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Recent Blog Posts
Tips For If You Are Being Pulled Over
So naturally, it is frustrating; it is upsetting to get pulled over by the police for a traffic violation. That's completely normal but the idea to remember here is that nowadays everything is being recorded -- audio and video -- and being polite is an easy way to improve your situation. It's an easy way to improve the outcome of your case. Those videos and those recordings are likely going to be reviewed by a court, by a judge, even possibly a jury, and you want to come across the right way. You want to come across professional and polite. Truth is officers have a lot of discretion in dealing with defendants and you can get on their good side by simply showing respect and following the rules. The opposite holds true as well. If you act like a jerk, if you are rude, really all you do is increase the odds that you're going to end up in handcuffs and end up at the local jail.
Can The Police Lie To Me?
So people are sometimes surprised to learn that the Police can absolutely lie to you. During a detention, during an arrest, or just doing a normal conversation. The courts have said that police are allowed to be deceptive as they put it. Some common examples of times that we see Police officers acting deceptively would be when they tell you things like a witness has already told us everything so go ahead and tell us your side of the story. We hear them lie about evidence all the time, look at your fingerprints or DNA have already been found or look, I already know you've been drinking; go ahead and tell us your side of the story. Another common way we see police officers lie is about their future actions. So we hear things like tell me your side of the story and I'll talk to the DA or to the judge and make sure you don't get in any trouble. The truth is police officers are allowed to build rapport with you, build trust, lie to you, get a statement out of you and then use that statement against you in court.
What is a Field Sobriety Test?
Sure, so we've all seen this on TV and in movies. This is where an officer suspects somebody of driving while intoxicated. They pull them over, they're on the side of the road, they're gonna ask you to perform a series of tests to try to determine whether you're intoxicated, whether it'd be safe to be driving or not.
What are the three types of field tests?
So in Texas, officers use three basic field sobriety tests and as a former DWI prosecutor, I can tell you that these tests are designed for you to fail. The first test is going to be the one leg stand. In this test, the officer is going to ask you to lift one of your feet six inches off the ground and begin to count. The officer during this test we'll be watching you for swaying, watching you for losing your balance, watching really everything you do for any signs of intoxication. The second test is the walk and turn. In this test, the officer is going to ask you to imagine a line on the ground, follow that line nine steps, do a turn, do nine steps back. Same thing as the first test, he's looking for swaying, he's looking for using your hands for balance, he's looking for you taking the wrong amount of steps. The third test is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test or the HGN. This is where an officer uses the pen and asks you to follow with your eye. The officer is looking for involuntary twitching of your eyeball. If your eye is twitching, he's going to count that as a clue, as a reason why he believes that you're intoxicated. All three of these tests are called Divided Attention Tests, meaning they're asking you to do one thing physically, while also giving you something to do mentally. It's the same as when you initially get pulled over. First thing the officer is gonna do is ask you to pull out your driver's license while simultaneously asking you where you're coming from. The idea here is to give you something to be thinking about while also physically asking you to do something, trying to come up with signs of intoxication, trying to make it appear as though you're confused or stumbling or intoxicated.
What Is DWI Really Mean?
What is the definition of "Driving While Intoxicated"?
So in Texas DWI is an acronym for "Driving While Intoxicated." Now we've all heard the phrase don't drink and drive. Believe it or not, that's not actually the law. There's a lot of phrases people use like being hammered, being drunk, being tipsy that actually have no legal meaning. In Texas, the key term is intoxication. The law says you cannot be intoxicated and drive a vehicle on a public roadway.
What are the definitions of intoxication in Texas?
So in Texas intoxication has three distinct definitions. The first is the loss of your mental faculties, the second is the loss of the normal use of your physical faculties, and the third is having a blood-alcohol concentration above 0.08.
Can I go to jail for a DWI charge?
So you can certainly go to jail for DWI in Texas. Even a DWI first carries a punishment range up to 180 days in the county jail. Obviously, as you progress, DWI second, a DWI third the punishment ranges get more severe and the possibility of going to jail becomes very much more real.
I've Been Charged With DWI Who Should I Hire?
So, this is not the time to be looking at general practitioners or family law lawyers that do a little criminal defense on the side. DWI law is incredibly complicated and constantly changing. You're going to want to look at people who specialize in criminal offense and who specialize in DWI defense. You're going to want to look at reviews, awards, more specifically you're going to want to look for people who used to be DWI prosecutors. People who are used to working on the other side of the table, people who used to work with police officers and judges in prosecuting DWI cases.
How long do I have to get my DWI taken care of?
Expect to move quickly. You have 15 days following your DWI arrest to challenge your license suspension. What this practically means is that if you want to continue driving, you need to move quickly in hiring that DWI or criminal defense attorney. A good DWI lawyer will start working on your case immediately, both in crafting a defense as well as devising a plan to keep you driving.
Differences Between DWI & DWI With Child Passenger
What is the difference between DWI and DWI with a child passenger?
