Fort Worth DWI Lawyer

Ft. Worth DWI Attorney Michael Grossman Can Help If You’ve Been Accused of a Driving While Intoxicated

If you have been charged with driving while intoxicated in Fort Worth, you are going to assistance from a knowledgeable and experienced Fort Worth drunken driving attorney in order to see the best possible resolution to your case.

You not only need a lawyer who knows and understands the laws involved, but also one who is familiar with the Fort Worth courts and has the time and devotion to give your case the attention it deserves. Every criminal law firm within cannon shot of the stockyards will take on your case and escort you through a trial in exchange for getting paid. However, they will do little more to help you than hope the judge is lenient. At Grossman Law Offices, Fort Worth DWI lawyers approach every case with a diligent desire to secure the best possible outcome for our clients.

If convicted of driving while intoxicated, you are in serious trouble and could spend time in jail, lose your driver’s license for a period of time, and have to pay steep fines. To find the best possible resolution for your unfortunate predicament, you need the help of a trial-tested Fort Worth DWI criminal defense attorney like those at Grossman Law. For the past 20 years, our team of skilled drunken driving lawyers has been successfully resolving all different types of DWI cases in Texas. Call us for a free and confidential consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free), as our attorneys are available any time, 24-7, to discuss your case. Once our attorneys have heard your story, we can help you determine the best course of action to pursue the end result you desire.

For the time being, an informed defendant has the best chance of securing a favorable outcome, so we want to provide you with this informative article. You can only make the best decisions for your future if you understand more about the criminal DWI proceeding you are about to undertake.

A Different Kind of Criminal

Interestingly, DWI and alcohol-related offenses are not the same as other criminal acts, for the defendant is usually an average, otherwise upstanding citizen who simply drank too much and made an ill-advised decision – they’re not hardened, intentional criminals. The effect alcohol has on the system is to impair rational decision-making, so anyone is capable of doing something he or she regrets once that person has become intoxicated. Unfortunately, while your malfeasance was a solitary act of carelessness, the state intends upon punishing you just like you are any other common criminal. With serious consequences like jail time and enormous fines hanging over your head, you simply must have an experienced Fort Worth DWI lawyer protecting your rights and future. Even if you think you’re guilty, a respected attorney can often lessen the punishment.

How Do Criminal Cases Work?

Before we begin discussing the specifics of DWI law, our lawyers think it’s prudent to provide some basic background information about the how the criminal justice system works. The Constitution, most notably the first 10 amendments known as the Bill of Rights, affords certain minimum rights to all citizens of the United States. No matter what laws are enacted in any municipality, county, or state regarding criminal conduct, those laws must respect the rights afforded in the Constitution. Not only must they prove the guilt of anyone accused of a crime, but they must also respect the rights of the accused when gathering evidence.

However, as we mentioned, every jurisdiction has the right to establish its own rules regarding criminal charges. For instance, if you are stopped by a police officer after driving 70 mile per hour in a 55 mph zone, that speed limit was established by the municipality, just like the fine you will be assessed if found guilty. In order to pay the fine or fight the ticket, you will go to court in the city or county where the offense took place.

When dealing with more serious crimes, a federal court takes over with greater authority and no geographical limits. For example, someone who is plotting to kill the President will be prosecuted in federal court.

The legal system gets more complicated when you consider that different courts have their own set of rules and even a unique “personality,” so to speak. To understand this better, let’s consider the analogy of a chain of Mexican restaurants. You love eating at the original location near your house, but then you go out of town and try out another franchise. Even though it’s the same chain, both locations are not exactly alike. They have different cooks, so the food will taste slightly different, and there will also be contrasts with the service, appearance and cleanliness of the two restaurants. The same can be said of different courts. They all serve the same purpose, but they have different rules, regulations, and procedures. Each court and its jury pool is unique from all others, so you need a Fort Worth DWI attorney fighting for you who knows the Tarrant County courts is familiar with its procedures.

