunk drivers on roads they are most likely to use;

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 Posted on December 11, 2018 in DWI / DUI

The Austin Community Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas, challenging the state’s Driver Responsibility Program that levies fines against drivers whose licenses have been suspended for violations such as driving while intoxicated. The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the national civil rights organization Equal Justice Under the Law, claims that the DRP disproportionately punishes low-income offenders who cannot afford the fines they are required to pay to regain their licenses. The lawsuit states that 1.4 million Texas residents have suspended driver’s licenses because they have not been able to pay the DRP surcharge.

Fine System

A court may punish a person convicted for a traffic violation such as a DWI by sentencing him or her to prison, issuing a fine, and suspending his or her driver’s license. Texas’s Driver Responsibility Program imposes additional fines on people whose licenses have been suspended. As part of its program, the DRP:

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 Posted on November 27, 2018 in DWI / DUI

A recent poll by the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute suggests that more Texans are in favor of stricter laws for driving while intoxicated than the national average. According to the results:

• 60 percent of Texans support lowering the blood alcohol concentration limit to 0.05, as opposed to 54 percent of national respondents; and
• 48 percent of Texans support lowering the BAC limit to zero, as opposed to 46 percent of national respondents.

Approving a zero-tolerance BAC law is unrealistic, but a 0.05 BAC limit has precedence. Utah is set to enact the country’s first 0.05 BAC limit at the end of the year, which may encourage other states to do the same.

BAC Factors

How much alcohol does it take to reach a 0.05 BAC? That depends on several factors:

1. Gender: It takes women fewer drinks than men to have a high BAC because their bodies have a lower water content and fewer stomach enzymes to break down alcohol.

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 Posted on November 15, 2018 in DWI / DUI

In a bizarre sequence of events, three drivers in Austin, Texas, were arrested for driving while intoxicated after being involved in three separate crashes at the same location and on the same night. Police officers were at the scene of a DWI crash when an allegedly intoxicated driver crashed into the back of a police car. After an ambulance arrived at the scene, another allegedly intoxicated driver crashed into that vehicle. No one was critically injured in the incidents, though three people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Causing property damage or personal injury in a DWI incident can result in harsher punishment if you are convicted.

Property Damage

Property damage in a DWI case most often involves damage done to another vehicle as the result of a crash. Prosecutors can add property damage as a separate charge from your DWI charge. Property damage is a class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of as much as $500. However, you may also face civil penalties if the owner of the damaged property files a lawsuit against you. The lawsuit is separate from the results of your criminal case and may require you to pay for repairing or replacing the property.

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 Posted on October 26, 2018 in DWI / DUI

Your character is on trial when you are charged with driving while intoxicated. Arguments in a DWI case often come down to whether you seem reliable when you deny having been impaired or intoxicated during your arrest. Your behavior after your arrest and leading up to your court appearance should not contradict your efforts to present yourself as a responsible person. The court is more likely to believe that you decided to drink and drive if you show continued poor judgment. There are four actions that can undermine your DWI defense:

1. Talking About Your Case on Social Media: You speak more candidly when having a private conversation with friends than you would in court. You may tell your friends about how much you had to drink and how you felt on the night of your arrest. People mistakenly believe that their social media conversations are private. Anything you write on social media is a digital record that may become public. Prosecutors are monitoring your social media accounts to see if you post anything that may incriminate yourself. If they find something, they will try to present it in court as evidence of your guilt.

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 Posted on October 09, 2018 in DWI / DUI

Texas has strict requirements for permitting residents to have a license to possess a firearm. Though the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to possess firearms, lawmakers believe it is a danger to public safety to allow people convicted of serious crimes to own firearms. Being convicted of a felony or class A or B misdemeanor disqualifies you from having a Texas firearms license for several years. Thus, a conviction for driving while intoxicated will result in your firearms license being revoked.

Misdemeanors

A first-time DWI offense without any aggravating factors is a class B misdemeanor. Merely being charged with DWI causes an automatic suspension of your firearms license while your case is ongoing. If you are convicted, your license will be revoked, and you must wait five years to reapply for the license.

A second DWI offense is a class A misdemeanor but could disqualify you from having a firearms license. Texas law states that a person who is twice convicted of a drug or alcohol-related offense within 10 years is considered chemically dependent and ineligible to receive a firearms license.

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 Posted on September 26, 2018 in DWI / DUI

Though more accurate than a breath test, a blood test can still have inaccurate results in a driving while intoxicated case. There are many chances for a blood sample to become contaminated during the process, resulting in the sample showing a higher blood alcohol concentration level than was actually in the driver’s blood at the time of the arrest. An experienced DWI defense attorney knows where errors are likely to occur in the blood test process that may make the test results inaccurate and inadmissible in court.

Blood Drawing

Mistakes in taking the suspect’s blood can contaminate the sample from the start. A police officer drawing your blood is not always as skilled as a medical professional. The officer may make a mistake by:

• Waiting too long to draw the blood sample;
• Contaminating the sample with the alcohol swab used to clean the extraction site on the skin; or

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