Recent Blog Posts

Harris County DIVERT DWI Program

Dennis Slate — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:31:00 GMT

Harris County: What is DIVERT?

Harris County's Direct Intervention using Voluntary Education, Restitution and Treatment program (DIVERT) is completely unique to Texas' largest county. DIVERT is a form of pre-trial diversion program invented by the Harris County District Attorney's Office to curb the number of DWI cases being brought to trial, and being lost by the District Attorney.

Prior to the introduction of the DIVERT program, a first time DWI offender had only a couple of choices when faced with a DWI charge. The defendant could plead guilty and pay a nominal fine and serve a couple of days in the county jail, which resulted in a conviction. The defendant could plead guilty and serve a yearlong probation, which also resulted in a conviction. Or the defendant could take their case to trial, where they had about a 50% chance of winning the case entirely or if they were convicted, they could choose either of the other two outcomes as their punishment.

For most defendants facing a DWI charge, the choice was easy, take the purely opinion based crime to trial, and hope you got a sympathetic jury, and 50% of the time you were not guilty! The anti-DWI groups, like MADD, had for years lobbied the Texas legislature to make DWI penalties so strict, that there was no possibility of keeping a DWI off of a person's criminal record without taking their chances at trial. DWI cases became a nightmare for the District Attorney's Office. Not only were their dockets backlogged with drunk driving cases, but they were losing them at an astonishing percentage compared to all other types of criminal cases they were trying in Harris County.

So in an effort to persuade would be DWI litigants to not take their cases to trial, the DIVERT program was born. DIVERT was design to be a carrot dangled in front of DWI defendants that would get them to VOLUNTARILY submit to all of the programs and treatment they would have gotten(and even a few extras) if they had been convicted and put on probation. DIVERT was designed to not only unclog the backlog of cases going to trial in the misdemeanor courts, it was designed to punish/ rehabilitate the thousands of people accused of driving while intoxicated in Harris County each year.

The basics of the program are as follows:

A Defendant can have NO prior criminal history to be eligible
A Defendant must pay $202 for a SALCE evaluation and have no high scores which would indicate low chance for rehabilitation
If eligible for the program a Defendant must enter into a contract with the Harris County District Attorney's office to meet all conditions and stay in the program for one year.
The Defendant must plead guilty to their case in open court and agree that if they are kicked out of the DIVERT program this admission can be used against them.
The court will reset the Defendant's case for one year to allow completion of the program.
The Defendant must complete all requirements of DIVERT.(I'll post a copy of the DIVERT agreement soon to show all the requirements)
If the Defendant completes the program, their case will be dismissed by the District Attorney's Office.
After dismissal, the Defendant can seek an expunction of their case form their criminal record after waiting for 2 years.

So now DWI defendants actually have a real choice to make if they are eligible for DIVERT, and the facts of their case make the likelihood of success in trial very low. In the past, it did not matter for us as lawyers that the facts were bad because we did not have a way to keep it off their record anyway, so we tried DWI cases in bunches. But now, we have to advise our clients of the DIVERT option, and allow them to make the choice of the possibility of dismissal if they can stay with the program, or taking a chance on trial.

Today,I still approach every DWI case as though it will be going to trial. I check out every piece of evidence, watch every tape, and read every report. I want to try and get my client's case dismissed at every step of the process, and if I cannot accomplish that, I want to be ready to go to trial. Along the way, I have had several clients decide they did not want to take the gamble on a trial, and that they wanted to take their chances on DIVERT. I have had several clients successfully complete the program, and every one of them has complained about how onerous the requirements and the fees/ costs are on them.

If you are facing a DWI case in the Houston area, and need an experienced Harris County DWI lawyer, call or email me today. 281.476.9447

Dennis

What is Boating While Intoxicated?

Dennis Slate — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:44:00 GMT

Boating While Intoxicated

Contact a Galveston boating while intoxicated lawyer today.

What is Boating While Intoxicated (BWI)? The charge is very much what it sounds like: it is the boat version of what we all know as driving while intoxicated. The crime of boating while intoxicated ispunished the same as driving while intoxicated. The Texas Penal Code defines the offense of BWI as:

Sec. 49.06. BOATING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a watercraft.

(b) Except as provided by Section 49.09, an offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, with a minimum term of confinement of 72 hours.

One of the interesting parts of the code regarding BWI is the definition of what is a “watercraft.” The Penal Code provides:

Sec. 49.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(4) "Watercraft" means a vessel, one or more water skis, an aquaplane, or another device used for transporting or carrying a person on water, other than a device propelled only by the current of water.