While the Constitution guarantees everyone who is accused of a crime the right to have their case heard by a jury of his or her peers, other means are often utilized to resolve the case besides a jury trial. In a criminal trial, both sides undergo significant risk. It goes without saying that the defendant will lose his or her freedom and money if convicted. Conversely, if the prosecution loses the case then the prosecutor damages his or her reputation. Too many losses in court will eventually affect his or her employability, as well. For the prosecution, this situation is fairly precarious since it must rely upon the police who made the arrest to do their job properly. Most of the time, the police gather evidence well and according to the law, but in some cases, the evidence may be illegally obtained or simply not enough to land a conviction. When they have strong evidence, prosecutors will not hesitate to go to court. However, if the evidence is flawed, then they want to negotiate a plea bargain in order to avoid a costly loss on their records. With risk to both the prosecution and defense, everyone is motivated to work out a plea bargain.

How an Attorney Can Help You with Your DWI Case?

In reality, justice isn’t blind. In fact, the court rarely approaches the application of the law as a black and white issue, allowing for different degrees of punishment for any crime. For most offenses, the judge has the option of a range of sentences and can give a convicted criminal between X and Y years in prison for a given offense. The legal system follows this means of applying sentences in order to compensate for the different degrees of criminal. Criminals whom society considers more dangerous or harmful receive the maximum sentence, while someone who has committed a first offense due to momentary carelessness will receive a much lighter punishment. When the legal process begins, however, the prosecutors will be aiming for the maximum sentence because they don’t know who the defendant is. They just want to improve their winning percentage with a conviction and maximum sentence.

At Grossman Law Offices, our experienced Fort Worth DWI attorneys will lead you through the legal process and protect your rights. Once you contact us, our lawyers will sit down and discuss your situation, listening intently to your side of the story to gain a basic understanding of the circumstances. Next, we contact the courthouse to learn about the prosecution’s side of the story. After two decades practicing law in Tarrant County, we’ve developed relationships with many of the prosecutors. We can quickly get them on the phone and find out what evidence they have and what sentence they will be seeking. Once we know the whole picture – both sides of the story – we can begin plotting a course to secure the best possible resolution to your situation. If you hire our firm, our Fort Worth DWI lawyers will to everything in our power to protect your rights, supply fair and assertive representation, and make sure you are kept informed of any developments in your case.

DWI Plea Bargains vs. Jury Trials and Other Options

Until you attorney is aware of the prosecution’s evidence, there is no effective way to plan an effective course of action. The police may have made some error in the way they’ve collected the evidence, or their evidence may be weak, illegally required, or simply non-existent. In that case, it’s in the defendant’s best interest to go to court and seek a full acquittal. It’s not even unheard of for the charges to be dismissed entirely when evidence is completely lacking.

Unfortunately for you, most law enforcement agencies have long-established procedures to collect evidence against someone suspected of a DWI, and most police officers follow those procedures religiously. The defendant would be extremely prudent to work out a plea bargain in the instance the police have done their job and the prosecution has obtained a blood serum sample, a breathalyzer test, video footage documenting your drunkenness, a signed confession, or some other form of compelling evidence.

One of the benefits to plea bargaining is that the judge and prosecution will be more inclined to allow for a memo agreement or other form of deferred adjudication that delays the charges for an established period of time. The judge then drops the charges at the end of this period of time, so long as the defendant can complies with the terms of the agreement, usually some form of community supervision.

When you contact a lawyer to discuss your case, you must be honest and forthright. The only way to ensure you secure the most favorable outcome to your case is to be truthful and allow your attorney to devise a defense strategy based upon the actual facts of the case.

Types of DWI Cases

Granted, innocent verdicts in DWI cases are not exactly common, but it is possible to be found innocent of such charges. In order to know whether or not the accusations against you were legitimate, you need a better understanding of the DWI offenses themselves, so our lawyers want to provide you with a detailed description of these cases.

While legally intoxicated, nobody can drive a car legally according to DWI laws in the state of Texas. The definition of the word “intoxicated” is not easy to establish as one might think. In conjunction with driving while intoxicated, there are two definitions of the term. As most people know, a driver is deemed legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is greater than.08 percent. However, when it comes to DWI, the definition of the word “intoxicated” is far more inclusive. Texas considers a driver to be legally intoxicated when he or she loses “normal mental and physical” faculties due to the use of alcohol, drugs, or any combination of controlled substances.

