McKinney DWI Attorney

After Being Arrested for a DWI in Collin County, You Need the Experienced DWI Lawyers at Grossman Law Offices on Your Side

A lot of people are accused of DWI offenses in Southern Collin County. If you have been charged with driving while intoxicated anywhere in McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Prosper or anywhere in Collin County, you need the help of a skilled and seasoned local DWI attorney who has spent time in the Collin County courts. A criminal attorney who has an intimate familiarity with your county’s criminal courts and their procedures, and is also well-known among the prosecutors can secure the best possible resolution to your case.

Of course, any attorney will take your money, hold your hand through the legal process and then hope for leniency as you are sentenced. But does that offer you the best chance for a favorable outcome? Think again. You need someone who is going to treat your case like it matters. Michael Grossman and the Collin County DWI lawyers at Grossman Law Offices approach every case like the unique entity that it is. We devote our time and insight to every client’s situation and do whatever we can to deliver the best possible results.

In these communities, it’s pretty easy to find a lawyer. But will just any attorney do when you are facing a DWI charge? A lawyer who knows drunken driving laws just as well as the unique qualities of the Collin County courts. A DWI conviction will bring with it sizable fines and possibly even revocation of your driver’s license. But depending on the facts of the case and the outcome, especially if you are legally under represented, you could be looking at the possibility of going to prison. But your problems don’t stop there with a guilty verdict. This “black eye” on your record will most-likely cause problems with both present and future employers. Not securing the best possible representation and devoting your maximum effort to dealing with this situation is soon certain to bring sadness and regret. For over 20 years, the local DWI attorneys At Grossman L aw Offices have been dealing with all types of DWI cases in Lancaster and everywhere else in the Metroplex and Collin County.

Most crimes are committed by people who mean to break the law and don’t care if they willfully hurt someone else in the doing. But such is not necessarily the case with DWI offenders, who are normal everyday people who just suffered a lapse in judgment while having too much to drink. It’s important to remember that someone who is intoxicated has lost normal physical and mental capacity. This includes the ability to make rational decisions. And though such a person should be punished, if that person is properly represented and the true facts of the case can be told to the court, the state can take such mitigating circumstances into account and assess a lighter, more reasonable punishment that actually fits the offense, rather than the severe penalties commonly associated to those who intentionally assault or rob another citizen.

But on the other hand, just because the state can allow for leniency in a drunken driving case doesn’t mean that it is going to do so. In order to get the judge and jury to see you as someone who just made a solitary mistake and one who deserves a second chance, you need a McKinney DWI attorney who has familiarity with hundreds of other cases and is known in the Collin County courts. Even if the facts of your case do not warrant a verdict of innocent, a skilled and experienced attorney may be able to still help you attain the best possible outcome to your case.

But before you hire an attorney, we believe it is a good idea that you have a good working understanding of the essentials involved with DWI law, so you can ask the right questions of your prospective lawyers and make the right choices of both your attorney as well as your defense strategy. You must be well informed, or your chances of winning that favorable outcome to your DWI charges rapidly diminish. Once you’ve acquired this necessary familiarity with the law, you should feel more comfortable about this unfortunate situation in which you are mired, and who the best lawyer is to help you out of this predicament. Because there’s no doubt that right now you’re in tight spot. And if this is not your first DWI offense, your troubles are even greater; and a real threat to your freedom and the well-being of your family as well.

DWI trials differ dramatically from typical criminal trials, and are unique unto themselves due to the nature of the alleged perpetrator. Not an intentional, hardened criminal who intends to hurt others with his or her actions, DWI defendants are everyday people who just made one (or a series of) unfortunate bad decisions, which made them a criminal suspect. Alcohol impairs mental and physical ability no matter who you are or how accustomed to the consumption of alcohol you may be. Anyone is apt to have a little too much to drink and then lose the ability to reasonably decide if they are capable of safely driving home.

While anyone who drinks too much can become a potential DWI defendant, they’re still treated as criminals by the prosecution; due largely to the aggressive campaigns of MADD and other alcohol awareness organizations that’s worth lots of votes during election time. And cracking down on drunk drivers has become a cause-célèbre’ among politicians. Even for first offenses, those convicted of DWI can be sent to prison, though that is very rare unless they caused an accident that seriously hurt another. But virtually every guilty DWI offender must pay hefty fines and penalties. In fact, but for very serious felonies, first-time DWI convictions carry the largest financial punishments of just about all Texas criminal offenses.