This means that if you are “intoxicated” while on a single water ski or wake board, you can be charged with a BWI. This is a very broad definition and allows for pretty much everything on the water, except a paddleboat, to be considered a watercraft.

Do you need a Conroe boating while intoxicated lawyer?

DWI vs. BWI: HOW ELSE ARE THEY DIFFERENT?

The major difference between a BWI and a DWI is what it takes for a police officer to be able to begin an investigation for each type of case. As with nearly every other type of crime that can be committed in Texas, a DWI investigation cannot be initiated by a police officer unless that officer has probable cause to initially pull the motorist over to begin gathering information regarding intoxication. The officer needs to see a traffic violation, or receive a tip from another driver, or come upon the scene of an accident in order to detain and begin questioning a citizen about a DWI case.

However in BWI cases, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Code requires boat to carry a certificate of registration, proper lights, a whistle or bell, life preservers, a fire extinguisher, and a rearview mirror. The TP&W code also has a provision that allows an enforcement officer to board a boat at anytime to inspect for those items. Specifically, Texas Parks & Wildlife Code § 31.124(a) provides:

Sec. 31.124. INSPECTION OF VESSELS. (a) In order to enforce the provisions of this chapter, an enforcement officer may stop and board any vessel subject to this chapter and may inspect the boat to determine compliance with applicable provisions.

This means that a police officer can stop a boat on the water at anytime and WITHOUT probable cause to conduct an inventory of the items required by the TP&W code. While on the boat conducting this inspection, the officer can also begin a BWI investigation with just the information he gathers during his inventory procedure. This is a huge issue because police officers are given a legal reason to investigate and do not have to actually see you break any laws before they start investigating you.

The key for a good BWI defense lawyer in these cases is to be very thorough in the questioning of the police officer about the inventory he conducted or failed to conduct, to show that the reason to stop the boater was a sham and that the officer never intended to actually inspect the required items, he just wanted to start a BWI investigation. If this can be shown, the BWI can be dismissed because it was improperly initiated.

ANOTHER KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DWI AND BWI

The tests that are conducted for both a DWI and a BWI are the same. The standardized field sobriety tests will be used in both types of alcohol related offenses. The key issue in a BWI is that the tests must be performed on the shore, not the water. Furthermore the tests cannot be conducted immediately after returning to shore, as there needs to be enough time on shore for the person being tested to no longer have “sea legs.” Since the field sobriety tests require good balance, it will take a person who has been on the water all day, a period of time to regain their balance and ability to perform the tests to standard. If this time is not provided by the arresting officer, a good BWI defense lawyer will be able to exploit this fault in favor of the accused boater.

If you need an experienced Clear Lake boating while intoxicated lawyer on your side, call 281.476.9447 or email me today.

Dennis

My firm serves the areas of Houston, Clear Lake, Friendswood, League City, Kemah, La Porte, Seabrook, Webster, Texas City, Galveston, Dickinson, Pasadena, Baytown, Bellaire, Pearland, Angleton,Alvin, Channelview, Galena Park, Katy, Manvel, Shoreacres, Kingwood, The Woodlands, New Caney, Porter, Spring, Humble, Hedwig Village, Bunker Hill Village, Harris County, Montgomery County, Chambers County, Galveston County, and Fort Bend County.

Houston Police Department to Increase Kingwood DWI Patrols

Dennis Slate — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:06:00 GMT

Houston Police Annouce Increased Kingwood DWI Patrols

On Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 the Houston Police Department announced a new long term initiative to increase the number of officers on patrol looking for impaired drivers. The new program is said to be an overtime program designed to have more officers present throughout the Kingwood area looking specifically for suspicious driving activity with the hopes of cutting down on number of drunk drivers in the area.

The fear when law enforcement begins to implement these crime specific task forces is that innocent citizens can get caught up in the drag nets that will be employed to catch these drunk drivers. If the police decide they are going to try to catch drunk drivers by waiting outside of an establishment that serves alcohol, and then follow anyone that leaves the place looking for them to violate a single traffic law, we will start to see innocent people being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Remember, it is not a crime to have a drink and drive, as discussed here. The crime of DWI is usually alleged with nothing but an officer's opinion that you are intoxicated. Field sobriety tests are not easy to perform in perfect conditions even when stone cold sober, much less on the side of the roadway with traffic whizzing by. All of these factors will lead to some unfortunite people being arrested and charged with a DWI even though they are not intoxicated.