Much hazier than the .08 BAC standard, this definition of “intoxication” is subjective and creates leeway in court. The debatable point is the nature of the word, “normal.” In Texas, the court recognizes that this means what is normal for that specific driver and not what is normal for an average person.

However, as we will discuss in more depth later in the article, as the driver’s level of intoxication rises, so does the punishment incurred by the driver. Once a person has been convicted of a DWI, he or she must pay a $1,000 surcharge annual for three years to maintain a driver’s license. If the driver’s BAC was tested at .16 percent or higher, however, the annual surcharge increases to $2,000 for three years.

No matter what your BAC was when tested or even if your BAC was never tested before you were arrested, the Fort Worth DWI attorneys at Grossman Law Offices can help you get the most amenable result if you have been charged with any offense involving drunken driving in Texas.

Blood Alcohol Level in Texas DWI Cases

Since you or someone you love has received a DWI already, you are probably familiar with the term BAC (blood alcohol concentration). By now, you know that the legal limit for intoxication in the state of Texas is a BAC of .08 percent. This point has been scientifically proven at the point at which a person loses control of his or her decision-making as a result of imbibing too much alcohol. Scientifically speaking, it means that the bloodstream of the person in question has become .08 percent alcohol. At the moment, there are three established methods of measuring BAC:

• The number of grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
• The number of grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
• The number of grams of alcohol per 67 milliliters of urine.

Short of a habitually-drinking math magician armed with a calculator, most people lack the mathematical skill to calculate their BAC as they drink. While the standard of “normal” is based upon what should be normal for the specific person, the scientific principle upon which the measurement of BAC is based relies upon how an average human being’s body should absorb alcohol. Therefore, it’s possible with your specific body type that you could be determined to be legally intoxicated by one means of measurement but still legally sober by another. The issue of who is intoxicated and who isn’t becomes even hazier when you consider a police officer can claim someone is intoxicated even when his or her BAC is well below .08 percent.

Breathalyzer Inaccuracies

The assessment of blood alcohol concentration is even more questionable when one considers the methods by which it is tested. More or less, time plays an integral role in the accuracy or lack thereof a BAC tests. For there to be indisputable evidence of a DWI, the driver must have a BAC of .08 percent while he or she was actually driving. The problem with that standard is that most BAC tests are not administered until 45 to 90 minutes after the driver was pulled over when he or she reaches the police station.

In the amount of time between the moment the driver was pulled over and the moment his or her BAC was tested, the validity of the test comes into serious question. Simply put, a BAC of .08 percent taken an hour after the alleged transgression proves nothing. The driver’s weight, how much he or she had to drink and eat, the rate of consumption, and the type of alcohol all have an effect on BAC. Attempting to establish BAC 70 minutes after the fact can work for or against the driver. You could be pulled over with a BAC that was in fact .09 percent. However, in the hour between when you were pulled over and your BAC was tested, your BAC falls to a legal level of .07 percent. On the other hand, you could be stopped with a BAC of .05 percent but with some liquor still swishing around in your stomach. In the next hour, your blood absorbs more of the alcohol, causing you to register a BAC .08 percent on a breathalyzer.

A skilled and seasoned Fort Worth DWI attorney can make sure an unfair or inaccurate BAC test cannot be used against you in court.

Texas DWI Testing Procedures

While blood tests are much more accurate than breathalyzers and can easily save the sample for re-testing later, they’re not very conveniently administered in the field. Blood tests are extremely inconvenient for both the officer and the suspect. While breathalyzers lack the accuracy of blood tests, they are much more convenient. Thus, this is the chosen type of BAC test for most police officers

In Texas, Intoxilyzer 5000 is the breathalyzer of choice. This device monitors alcohol on the breath by tracking infrared light absorption. However, the machine is based upon 30-year-old technology, so it has numerous glitches just like an old green-screen MacIntosh. For one thing, there is a slight, albeit rare, possibility the Intoxilyzer 5000 will mistakenly find other substances commonly found in the breath to be alcohol.

