DWI Arrest Lawyer

Drunk Driving Defense Attorney

If you have been charged with DWI (driving while intoxicated), you want an experienced and aggressive attorney to protect your constitutional rights. At The Wright Firm, L.L.P., we handle all matters related to drunk-driving charges, from the administrative proceeding regarding your driver's license to the criminal proceeding to determine penalties. Contact our office or call us at 1-877-353-4600 to arrange a confidential consultation.

DWI - a Hybrid of Criminal and Civil Law

A DWI is a unique criminal offense in that it entails both criminal and civil law. A person charged with a DWI faces criminal prosecution by the district attorney or county attorney of the county where the DWI was committed and a driver's license suspension proceeding instituted by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Criminal Punishment

The criminal penalties for a DWI are as follows:

1. DWI 1st offense - Class B misdemeanor punishable by 72 hours in jail to 180 days in the county jail, and/or a find up to $2,000.00.
2. DWI 2nd offense - Class A misdemeanor punishable by no less than 30 days in jail to a maximum of 1 year in the county jail, and/or fine up to $4,000.00.
3. DWI 3rd offense - 3rd degree felony punishable by 2 years to 10 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison facility, and an optional fine up to $10,000.00
4. Intoxication Assault - DWI causing serious bodily injury. 3rd degree felony punishable by 2 years to 10 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison facility, and an optional fine up to $10,000.00.
5. Intoxication Manslaughter - DWI causing death of an individual. 2nd degree felony punishable by 2 years to 20 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison facility, and an optional fine up to $10,000.00.

DWI Probation

A person charged with a DWI may be eligible to receive community supervision (more commonly known as "Probation") in lieu of going to jail. Under probation, a person will be sentenced to jail for a specific period of time, but the court will suspend the jail sentence and place the person on probation for a specified term. For example, in a DWI 1st, a defendant may be sentenced to jail for 15 months, but the court suspends the jail sentence and places the defendant on probation for 18 months.

In Texas, a person charged with DWI may NOT receive deferred adjudication probation. Under deferred adjudication probation, a court will defer a finding of guilt for the length of the probation term. Upon successful completion of the deferred adjudication probation, there will not be a conviction for the criminal offense and the person can request for the court to dismiss the case.

In a DWI, the only type of probation available is called "straight probation." This means that the person will not go to jail so long as all the probation conditions are satisfied, but there is a criminal conviction for the DWI offense.

While on probation, the court can impose many conditions on a defendant that must be complied with in order to stay on probation. Probation conditions usually involve attending a DWI education class, attending a DWI victim impact panel class, submitting to drug / alcohol evaluation, performing community service hours, and reporting to a probation officer at least once a month. If any of the probation conditions are violated, a defendant's probation is subject to revocation. If, for example, the defendant was sentenced to jail for 15 months, but the court suspended the jail sentence and placed the defendant on probation, the judge could revoke the defendant's probation and the judge can sentence the defendant for up to 15 months in the county jail for violating the terms and conditions of the probation.

Whether or not a person charged with DWI receives probation depends upon many factors such as the severity of the offense, prior criminal history, and if there was an accident. Generally, a first time DWI offender will receive probation ranging from 1 year to 18 months.

Drivers License Suspensions and Occupational License

There are two grounds upon which your driver's license may be suspended after a DWI arrest. First, a driver's license may be suspended for refusing to submit to a breath or blood test, or failing a breath or blood test. This type of license suspension is known as an administrative license revocation (ALR) suspension. If this is a first time DWI, the license suspension is 180 days for refusing to give either a breath or blood test, and 90 days for failing a breath or blood test (e.g., having a breath specimen over 0.08).

The second way that a driver's license may be suspended is by having a criminal conviction for the DWI (e.g., pleading guilty or no contest before the court or receiving a guilty verdict by either a judge or a jury). This type of license suspension is known as a criminal conviction suspension.

An important difference between a criminal conviction suspension and an ALR suspension is that with a criminal conviction suspension, if the person is on probation and takes a DWI education class, then there will be a stay on the license suspension. However, if the person has any license suspension as a result of an ALR suspension, that suspension must still be served out.