As a society, we defintiely have a need to keep drunk drivers off the road, but we should never convict an innocent person of a crime. If you are charged with a DWI and want an experienced and highly qualified DWI lawyer to assit you in clearing your name, please email me today, or call 281-476-9447

I have an office located on Highway 59 in Porter. Please let me know when calling if you would like to meet at that office location.

Dennis

New DWI Defense: Too Sore From Sex

Dennis Slate — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:20:00 GMT

New DWI Defense: Too Sore From Sex

I read a lot about DWI. I attend specialized DWI courses all over the state and country to learn more about the science behind defending DWI cases. I have represented DWI clients for over 11 years in counties all over the State of Texas. I have watched other lawyers try countless DWI cases, trying to pick up strategies that they use to help their clients. Until today I felt like I had heard every defense tactic out there for why a client would perform poorly on the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. I have heard of war wounds, diseases, fluid in the ears, heart conditions, dog bites, paranoia, abnormal fear of police officers, too much wind, poor fitting shoes… and the list goes on.

Then today I read the story of Angela Odom from Austin Texas. Angela was spotted by Austin police when she drove up to an apartment complex gate, got out of her car, and preceded to bang on the gate. These facts by themselves do not lead to a conclusion that Angela is intoxicated; however I failed to mention that Angela was not wearing any clothes as she was banging on the apartment gate. Yes, that is right, Ms. Odom was stark naked standing outside of an apartment complex banging on the gate to get in, and all while a police officer happened to be in the area and watched the whole incident unfold.

When approached by the officer Ms. Odom stated she had been drinking beers earlier in the day with her boyfriend. The officer then spotted two empty 24-ounce cans of Earthquake lager in the car. This is where the novel defense tactic comes into play.

It seems that at this point Ms. Odom began to realize she might be the focus of a criminal investigation, so she started to wise up. When asked to perform the one-legged stand portion of the field sobriety tests, Ms. Odom refused, citing extreme soreness from all the sex she had that day, as her reason for the refusal.

I thought I had heard it all when it came to reasons for failing or refusing to take the standardized field sobriety tests, but thanks to Angela Odom, I can say that it is true; you do learn something new every day in this business.

If you find yourself in Ms. Odom’s shoes, or without your shoes as in her case, and charged with a DWI, you need to hire an experienced DWI lawyer to help you today.

Call 281-476-9447 or email me today.

Dennis

Deer Park Texas DWI Lawyer

Here at the Slate Law Firm, we offer a full range of criminal defense and legal services including DWI, drug crime defense, juvenile defense, probation violation, theft crime defense,violent and assault crime defense, white collar defense, traffic ticket defense, expungement, and non-disclosure, etc. We have 3 Houston area locations including Deer Park, Houston, and Porter, Texas. Call our offices today and we can set an appointment with an attorney: (281) 476-9447 or DeerParkCriminalDefenseLawyer.com or Slatelaw.com

Drink, Drive, Go to Jail; IS NOT THE LAW!

Dennis Slate — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:18:00 GMT

DRINK, DRIVE, GO TO JAIL IS NOT THE LAW!

We have all heard the Drink, Drive, Go to Jail campaign on TV and Radio, and seen it all over the billboards located across the Houston area. It is a catchy little slogan that seems to drive home the law enforcement mantra that drinking and driving is illegal in Texas and if you do it, we(the police) are going to put you in JAIL!

The problem with all the government agencies coming out and promoting this three-point campaign slogan is that it is not the law in Texas! The law in Texas is that if you are over the age of 21, you can LEGALLY drink alcohol and drive all over town, as long as you are not intoxicated.

Contact a Baytown DWI Lawyer today.

What is intoxication? According to Chapter 49.01 of the Texas Penal Code it is defined as:

(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or

(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

So, as long as a person does not meet either A or B as described above, they are not breaking the law by drinking and driving. The unfortunate consequence of this slogan is that the general public is starting to believe that the law is that drinking any amount of alcohol and driving is the law. Who could blame them? I mean the slogan is promoted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, and many smaller police departments around our area and across the state.

These members of the general public are the same people who show up for jury duty with this pro-police and prosecution idea already planted in their heads from this multi-million dollar government propaganda campaign. In every DWI case I try to a jury, I spend up to 10 minutes of my precious voir dire time ensuring that potential jurors understand that drink, drive go to jail is NOT the law, and that just because my client admitted to the police officer that he had 4 or 5 beers over several hours after work, he is not automatically guilty of Driving While Intoxicated.