Based upon formulas that rely upon what is typical for the average human being, a much bigger hazard comes from the way the Intoxilyzer detects alcohol. These devices rely upon an average breath/blood ratio of 2100/1 (2,100 parts of alcohol in the breath for every one in the blood) that is the norm for an average human to estimate the percentage of alcohol in the blood. It’s possible for a person to have a breath/blood ratio as low as 1100/1 or as high as 3100/1; thus, the Intoxilyzer 5000 could easily come out with a BAC level that falsely establishes intoxication. The machine’s accuracy could also be thrown off, but to a lesser extent, by irregularities in height, weight, muscle density, lung capacity, blood composition or temperature.

The accuracy of the Intoxilyzer comes further into question when you consider that law enforcement officers are the only people allowed to test their accuracy, and the manufacturer of the Intoxilyzer refuses to guarantee its results.

What’s truly unfair about these tests is that the Intoxilyzer has the capability to be more accurate. The device can store the breath samples taken, and then later the samples could be tested by a gas chromatographer, a much more accurate test. However, if the law enforcement agencies did this, then the samples could potentially be used to overturn the initial tests, allowing suspects to secure innocent verdicts. However, the Texas Department of Public Safety doesn’t require officers to keep these samples so the gas chromatography tests can be performed. They’d much rather punish the innocent than negatively affect their conviction numbers.

Despite however strongly anyone feels about drunken driving, when you consider the facts, you are forced to admit that breathalyzer tests are highly suspect. You don’t want your future depending upon a breath test. At Grossman Law Offices, our Fort Worth drunken driving attorneys can help you fight a DWI charge based upon a suspect BAC test. Call us now for a free consultation to discover how.

Your Rights in a DWI Case

Don’t panic if you are stopped by a policeman who suspects you of driving while intoxicated. No matter what: don’t lose your temper and always be polite. The police officer is just trying to do his job and an aggressive attitude will do nothing but harm. You will likely be asked to perform some roadside sobriety tests if the officer suspects you have been drinking and driving. Even if you have not been drinking at all, you may have reason to think you will be unable to successfully complete the tests. Even when completely sober, someone with knee problems may have trouble balancing on one leg and touching the tips of your fingers to your nose. You have every right to refuse to do a field sobriety test that you could not pass under normal circumstances because the definition of intoxication in Texas states a person is only intoxicated when his or her “normal mental and physical” abilities become negatively affected.

Although, before taking this strategy, you should know that it has repercussions. You have no right to an attorney prior to being arrested. When you decline to take a field sobriety test, the officer will respond by asking you to take a breathalyzer test. Just the same as field sobriety tests, the driver has the right to decline the breathalyzer, since they are well known for being inaccurate. However, there is a very steep price to pay for refusing to take this test. Driving is not a God-given right, but it’s a privilege. When you refuse to take a breathalyzer, your driver’s license will be instantly suspended. Moreover, you will also be arrested immediately and taken to the police station. Once you arrive at the station, you then can choose to take a more accurate blood test, or the officer may attempt to get a warrant to take your blood without your consent.

Before making the decision to refuse a breathalyzer, you should consider a couple of important things – the time of year and the location of the incident. Certain judges in various counties around Texas authorize their police offices to take blood samples for BAC testing on certain holiday weekends when drunken driving is widespread like New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July. On normal nights, these warrants are impossible to obtain quickly, but the judge will keep the candle burning late on holiday weekends specifically to nail drunken drivers. Moreover, if they test your blood, then they can also detect use of illegal drugs in addition to alcohol. By refusing the blood test on the wrong weekend, you could be doing severe damage to your case.

Clearly, you need to consult with an experienced Fort Worth DWI attorney like those at Grossman Law Offices immediately if you have been arrested due to a BAC test, so we can help you determine whether or not that evidence was obtained legally.