If a person's license is suspended under any of the two grounds mentioned above, they may be eligible to petition the court for an occupational license. An occupation license is a temporary license that will permit a person to drive to and from work and to perform household essential needs during a set time period of the day.

If a person has had prior DWIs, then the license suspension periods will be longer. If a person has had a prior ALR contact (e.g., license suspended for DWI breath test refusal) within 10 years of the current DWI arrest, then their license may be suspended for up to 2 years on the current DWI arrest if they refused to give a breath / blood specimen. If the person failed a breath/blood test on the current DWI arrest and has had a prior ALR contact within 10 years, then their license may be suspended for up to 1 year.

If a person is convicted of a DWI 2nd offense and has had a prior DWI conviction within the past 5 years, then the driver's license may be suspended for up to 2 years. Prior DWIs and ALR contacts also affect a person's ability to obtain an occupational license.

If a person is facing an ALR license suspension and has had a prior license suspension due to a DWI conviction within the past 5 years of the current DWI, then that person is not eligible to petition the court for an occupational license until 180 days of the license suspension has passed.

If the person is convicted of a DWI 2nd offense and has had a prior DWI conviction within the past 5 years, then person is not eligible to petition the court for an occupational license until 1 year of the license suspension has elapsed.

When a person is facing a DWI arrest for the second or third time, it is very important for that person to consult with a knowledgeable DWI Criminal Attorney that understands the rules and laws concerning license suspensions and obtaining an occupational license.

Administrative License Revocation (ALR) Hearing

The only way to avoid a driver's license suspension after refusing a breath / blood test, or failing a breath / blood test, is by contesting the grounds for the license suspension through an administrative license revocation hearing (ALR hearing). However, a request for an ALR hearing must be made within 15 days of the DWI arrest. If a request is timely made, then a person's license will not be suspended until the judge at the ALR hearing renders a decision.

What the Prosecutor and Arresting Officer Does Not Want You to Know

• Field sobriety tests, e.g., Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test, Walk & Turn Test, and One Leg Stand Test, must be administered in a standardized manner as established by the National Highway & Transportation Safety Administration. If any of the field sobriety tests are not administered in the proper manner, then the validity of the results are compromised.
• Field sobriety tests are subjective. A person's failure of the test is based on the officer's subjective opinion on how a person is supposed to adequately perform on the tests. The officer may have already made up his mind once he smells an odor of alcohol and it is late at night. Thus, this would adversely affect the officer's ability to objectively evaluate a person's performance on the field sobriety tests. In many instances, the officer would simply use the tests to back up his initial opinion that the person was already intoxicated.
• There are many reasons why a person would not perform well on the field sobriety tests that the officer does not consider when making his opinion that a person is intoxicated. Fatigue, lack of coordination, stress, being overweight, nervousness, non-ideal testing conditions (e.9., sloped area, passing cars, flashing lights) will have a detrimental impact on a person's performance.
• Field sobriety tests have little to do with determining a person's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. People are not required to do a walk & turn test or a one leg stand test in order to obtain their driver's license.
• The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus ("the jerking/bouncing eye test") is merely "Voodoo" or "Junk" science.
  • Most police officers lack the proper medical training and education to effectively diagnose a person with HGN due to alcohol intoxication.
  • There are over 47 different types of nystagmus unrelated to alcohol intoxication, such as: vestibular nystagmus, physiological nystagmus, optokinetic nystagmus, somatosensory nystagmus, and pathological nystagmus.
  • Moreover, there are many different types of factors that would cause nystagmus other than alcohol intoxication, such as: influenza, streptococcus, vertigo, measles, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, motion sickness, eye strain, glaucoma, eye fatigue, caffeine, nicotine, aspirin, antihistamines, and some prescription drugs and pain medications.
  • Many police officers only have training to simply move a finger back and forth from side to side, and then watch for a person's eyes to bounce up and down. At the same time, while lacking the medical knowledge and training to effectively exclude all the other 47 different types of nystagmus and the many different factors that can cause nystagmus not attributable to alcohol intoxication.

Contact The Wright Firm, L.L.P.

To set up a private meeting, contact us or call us at 1-877-353-4600 to schedule an appointment.

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