If you have been charged with DWI and admitted to drinking alcohol when you were stopped, you case is not lost just because of this admission. Be sure you hire an experienced DWI Lawyer that knows how to present your defense and win your DWI case.

Dennis

DWI Case Ends With Four Murder Convictions

Dennis Slate — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:23:00 GMT

DWI Case Ends With Four Murder Convictions

In August 2010, Valeri Andrews, while attempting to evade a police officer that had initially pulled her over for suspicion of drunk driving, crashed into a minivan and killed its four occupants. As it turned out, Andrews was intoxicated and was found to have a .11 blood alcohol content, which is above the legal limit of .08. Additionally, Andrews was found to have anti-depressants and metabolized cocaine in her blood system.

Apparently the reason for Andrews deciding to flee was that she was wanted on several outstanding criminal and traffic warrants, not to mention she was previously convicted of a driving while intoxicated charge in 2003.

Normally a driving while intoxicated case that ends with a fatal wreck is prosecuted as the second degree felony of intoxicated manslaughter, which carries with it a punishment range of two to twenty years in prison. However, in this case, because Ms. Andrews was committing another felony (felony of evading arrest) at the time she caused the accident the case was able to be prosecuted as a murder case.

After over a year of investigating all the possible defenses, Valeri Andrews plead guilty to the four murder charges and agreed to have the judge impose a minimum prison sentence of at least 40 years for each charge. The judge came back with a sentence of 55 years, set to run concurrently.

Judges have the option of having sentences for multiple offense run either consecutively, commonly referred to as "stacked sentences, or concurrently, where they all run at the same time. Because Ms. Andrews car was categorized as a deadly weapon, she will have to serve a minimum of one-half her sentence before she is even eligible for a parole review hearing. Andrews, 40, will be 67 before she can first ask for parole.

People often times ask me how can I defend someone in a criminal case "where we know they are guilty?" I always respond that the great thing about this country is that we are all entitled to a defense lawyer, and that my job is not always to get a case dismissed or to win an acquittal. In cases where the evidence clearly points to the guilt of my client, my job is to verify that our government did not violate the person's guaranteed rights, and then to try and present mitigating evidence for the person's punishment. With all of the facts and circumstances in this case, there was clearly little any defense lawyer would have been able to do to lessen the sentence. Ms. Andrews was eligible for a life sentence.

This is a tough case because the family of the deceased lost 3 generations on members who they will never get to see alive again. And from these comments written to the man who lost his wife, 2 children and one grandchild in this wreck, Ms. Andrews realizes her mistake, "Sorry just isn't good enough," Andrews, acknowledged. "I am sorry, though ... (that) I took your family away from you. If I could absorb your pain and hurt, I would." Ms. Andrews is going to have a long time to think about her actions.

The Houston Chronicle article discussing this case is located here.

Dennis

The Police Did Not Read Me My Miranda Rights!

Dennis Slate — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:07:00 GMT

"I was arrested but the police did not read me my rights!"

As a criminal defense lawyer, I hear this complaint from many clients. This statement is usually followed by the question or assertion that because of this glaring omission on the part of the police officer, it should be easy for me to have their case dismissed.

Let me give you a bit of background on what these “rights” are, and where they came from, and then I will talk about why I usually have to inform my clients that we will have to find another ground to get their case dismissed.

First, the rights we are discussing are called the “Miranda Rights.” This name came from the US Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona. The facts of the case were that Ernesto Miranda was accused of the kidnapping and raping of an 18 year old girl. The police brought Miranda in for questioning where he then confessed to the crime. The US Constitution provides for certain rights to EVERY person arrested in our country. The framers of the Constitution had fears that the government could treat a person however it wished if it just accused that citizen of a crime. So, when they wrote the Constitution, they Framers decided to include the right of habeas corpus, the right to remain silent, and the right to have an attorney to advise an accused person.

At trial Miranda’s lawyer raised the issue that his client had not been informed of his right to remain silent or to have an attorney present during the questioning. Up to this point in 1963, the police and courts had always interpreted the Constitution to say that although the accused had these rights, the police had no duty to tell them of their rights, that every accused was EXPECTED to know their rights on their own.

Hire a Pasadena Texas criminal defense lawyertoday!