Texas DWI Penalties

A wide range of punishments exist for DWI charges in Texas, depending upon the previous DWI status of the defendant and the conditions of the. Various penalties include:

A first offense is a Class B misdemeanor in which the defendant may be sentenced to as much as 180 days in jail, fined as much as $2,000, and suffer a driver’s license suspension between 90 days and a year. If the person's BAC (blood alcohol concentration) is at or above .15%, the charge is automatically bumped up to a Class A misdemeanor.

Once the defendant is convicted of a second DWI, the charge increases to a Class A misdemeanor, doubling the fine to $4,000, increasing the maximum prison sentence increases to a year, and extending the driver’s license suspension to as long as two years.

A third DWI is an extremely serious matter, as it’s considered to be a third degree felony, punishable with an automatic license suspension of two years, a maximum jail sentence of 10 years, and a maximum monetary penalty of $10,000.

If the driver had an open container with alcohol at the time he or she was arrested for the DWI, the punishment is far more severe. Anyone convicted of driving with an open container receives a minimum six days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000 in addition to the punishment assessed for the DWI charges.

That’s only the beginning of the fines for a DWI in the state of Texas, however. Anyone convicted of a DWI must pay a $1,000 surcharge annually for three years in order to reinstate his or her license. As we mentioned earlier, that surcharge doubles each year for anyone whose BAC is .16 percent or more. If someone is convicted of a second DWI, then the defendant must pay another $1,500 annual surcharge for each of the next three years. Moreover, these surcharges accumulate. Anyone convicted of two DWIs within three years must pay a surcharge of $2,500 each year during any overlapping years.

Anyone who is intoxicated when he or she gets into an auto accident injuring another person can be charged with intoxication assault, which is a 3rd degree felony carrying a maximum fine of $10,000, as well as, two to ten years in prison.

If someone dies as a result of an auto accident that involved an intoxicated driver, then the driver will likely be charged with intoxication manslaughter, which is a 2nd degree felony, carrying a possible 20-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of $10,000.

True, many DWI cases result only in probation, but an intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter conviction will result in jail time. An intoxication assault conviction requires a sentence of at least 30 days in jail, while an intoxication manslaughter conviction comes with a mandatory sentence of at least 120 days in prison. Intoxication manslaughter with a deadly weapon also comes with no possibility of probation.

When you are assigned probation, the court will provide you with obligations that you must follow. Most jurisdictions require you to report in person once a month for a brief interview, paying a $50 supervisory fee for every visit. If you are lucky, you will receive probation in a county that allows non-reporting probation or trips to the probation officer’s office every other month. Even with these counties, you must still file monthly reports and pay the $50 monthly fee. In addition, you must abstain from committing any crimes and drinking alcohol, pay all court fees and fines, attend DWI education classes, and complete an established amount of community service hours. Many counties in Texas will also require you to take monthly drug and alcohol tests – particularly if you also have a history of drug arrests.

If you have only been convicted of one DWI offense, then the court will not insist upon installing an interlock device on your ignition, requiring you to blow into the machine and confirm you are sober before starting the car. However, any additional DWI arrests or even first-time offenses for an intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter conviction will lead to an immediate installation of an interlock device on your car. If you set off the warning system on your interlock device, your car will not start, and your probation officer will be notified of the transgression. It is illegal for you to be caught driving a car during your probationary period that has not been outfitted with an interlock device.

Only in the rarest of cases can a DWI conviction be expunged or non-disclosed in the state of Texas, so they will be on your record forever. Even when a DWI can be expunged, it remains on your driver’s license record and will cause you pay enormous insurance rates for a long time. In the few rare instances in which a DWI can be successfully expunged, the incident remains on your driver's license record, inflating your insurance charges for many years.

If you have been charged with any offense involving drunken driving, you need to call the Fort Worth DWI lawyers at Grossman Law Offices. We will help you understand more about the fines and penalties you could be subjected to. We have been in this business for two decades, and know how to answer your questions.

2nd & 3rd DWI Charges in Texas

Like we have already informed you, every time you are convicted of a DWI, the punishment gets more dire. Prison time and community service hours get longer, monetary penalties keep getting bigger and bigger, and the alcohol awareness seminars only get more tedious and repetitive. Moreover, every time you need to use your car, you’re going to have to blow into the interlock device, likely reminding you of the painful breathalyzer test with which this ordeal began. Only the most skilled Fort Worth DWI attorney can help minimize the severity of your punishment if you already have a DWI conviction on your record.