There is very little chance you will hear the words “not guilty” or even obtain an acceptably lenient sentence without a McKinney DWI attorney going to bat for you. To find out more about how we can help you, call us now for a free consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free). We guarantee confidentiality and give you the opportunity to question a knowledgeable legal expert about your situation. We can clarify all legal issues to your full understanding and will share with you our view of your best legal options.

Understanding the Criminal Law Essentials and How they Impact All DWI Cases

Before we go into the specifics of the laws and penalties that surround with your drunk driving charges, we must first explain some of the basics of criminal law in order to help your understanding and serve as a foundation. To protect against unlawful prosecution, all citizens of the United States are given certain rights by the Constitution; most notably within the Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments of the Constitution. When police gather evidence, and when DA’s prosecute, they must respect your rights. And the state must prove its case against you “beyond a reasonable doubt” in order to deliver a conviction. If any of those Constitutional rights are violated during your prosecution, you are automatically acquitted: even if you’re clearly guilty.

However, so long as towns, cities, counties, and states refrain from infringing upon constitutionally protected rights, they can create their own rules and regulations for governing their own communities. Speed limits are the easiest ways to illustrate this notion. When you drive down the highway, the speed limit often rises as high as 70 mph or drops as low as 55 as you traverse through more heavily populated areas. Each community has the right to establish its own speed limits and the amount of the fines to impose when people violate their traffic laws. When you get a speeding ticket, you must go to the court to fight the ticket or follow whatever procedures it has for making payment or to request defensive driving, if your offense qualifies for that remedy.

No matter what type of court a case is being tried in, there will be unique procedures specific to that venue. It’s almost as if each court has its own distinct personality. And in some communities, those courts can be seen as little fiefdoms with organizational structures and processes unique unto themselves. The purpose of all of these criminal courts is to deliver justice. But every jurisdiction has its own flavor, and every judge his or her own way of doing things. Let’s consider the analogy of 7-11’s to better grasp this concept. You probably have one in your neighborhood, and you have visited many different ones just in Collin County from time to time.

While all 7-11’s are part of the same corporation, they’re also all different in some way. One will have the Slurpee machine in one corner, and the next store might have it in another. In some of them, the hot-dog grill is manned by an attendant, and in others it’s self-service. Some 7-11’s sell beer while others are located in dry neighborhoods. In some locations, the help is attentive and responsive, and in others, they hardly understand the English language at all. The same can be said of each county court in which a DWI case is tried; the procedures of the court and the punishments it doles out often vary, depending upon the community’s standards, the idiosyncrasies of the judge, and the makeup of the jury that will sit in judgment of you if your case actually goes to trial. When you are charged with a Collin County DWI, you need a local County DWI lawyer who has spent time in the courts in the county in which you are charged, has perfected his approach to the nuances of the courts and is also known to the prosecutors, as well as the judges who will approve any settlement or hand out the penalties if the trial results in a guilty verdict against you.

Keep in mind, a guilty verdict comes with huge monetary losses, a massive hit to your reputation, and the possibility of jail time. Granted, you can fight the charges, but should you? In many DWI cases, the defendant would be wise to negotiate a plea agreement instead of taking a case to court. Of course, you have something to lose at trial – your reputation, your money, and maybe even your freedom. But, you might not realize the prosecution is at risk, too. A few losses can negatively affect a prosecutor’s reputation, and too many will lead to the district attorney’s office looking for a new prosecutor. This is not necessarily fair for the prosecutors, because their case is based on how well the police have investigated the case and whether it was done thoroughly and legally. If the arresting officer did not take care to make sure the defendant’s rights were protected, or if insufficient evidence was found to warrant a conviction, or the officer did not protect the “chain of evidence” the prosecutor’s reputation takes just as much of a hit as the arresting officer. Even when the prosecution has evidence, like a failed breathalyzer test, a clever attorney could get the jury to question the validity of the test or exclude it altogether. The prosecution needs to guarantee a statistical win, so it has just as much incentive to negotiate a plea agreement as the defendant. But prosecutors must negotiate an “apparent” win without giving back too much to the defendant in return for getting “any guilty conviction” in return for the thousands of dollars a DWI trial will cost the county. So a plea agreement might be a good strategy. And we’ll talk about those a bit later in this article