In 1966 the US Supreme Court issued it ruling in Miranda which sided with Miranda’s argument that he should have been told of his rights before the police questioned him and therefore the Court threw out the confession.

Since the Miranda case, police officers must read an accused the Miranda warnings prior to an accused person making a confession or any statement that might implicate the accused in a crime. If the police fail to give the warning the remedy is that the confession is not able to be used. As in the Miranda case, although Miranda’s confession was thrown out, he was still convicted of the crimes by other evidence. So a case does not get “dismissed” just because the rights were not read; only the confession to the crime is not allowed to be used.

Many times when my clients inform me that their rights were not read to them, it is a case where the police arrested and charged them with a crime based on evidence other than a confession. There is a big difference between being arrested and being questioned. The police do not need to read you the warnings to arrest you, only to ask you questions about the crime. The police also do not have to read the rights to a person who is not a suspect of a crime.

Dennis

What is a Breathalyzer?

Dennis Slate — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:46:00 GMT

What is a Breathalyzer?

A breathalyzer is a machine that is used to take a sample of a person's breath and make an estimate as to a person's blood alcohol content (BAC). The only way to truly analyze a person's blood alcohol content is to draw a sample of their blood and examine the sample to determine the alcohol concentration.

A breathalyzer is an indirect method for calculating a person's blood alcohol content, because it does not actually examine the blood. Instead the breathalyzer takes a sample of breath and attempts to measure the amount of alcohol in a breath molecule using infrared spectrophotometer technology.

Without getting too technical in this blog post, here is basically what a breathalyzer does:

First, a breathalyzer needs a sample of deep lung air. This is why the machine operator will have the person being tested blow for an extended period of time, to ensure the air being measured is not just from the mouth, but actually from inside the lungs.

Second, once the deep lung air is captured in the breathalyzer tube, an infrared beam of radiation will be passed through the sample. The machine is supposed to measure the absorption rate of the air molecules after the beam passed through them. The machine knows how much of the beam should pass through an air sample that contains no alcohol, and it also knows how much of the beam is absorbed by a known sample that contains alcohol. The more alcohol there is in a sample, the less amount of the beam that makes it from one end of the tube to the other, because it gets absorbed.

The machine then conducts a calculation to "guess" as to what the person's blood alcohol content is at the time of testing.

PROBLEMS WITH BREATHALYZERS

An experienced DWI defense lawyer knows the best ways to attack a breathalyzer test result. One of the biggest areas we spend time explaining to juries in DWI trials, is the fact that breathalyzers do not test blood. Every scientist and police officer trained in DWI matters will have to admit, that blood tests are more accurate, and the best way to test for blood alcohol content. Because of this, there are several ways to attack a blood test result; a few of these are:

The machine measured some other form of alcohol in the air sample. For instance, if a person has GERD and they regurgitate alcohol previously ingested, back into their mouth, this can affect the test readings.
The breathalyzer only tests the amount of alcohol in a person's blood as they are sitting in the police station, but often times it takes hours to go from being arrested to blowing in the machine. A person can have a legal blood alcohol content at the time of arrest, and have it keep going up(because the took a couple shots right before the got pulled over) and then their BAC is higher when they get tested. BAC is always either going up or down, and it is not easy to always figure out which way a person's was at the time they were driving.
The company that makes the Intoxilyzer 5000, the breath test machine used in Texas, refuses to issue a warranty on their product that it actually is capable of properly calculating a person's BAC correctly.
The machine reading can be affected by medications or other substance a person has ingested, for instance some asthma medications have been found to register as a positive BAC. Additionally acetone, as found in diabetics, can register a false positive on some types of breathalyzers.

There are many more areas to attack breathalyzer test results, the machine itself, or the person administering the test. This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer to explore ALL possible defense strategies to protect your criminal record.

If you have taken and were told you failed a breathalyzer test, please give me a call today so we can discuss your defense today.

Dennis

The Infamous Mailbox "Lawyers"

Dennis Slate — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:51:00 GMT

Mailbox "Llawyers"

If you have been arrested in Harris County, you have no doubt started to receive letters and post cards from "lawyers" announcing they know you have been arrested for a crime and that you can hire them for a small fee.

Let me explain to you who they are, and how they got your information.

First, all of the records for Harris County arrests are public record. For that matter every county in Texas has open and public arrest records. There are companies that send people down to the district clerk's office everyday to mine all the arrest data for the previous 24 hours. If you go to the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, you can see these people sitting in the clerk's office on the 3^rd floor with their laptops out, copying all of this information into spreadsheets.