No matter what law firm you eventually decide to hire, the only way to give yourself the best chances of avoiding these punishments is to hire a Fort Worth DWI attorney who has familiarity handling DWI cases in the Tarrant County Court system. For over 20 years, the lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have been dealing with DWI cases both criminal and civil. We know how to best attack an officer’s motivation for pulling you over and administering a BAC test, as well as, the credibility of the test itself. If the BAC test gets tossed out of court, the state’s case usually goes right along with it. Even if we can’t get the BAC test excluded, we can still make sure the judge and jury all understand the weaknesses with the validity of the results. Our Fort Worth drunken driving lawyers will do whatever is legally in our power if you are facing any kind of drunken driving charge in Texas.

Texas DWI & Child Endangerment

The laws of the state of Texas are crystal-clear – driving while intoxicated and children don’t mix. The laws are designed to punish anyone severely who drives with a child in the car while intoxicated, so a separate charge of DWI with a minor in the vehicle has been established. This crime is classified as a form of child endangerment, DWI with a minor is a state felony punishable with a maximum fine of $10,000 and a maximum prison sentence of two years. A police officer can charge a driver with DWI with a minor in the car even if he or she doesn’t conduct a BAC test – the officer merely has to suspect the driver is impaired by drugs or alcohol.

With such severe punishment and an enormous negative stigma attached to this offense, you must have a clever and skilled Fort Worth DWI attorney if you or a loved one faces a DWI with a minor charge. If you don’t have someone fighting for you who can successfully dispute the false accusations of the arresting officer and the infamously inaccurate breathalyzer tests, then you will be very big trouble. If you’ve been charged with DWI with a minor in the car, our lawyers will do whatever we can to convince the court that the child in your car was safe. If you don’t have a trial-tested Fort Worth DWI attorney, then you’re likely to have an inequitable trial followed by a stiffer punishment.

Underage Drunk Driving Criminal Attorney

The drunken driving laws change completely if the accused is a minor. If you are under the age of 21, then you can be charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) if you have any alcohol in your system at all when you are behind the wheel. In most other facets of law, a minor is anyone under 18, but for the terms of alcohol and driving, 21 is the established dividing line between adult and child.

Just like their older partners in DWI crime, minors can refuse to take breathalyzer or blood alcohol tests when asked to do so by a law enforcement officer, but just like adults, there’s a price to pay for taking that strategy. When minors decline a breathalyzer test on their first DUI offense, their driver’s licenses will be immediately revoked for 120 days. For a second DUI offense, refusal to take a breathalyzer leads to a driver’s license revocation of 240 days for minors.

On the other hand, if you’re under 21 and a breathalyzer spots any alcohol in your system after you’ve been stopped while driving, then your driver’s license will be revoked for at least 60 days. A conviction for any other offense involving driving and alcohol, then your driver’s license is gone for a year. In unique cases where the minor is determined to be addicted to alcohol, the court can strip them of their driver’s licenses entirely or barring them from having one at all.

In addition to losing their licenses, any minors found guilty of a first-time DUI will be expected to work many hours of community service. In cases where the minor appears to be abusing drugs or alcohol, rehabilitation may also be mandated by the court. Minors who are older than 17 and receive one DWI or three DUIs could have to serve up to 180 days in jail.

First-time DUI

While it’s only a Class C misdemeanor, a first DUI offense for a minor is still nothing to laugh about. For every court appearance, your parents will have to go to court with you if you are less than 18 years of age. Any minor found guilty will receive a sentence of 20 to 40 hours of community service and must attend an alcohol awareness class within 90 days of being convicted. Moreover, the court could order your parents to accompany you to alcohol awareness class if you are less than 18 year old. The one thing minors have going for them after a DUI conviction is deferred adjudication. If they are granted deferred adjudication and follow all of the parameters of the community supervision program, then upon the minor’s 21st birthday, the conviction is expunged. It’s as if the arrest never happened.

