Driving While Intoxicated
Everyone can get charged.
The prevalence of drunken driving fatalities and accidents in this State has created increasingly vigilante police strategies and harsher punishments to those who are charged with intoxicated related crimes. Being charged with Driving While Intoxicated can mean the loss of your license, the loss of your job, and the loss of your liberty
Consequences for a DWI Charge
In general, Texas DWI punishment possibilities (called ranges of punishment) are dictated by how many DWI convictions a civilian has had.
First Offense DWI with less than .15 alcohol concentration
Class B Misdemeanor with a range of punishment between 3 and 180 days, a possible driver’s license suspension of 90 to 365 days, and a fine not to exceed $2,000.
First Offense DWI with more than .15 alcohol concentration
Class A Misdemeanor with a range of punishment up to 1 year in jail and a fine not to exceed $4,000.
Second Offense DWI
Class A Misdemeanor with a range of punishment between 30 days and 1 year in jail, a fine not to exceed $4,000, and a possible driver’s license suspension ranging from 180 days to 2 years.
Third Offense DWI
3rd Degree Felony with a range of punishment between 2 and 10 years in prison, a fine not to exceed $10,000, and a driver’s license suspension from 180 days to 2 years.
DWI Defense
DWI laws are complex. Police efforts to collect evidence against citizens can be complex.
Loper Law fights to hold the police accountable to the proper protocols and procedures for DWI Investigations. If the police do their job improperly, your constitutional rights suffer. Improper detentions, insufficient probable cause, incorrect procedure, and ineffective handling of scientific evidence can all lead to the dismissal of DWI charges.
Loper Law fights against the perception that standing on one leg decides your guilt. Standardized Field Sobriety Tests are regularly administered by officers in DWI investigations. These tests generally include:
- Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test
- One Leg Stand Test
- Walk and Turn Test
A citizen has a right to refuse to perform these tests, which are designed to keep a person off balance. If taken, any mistake made by the citizen in the tests will count toward the officer’s decision about their intoxication. Ongoing debate and research fuel speculation about the reliability of these tests. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration dictates the manner in which officers are to administer the sobriety tests to civilians. If the officer is undertrained or should deviate from the instructions, the tests results become even more unreliable. We know bad police work when we see it, let us help.
Loper Law fights against the reliability of blood and breath test cases. Police agencies often test a citizen’s blood or breath as an attempt to measure their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Collecting these scientific samples from citizens is a tedious and laborious process, laden with opportunities to taint the reliability of the result. Human error, equipment error, evidence mismanagement, and failure to follow protocol can all contribute to the unreliability of the breath or blood test result. Individual circumstances with the person who provided the sample can also contribute to a false reading of intoxication.
Loper Law has membership in the National College of DUI Defense. We offer a top down assessment of the merits of a DWI charge and fight to uphold the rights citizens deserve. Let us help you.
Administrative License Revocation
Loper Law fights against efforts to take your license.
As a result of refusing to provide a specimen of your breath to the police, the Department of Public Safety will seek to suspend your driver’s license up to 180 days. As a result of providing a breath or blood sample at or above a concentration of .08, DPS will seek to suspend your driver’s license up to 90 days. You need an experienced DWI attorney to challenge DPS.
Apart from representing a civilian on their DWI charge, Loper Law can immediately request an ALR hearing and aggressively challenge the government in front of an administrative judge. These hearings are opportunities not only to contest the suspension of your license but to challenge the legality of the officer’s decisions regarding your stop and arrest. These hearings should not be conducted by civilians on their own but by an attorney with an experienced track record defending the accused.