Houston DWI Lawyers
- Jones Bennett:
If you have been charged with a DWI, you will need the best possible
criminal attorney to represent you. You will need experienced counsel at
administrative hearings in order to keep your driver's license and
aggressively defend your rights so that you can avoid other serious
consequences such as loss of your job, increase in your insurance costs,
and probation or even the minimum jail sentencing requirements. Whether
it is your first offense or you have had multiple driving while
intoxicated offenses, Jones Bennett, LLP will protect your rights in
court and represent you from the administrative license revocation (ALR)
process through trial, if necessary.
Every person who has been pulled over for a DWI Driving While
Intoxicated in Texas has important rights that should not be waived. It
is up to you to make sure those rights are protected. It is extremely
important that you contact an experienced DWI attorney immediately after
your arrest. You need an experienced DWI/DUI attorney that can evaluate
all of the issues in your case such as:
* License Revocation (ALR) hearing; * Reliability of the Field
Sobriety Test performed by the police officer; * Reliability of the
Blood Test or Breath Test; * Probable Cause for the traffic stop or
your arrest; * Effect of Breath Test Refusal; * Effect of a
conviction for DWI Driving While Intoxicated on your driving
license, your job or your car insurance; * Negotiating a Plea
Bargain if necessary; and * Avoiding Jail Time or Driving License
Suspension for a DWI conviction.
If you have been stopped by the police for DWI do you know your legal
rights?
* You have the right to refuse answering any questions. * You have
the right to not submit to any verbal or non-verbal field sobriety
tests or exercises. * You have the right to have your attorney
present if you choose to actually participate in the police
officer's standardized field sobriety tests. * You have the right to
an independent blood test within two hours of the state's test of
your blood. * You have the right to actually see the numerical
display if you provide a breath test. * You have the right to an
experienced and aggressive lawyer.
Unfortunately, most people do not know all of the rights they had at the
time of their arrest for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). You need the
aggressive lawyers at Jones Bennett, LLP to defend you going forward so
that the state does not continue to railroad you through its system. You
have the right to a trial by jury and Jones Bennett, LLP will fight to
preserve that right.
License Revocation and Administrative Concerns
If you have been charged with drunk driving, it is important to know
that an ALR license suspension is automatic unless a hearing to
challenge the suspension is requested within fifteen days after the
notice of suspension on a Department of Public Safety approved form. Do
not delay as this notice is usually provided on the day of the arrest
for DWI. Take action as soon as possible by seeking legal counsel to
explore all of your viable options.
- Richard Law Firm:
* Alleged Sexual Misconduct * Assault/Battery * Crimes of Violence *
Drug/Property Seizures * Drug Offenses * DWI Offenses * DUI Offenses
* Embezzlement * Forgery * Gun Offenses * Prescription *
Racketeering/RICO * Sexual Charges * Stalking * Theft/Larceny
- Matt Horak: Simply
knowing the criminal system is not enough. A skilled criminal defense
attorney has to know how the system can work for their client.
After a person has been charged with DWI in Texas and has been convicted, he/she will face a variety of devastating legal consequences. In some cases, people may be sentenced with a small fine or probation. In other cases, the sentences may be more severe and life-altering. Below, the standard sentencing for 1st, 3nd and 3rd time DWI convictions is detailed:
1st DWI Conviction
* Jail time: minimum 72 hours or 6 days if vehicle has open container.
* Fines: up to $2,000, Texas also imposes a surcharge on top of court issued fines, which is $1,000 per year for three years or $2,000 a year for three years if the personŐs BAC was over .16%.
* Vehicle Impoundment: Not for first time offenders
* DWI School: 12 hour DWI Education Program
* Community Service: 24 hours to 100 hours
2nd DWI Conviction
* Jail time: minimum 72 hours up to one year.
* Fines: up to $4,000, Texas also imposes a surcharge on top of court issued fines, which is $1,500 per year for three years or $2,000 a year for three years if the personŐs BAC was over .16%.
* Vehicle Impoundment: Not for second time offenders
* DWI School: 32 hour Repeat DWI Offender Education Program
* Community Service: 80 hours to 200 hours
3rd DWI Conviction
* Jail time: 2 years to 10 years.
* Fines: up to $10,000
* DriverŐs License Suspension: 6 months to 2 years
* Criminal Classification: Automatic Felony
- Robert Eutsler:
To be convicted of DWI, you must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be
intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. It is no defense
that you could legally use the substance causing the intoxication, nor does it
matter whether you intended to drive while intoxicated.
- Carroll & Becker:
Driving while intoxicated
County Criminal Court of Harris County
PUNISHMENT RANGE: Maximum
of 180 days in the Harris County jail
D. A. 's OFFER: One year
probation
RESULT: NOT GUILTY
Our client was riding his motorcycle
on Highway 6 at approximately 10:00 p. m.. He was coming from a Mexican
restaurant where, during dinner, he had consumed two beers. The arresting
officer ( DPS ) testified that our client was following his patrol car
closely and that he had his high beams on! The officer stopped our client
and noted that our client had difficulty putting his kick stand down along
with a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath, slurred speech
and red bloodshot eyes. ( For some reason, of the hundred or so DWI cases
this firm has handled, our clients have always exhibited strikingly similar
traits per the offense reports. ) Upon vigorous cross-examination, the
arresting officer admitted that:
-
The ingredients of an alcoholic beverage
and not the alcohol itself are what gives the alcoholic
beverage its odor;
-
The strong odor of an alcoholic beverage
in and of itself is extremely misleading. Specifically,
were I to leave the courtroom and
drink an alcoholic beverage the officer would not be able to
tell how many alcoholic beverages
I had imbibed nor would he be able to tell me what kind of
beverage I had to drink - be it
a non-alcoholic beer, a whiskey or a shot of tequila;
-
Regarding the red and glazed bloodshot
eyes, the officer admitted during a prolonged and
withering cross-examination that
he did not know what time our client got up, if the room he
just left was smoky, if the wind
from the motorcycle bothered our client's eyes or what the
normal state of our client's eyes
was;
-
Regarding the slurred speech, the officer
could not testify what my client's normal speech pattern
was, whether my client was tired
or if my client fumbled some of his words simply because he
was nervous and put off by the
officer's aggressive demeanor.
- James Davis:
Please seek legal counsel before saying something "that can and will be used
against you in a court of law". Before blindly entering a plea or making
statements to the d.a. or police, call.
|