Second-time DUI

There are only two minor changes for any minor found guilty of a second DUI offense – the community service requirement rises to 60 hours, and a second DUI conviction cannot be expunged from the minor's record though it can be deferred adjudicated.

Third-time DUI

A third guilty conviction for a DUI as a minor rises to a Class B misdemeanor, and deferred adjudication is not an option. Moreover, the punishment is far more severe. The jail sentence increases to 180 days, the fines can be anywhere from $500-$2,000 if you over 18 years of age.

When you got behind the wheel after partying, you already did something foolhardy. Don’t make the mistake again and attempt to handle your own DUI case. Pick up the phone, and call Fort Worth drunk driving lawyers at Grossman Law Offices and protect your rights.

Texas Intoxication Manslaughter Charges

Without a doubt, the two most serious DWI offenses are intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter. If you are accused of one of these offenses, then you need the best counsel you can find, not only for the punishment that is involved but also for the stigma that follows such a guilty verdict. The court takes it very seriously when the actions of a drunken driver cause somebody else to be killed or injured. In order to prove its case against someone accused of intoxication manslaughter or intoxication assault, the state need only prove that the person was intoxicated when the accident occurred and the accident caused the fatality or injury.

In order to punish someone who has hurt or killed an innocent bystander, intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault laws carry the stiffest penalties all of DWI transgressions. With a sentence that includes between two and ten years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000, intoxication assault is a 3rd degree felony, while Intoxication manslaughter carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, a $10,000 fine, and is 2nd degree felony.

With hard time at stake, it’s an extremely bad idea to attempt to handle your own case. You need a time-tested Fort Worth DWI attorney to aggressively approach your case and determine the best legal strategy either to get you out of the charges you face or at least to minimize the punitive damage. Executing the proper strategy to provide you with the most favorable outcome requires the expert touch of someone with significant familiarity with DWI cases, as well as, Tarrant County court procedure. At Grossman Law Offices, we’ve been dealing with Fort Worth drunken driving cases for 20 years, so we you can deliver the best results to your DWI case that you can hope for. We can help you if you have been charged with intoxication manslaughter or intoxication assault, so call us now to find out what we can do for you.

Differences Between Public Intoxication and DWI

In the minds of many people, DWI and public intoxication go together like peas and carrots, but they’re entirely different charges and don’t even involve the same definition of the word, “intoxication.” When it comes to DWI, “intoxicated” is defined as we’ve explained: having a BAC of .08 or higher or not having one’s own “normal physical and mental” abilities while driving. When referring to a public intoxication case, “intoxication” is defined as the state in which someone has become so drunk that he or she is a danger to him or herself and any around them.

Using the state of the art equipment in their cruises, most police officers videotape DWI suspects from the second they suspect the car may be driven by someone who is intoxicated to the second they deliver the suspect to the police station. Moreover, the suspect will be asked to take a field sobriety test and if they fail then a BAC test of some kind that will provide evidence of the offense. There is no set procedure such as these for identifying someone suspected of public intoxication. The only testing method is a police officer who witnesses hazardous behavior by the allegedly intoxicated individual.

Since a P.I. crime is far less hazardous to the general public, the court is much easier on offenders. Public intoxication carries no jail time for a conviction, as it’s only a Class C misdemeanor punishable with a maximum fine of only $500. With so little to lose, anyone can handle his or her own public intoxication case. The same is not true for DWI – you need an experienced Fort Worth DWI attorney protecting you.

Your Rights When Suspected of a DWI

No matter whom you are or what crime the state is convinced you have committed, you’re guaranteed certain rights no in the United States. As we have mentioned, if a police officer asks you to take a field sobriety test or a breathalyzer, you are perfectly within your rights to refuse. But, the state also has the right to revoke your driver's license for 180 days for refusing a breath test during a first-time DWI. These laws are an effort to close a loophole that enabled suspected drunken drivers to avoid prosecution, as the state is arguing that refusing these tests implies guilt. For the next 10 years after being convicted of a DWI, your driver’s license will be suspended for two years for refusing this test, and the refusal can be used as evidence against you in court. If the police suspect you of committing intoxication assault or intoxicated manslaughter, then they can take your blood without your consent.