These companies then sell this data to "lawyers," for a fee. Some of the companies will actually send out the cards or letters for the lawyer, so that the lawyer never even sees what he is sending out and to whom. These so called "lawyers" will advertise that they will represent you for $100*, but if you read the fine print, you will see that is for the first appearance only. At the first appearance they appear as your lawyer, and then demand a full fee from you to continue as your lawyer, or else they will withdraw from your case.

Some of these so called "lawyers" may offer you a payment plan where you pay a flat fee every time you have a court date. They will then just collect that payment at court and reset your court date with little work or investigation being done in between the court dates. This practice wastes your critical time when your defense should be getting developed. Under this payment plan scenario, these "lawyers" will then demand a huge trial fee to be paid all at once or they will withdraw from your case. These "lawyers" that have been allowing you a payment plan all along know you cannot afford this fee, so it allows them to withdraw from your case and leave you with no time or money to hire a real lawyer this late in your case. These mailbox "lawyers" never intend to investigate your defense or take your case to trial; they are in it for the court setting fees. Their business model is set up around having a lot of clients just like you paying them these small fees over and over again, and these "lawyers" not doing any work other than showing up at your court setting and getting you a reset.

I use the term "lawyer" for these people very loosely, because they are part of our profession that generally gives non-lawyers a bad opinion about those of us that really do work hard for our clients.

If you have been charged with a crime, do not hire a mailbox "lawyer," do your research and hire a qualified, experienced criminal defense lawyer.

If you want to set up a consultation with me call 281.476.9447 or email me at this website.

Dennis

Houston DWI Task Force to Increase Patrols for New Years

Dennis Slate — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:52:00 GMT

The Houston Police Department has announced it is increasing the number of task force officers for the upcoming New Years weekend. The Houston Chronicle quoted HPD Captain Carl Driskell in relaying the information about the stepped up patrols.

The best advice a lawyer can give to avoid aDWI is the obvious... DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. However, not even that clean slogan is actually the law. The law says you can drink and drive, you just cannot drink to the level of intoxication, and then drive.

What is intoxication? According to Chapter 49.01 of the Texas Penal Code it is defined as:

So, I would offer the advice to not get intoxicated and drive. However, even following that advice does not mean you will not be stopped for suspicion for Driving While Intoxicated. If one of these task force officers that are on these stepped up patrols, has any probable cause to think you might be intoxicated, you can be stopped, requested to take field sobriety tests(which will be video taped by a camera on his dashboard), requested to take a breathalyzer test, and if you refuse, then have your blood forcibly drawn from your body.

All of those things can happen, and you not actually be intoxicated. And to top it off, you get to spend a night in jail and have to post bond to get out.

So what do you do if you are unfortunate enough to get stopped?

1. If you had nothing to drink, then you cooperate fully.

2. However, if you have had any alcohol to drink by taking the field sobriety tests, or engaging in a conversation with the arresting officer, you are helping him make a case against you for DWI.( I will have future blog posts about the details of the tests and how they are completely subjective and design to induce failure, but that is another long topic)

3. Refusing a breathalyzer has consequences, like a drivers license suspension, but taking it and failing also gets your license suspended along with a DWI conviction. (did you know the breathalyzer is not warranted by the company that makes it to accurately detect alcohol in the blood system, which is the very thing it is supposed to be doing?)

4. If you do refuse a breath test, you most likely will have your blood drawn after a judge signs a warrant for the blood to be drawn. By this point if you were close enough time have passed to allow metabolism to decrease your intoxication levels, but in any event this is a more accurate reflection of your true blood alcohol.

If you end up getting charged with a DWI, then you need to contact a lawyer ASAP. There are a lot of things a good DWI lawyer can do to investigate your case, but they all require you to get them on your case quickly to preserve the evidence.

Additionally, you will ONLY have 15 days from the date you were stopped to attempt to keep your driver’s license from being suspended. A GOOD DWI lawyer will know how to file to appeal this decision.

If you get stopped, call oremail me ASAP, so I can help you fight this charge.

I routinely represent clients charged with DWI in Deer Park, Pasadena, La Porte, Baytown, Webster, League City, and Seabrook. I know the officers in the task forces in these cities and how to cross examine them.

Be Safe, and Have a Happy New Year.

Dennis

Welcome to our Criminal Defense Blog

Dennis Slate — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:34:00 GMT

Welcome to our Criminal Defense Blog, you can subscribe to our feed here.