So the Texas Legislature has continually added additional and stricter DWI offenses. In 2003 they added DWI with a child passenger and they enhanced the punishment range on this offense from a traditional misdemeanor offense to a state jail facility offense. Now a state jail offense in the state of Texas is punishable by up to two years in the state jail facility, with a minimum confinement of 180 days and up to a ten thousand dollar fine. It's important to note with this offense that it doesn't matter if the child is a member of your family, it doesn't matter if anybody was hurt or injured, the allegation alone that you had a child under the age of 15 in your vehicle, and you were alleged to be intoxicated is enough to support this felony offense.
What are other complications involved with DWI with a child passenger?
So DWI with a child passenger is just a bad scene all around. We've certainly seen situations where somebody is drinking wine at lunch, there's a minor fender-bender, the police get called and all of a sudden you have a serious felony DWI charge. Even worse still depending on the jurisdiction, child endangerment charges may be filed against you; and even worse CPS or Child Protective Services may get involved. All these things could affect your future, your freedom, even your parental rights. DWI with a child pastor is such a serious charge that it's important to be aware of the issues in the law surrounding it.
What Is An Occupational Driver's License?
An immediate concern for a lot of people following a DWI arrest is how am I going to continue to drive. I've got to go to work; I've got to take my kids to school; I need to run errands and go to the grocery store. For people who find themselves in this kind of situation, oftentimes, an occupational driver's license is the perfect solution. An Occupational driver's license is simply a court-ordered driver's license that allows you to drive during your suspension. These occupational drivers licenses aren't good for up to two years which is usually enough time to serve out your suspension as well as reobtain your regular Class-C Texas driver's license.
What are the benefits of an occupational license?
So the good news is that Texas has really loosened the restrictions regarding occupational driver's licenses. You can now quickly obtain one that will allow you to drive for work, school, run day to day errands like going to the grocery store. Additionally, these occupational driver's licenses can now be used in multiple counties. So if you need to travel for work, you can also use one of these for that.
What Is An Order Of Nondisclosure?
An order of nondisclosure is the legal mechanism we use to seal the records of an arrest and the court proceedings following a special kind of probation called "Deferred Adjudication." People sometimes are surprised to find out that they're arrested for a crime, they go to court, their attorney does a good job and they receive deferred adjudication. They successfully complete all the terms of their probation and they get their case dismissed. Then, later in life, during a routine background check for a job or for a house, the records of the arrest and the court proceedings still pop up, and this is because they have not taken the affirmative step of obtaining an order of nondisclosure to seal all those records from private background checks.
What does an order for nondisclosure do?
So what an order of nondisclosure does is, it's gonna seal the records of your arrest and court proceedings from all private background checks. So if you're in San Antonio and you're applying for a job at HEB or Valero and they run that background check on you, it's not going to pop up at all. This is much better than having to go into your job interview and explain that -- yes you were arrested, you completed your probation, and the case was dismissed. With an order of non-disclosure, you won't have to mention the arrest at all.
Two Types Of Felony DWI's
So generally in Texas, we think of driving while intoxicated cases as misdemeanors, and they usually are. However, there are two circumstances in which a DWI may be filed as a felony offense. The first can happen to anyone, whether you've never been in trouble for, whether you have never been arrested, whether you've never had a DWI, and that is DWI with a child passenger. Now, this is a situation in which an individual is charged with DWI with the additional factor of having a child under the age of 15 in the vehicle at the time of the offense. This is going to be a state jail felony and in Texas, state jail felonies can carry up to two years in the state jail facility with a minimum confinement of 180 days, and up to a ten thousand dollar fine.
Additional Felony DWI offenses
So the second time we see driving while intoxicated cases filed as felonies is on a third offense or more. So this is a situation in which somebody has two prior DWI convictions at the time of the DWI third arrest. Now, in Texas, DWI thirds are treated as felonies and they're treated very seriously. A third degree felony punishable by between two and ten years in prison, and up to a $10,000 dollar fine. Now, the judge and the prosecutor are going to take a special interest in your case if you have a DWI third. They're going to see it not as a one-time mistake but signs that an individual has a habitual problem with alcohol.
What Exactly Is An Expunction?
An Expunction is a legal mechanism we use to completely destroy and erase any records of an arrest and a legal prosecution. We use it following a not guilty verdict or a complete dismissal of charges by the state of Texas. Simply put, with an expunction all records are completely destroyed and you are put back like the arrest simply had never occurred; not the FBI, not the government, not the police are gonna have access to the records of your arrest in court proceedings.
If found not guilty, can professionals still see my case?
We've seen it so many times over the years where somebody is arrested for a crime. They go to court and the charges are dropped; the case is dismissed. They simply are not guilty. Years later, during a routine background check for a job or for a housing application, the arrest and the court proceedings pop up and cause them difficulties. The truth is unless you take that affirmative step of getting an order of expunction, it's still gonna pop up on criminal background checks.
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1433 3rd St, Floresville, TX 78114
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