However, if you agree to the test and fail and have had no prior convictions, then you are only looking at a suspension of 90 days for your driver’s license.

Also, you should remember that your actions are always being videotaped for evidence even if refuse to take a field sobriety tests or answer the officer’s questions.

No, you can’t get on the phone with your attorney while the police officer is interviewing you at the side of the road. No matter what you’ve heard on TJ Hooker, you don’t have the right to an attorney until you’ve been placed under arrest and are being interrogated. On the other hand, you do retain “the right to remain silent.” You don’t have to respond to the officer when asked questions. While this will assuredly lead to your being arrested, it also stymies the police officer’s ability to get your intoxicated voice on tape.

ALR Hearing After a DWI

In the event you fail or refuse a blood or breath test, the arresting officer will confiscate your driver’s license on the spot. Then, he or she will issue a temporary provisional license. This will allow you to continue driving for the next 40 days. However, this doesn’t mean that you will officially be losing your license just yet.

Anyone who has their driver’s license suspended due to a suspected DWI may request an Administrative License Revocation Hearing (or an ALR hearing) to challenge the revocation. The arresting officer or the DPS will notify you by mail of the suspension, and then you have fifteen days to request the ALR hearing. After 15 days, the court considers your right to an ALR hearing waived if you do not file the request.

In many cases, the court cannot schedule the ALR hearing before the end of the 40-day provisional license, and when that occurs the provisional license is officially extended until the hearing is held. After losing an ALR hearing, you have 30 days to file an appeal or again the state considers the right waived. Filing an appeal adds another 90-day extension to the provisional license. By prevailing with the ALR hearing, the appeal, or securing a not guilty verdict at your trial, you lift the suspension on the license immediately.

After you’ve had your driver’s license suspended due to a DWI, an experienced Fort Worth DWI attorney like those at Grossman Law Offices is you best chance to get back into the driver’s seat as soon as possible.

Occupational Driver's Licenses

Even if you win the ALR hearing, it’s highly likely that your driver’s license will still be suspended once you are convicted of a DUI. However, the state isn’t totally cruel and heartless and know that the average Texan must drive a car to maintain their lives in a county like Tarrant where public transportation is largely insufficient. The state allows people to drive where need be for work, school or to care for children. If your driver’s license is suspended, then you can apply for an Occupational Driver’s License. It should be noted that such a license is fairly expensive and is accompanied by strict limitations and requirements, mandating that you keep track of where you go, when you go there, why you went there, and how long it took you – every time you get behind the wheel. However, these are only small annoyances compared to waiting for a bus during a Texas summer.

In order to get an ODL, you must file a special petition details the crime and what type of license you would like. This is a complex process best left to an experienced Fort Worth drunken driving lawyer for whom such things are old hat. You’re trying to get your life back on track, and figure out how to handle everything right now. How to get to work should be a problem your lawyer can handle. At Grossman Law Offices, we can put an occupational driver’s license in your wallet and your hands back at ten and two. To find out how we can help you get an occupational driver’s license after you’ve had your license suspended due to a DWI or DUI, call us now.

Grossman Law Offices Can Help

Tat Grossman Law Offices, our Fort Worth DWI lawyers can help you find the best possible outcome for your drunken driving conviction. From the a minor who just got caught driving after one beer, to an adult who caused a major wreck while severely drunk, from someone who failed a breathalyzer test to someone who refused to take one, from someone who injured nobody before being pulled over to someone who killed a bystander – we can help you all.

We have spent the past 20 years resolving both criminal and civil DWI cases in Tarrant County and all over Texas, so we’re well-respected in the court systems and know the procedures and the ins and outs of the laws involved. Call us now for a free and confidential consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free). Any time of the day or night, our attorneys will be happy to listen to your story. After hearing the details of your case, we can answer any questions you may have, and explain ho we can help you. You are in a very challenging situation, and you’re going to need help to get out. Call us now.