Driving While Intoxicated Attorney – Driving While Intoxicated Lawyer – DWI Attorney – Houston, TX
A Texas DWI is one of the most stressful and complex situations that a person may be faced with. A driver can be charged if he was operating a vehicle while having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at, or above, 0.080 grams or with the loss of mental or physical faculties. Additionally, if a driver is found to be impaired by alcohol, marijuana or any combination of drugs and alcohol he can be charged with DWI. It is extremely important to hire a Driving While Intoxicated Attorney or DWI Attorney to represent you immediately.
Following an arrest, a defendant has 15 days to request an Administrative License Revocation or ALR hearing; otherwise, his or her driver’s license or ability to drive is automatically suspended. It is important to understand that this suspension is different than the suspension that may arise if you are convicted of an alcohol related offense. The ALR suspension is the result of either failing a breath or blood test or not complying with the “implied consent” agreement when you applied for a driver’s license. Even if you do not have a driver’s license, you can still have your ability to drive suspended. You still must request a hearing. The burden of proof for the administrative case is a preponderance of the evidence or 50.1%. It is very difficult to win the ALR hearing on the merits because the burden of proof is so low, but we are able to win these cases quite regularly on technicalities. Additionally, the ALR hearing is very important to the DWI or Driving While Intoxicated case because if the officer shows up, we can cross examine them under oath. There is a transcript of the hearing and we can, in turn, use this as evidence in the criminal case. Oftentimes, the officers change certain details of the offense that can be extremely beneficial in the criminal case. It is also a good tool to use to prepare for things that may come up in trial that was not written in the offense report.
Penalties for DWI vary depending on a number of factors and become increasingly harsh with each additional conviction. A standard Driving While Intoxicated case carries up to 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine. If the breath or blood sample is higher than .15, the offense is enhanced to a Class A misdemeanor which carries up to a year in jail and up to a $4,000 fine. A DWI 2nd offender also is enhanced to a Class A misdemeanor. A DWI 3rd offense is a 3rd degree felony and the punishment range is 2-10 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and up to a $10,000 fine. Officers that come into contact with you are more likely to arrest you for DWI if you’ve had a prior DWI charge. So, you could be looking at 2-10 years in the penitentiary fairly quickly. Because of this, it is important to contest all DWI’s if possible.
Having a Child in the car will also enhance any typical DWI to a state jail felony. If there is an accident and someone has serious bodily injury or dies as a result, the offense level would be a third degree felony and a second degree felony respectively. These offenses are called Intoxication Assault and Intoxication Manslaughter and these carry 2-10 years in prison or 2-20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. The State can also get creative in charging individuals for other offenses to get cases even to higher punishment ranges.
Driving While Intoxicated is one of the few opinion crimes. If the officer ‘thinks’ you are intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle, he can arrest you for DWI. Scientific tests have changed DWI’s by providing breath and blood specimens to help the State prosecute you. However, there are many flaws and problems with these specimens and the science behind computing a quantitative amount of alcohol. These ‘problems’ can be exploited at trial and are resulting in not guilty verdicts.
Houston DWI Attorney
Whether you are primarily concerned with keeping your drivers license, defending your rights against a criminal charge, or both; it is important that you get started as soon as possible. In the case of license suspension, there are very rigid time frames that must be observed for an appeal to be considered. With the DWI charge itself, the sooner a qualified attorney starts working on your defense, the better. In the Houston area, the Law Office of Henry K. Nguyen, P.C. has the experience necessary to successfully fight for you.
Charged with DWI in Texas?
There are a variety of effective DWI defense strategies that may be utilized to defend you. Every case is different and a technique that works with one scenario may be useless in another. A professional Houston criminal attorneyis your best resource to evaluate your particular needs and implement the proper defense. To find out more about DWI defense, contact the professional staff at the Law Office of Henry K. Nguyen, P.C..