How a McKinney or Allen DWI Lawyer Can Help You with Your Case

In most DWI cases, rare are the instances where justice is black and white. Courts often see the expediency of living in “the gray,” particularly when it comes to applying punishment more equitably. Criminals should be punished according to the threat they present to society, so a wide range of punishment is possible that generally fits any particular crime and often reflects a distinction between the habitual criminal and the first-time offender according to his or her own crime, the degree of the offense and the circumstances of the case. For instance, when a judge or jury has the discretion of applying a sentence of between two and ten years in prison, only the most dangerous (or habitual) criminals will be given the ten years. Until your attorney forces the state to recognize the circumstances of your offense, the prosecution will always assume the worst and seek the maximum sentence, especially if the defendant is represented by an inexperienced, lawyer or an attorney who is unknown to them.

When you hire Grossman Law Offices, our McKinney DWI attorneys will make sure the Collin County court in which your case is heard views you as the person you are: somebody who just made a solitary - and probably dumb - mistake. Once you hire our firm, the first thing we’re we must do is allow you to tell the story in your own words of what happened before and during your DWI arrest and booking. You be truthful no matter what happened or how badly the situation was, or we won’t be able to mount the best defense possible. You’ve heard parents say to their children “tell me now before I find out later.” Complete candor with your attorney in telling the unfettered truth of the matter is essential if we are to defend you to the best of our ability. And no matter what you tell us about your case, we’ve heard worse and are not the ones who sit in judgment of you. Your defense attorney must know everything or he is of little use to you in your fight for freedom.

After we know your story, our next step is to find out what the prosecution has to say about the case. In a trial of any kind, both prosecution and defense must share their evidence with each other during what is known as the discovery period. This process can be easily drawn out, but our excellent reputation in the Collin County courts and familiarity with the prosecutors eases the communication and streamlines the course of learning how strong their evidence is and what sentence they will pursue, just like it does for them. Once they know how things really are, the prosecutors’ view of you could change for the better. And once we know how your side of the story meshes with the prosecution’s evidence, we can devise a strategy for how to move forward with your case. As we execute that strategy, we will make sure you are kept abreast of every development along the way, as we pursue the best possible resolution to your situation.

The Standards for Determining if a Driver is Intoxicated in Collin County, Texas

While challenging to win, it’s not impossible to secure an acquittal in DWI cases. All you need is the right balance of circumstances and an aggressive and skillful South Collin County DWI attorney. The next few paragraphs are an explanation of the various kinds of DWI cases, which will give you a better idea of whether or not the circumstances of your case could lead to a “not guilty” verdict.

We all pretty much understand and accept that it’s illegal to drive a car while drunk. But, what does he law consider drunk to be? As it pertains to drunken driving, the term “intoxicated” has two definitions. A person can be ruled intoxicated if his or her blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is greater than .08 percent. But there have been times when the driver can be declared legally intoxicated if he or she loses “normal mental and physical” abilities due to the use of drugs, alcohol, or any combination of controlled substances while he or she is behind the wheel. You’ve seen examples where some medications come with the warning not to drive or operate heavy or dangerous machinery after you have taken certain prescription drugs, either by themselves or in combination with alcohol. And some people can even be afflicted with certain physical maladies that might even make them appear intoxicated when they in fact are not.

Without a doubt, the second definition of intoxication is far more subjective and open to interpretation. Over time, this standard has come to apply only to what is normal for the particular driver in question and not what is normal for all drivers. This creates a logical dilemma: “How can a police officer know what is normal for you in order to make this determination?” So the relative question of legal intoxication can become a point on which to base a DWI defense if there is an absence of objective evidence. We’ll share such examples in just a moment.

But it’s easy to understand why police officers are so reliant on breathalyzers and other BAC tests because they’re trying to secure evidence that can assure a conviction that is based on arbitrary rather than relative evidence. The second standard (based primarily on just the officer’s observation) is far too debatable to stand on its own in court. So, a BAC test can be important in assessing the correct fines on the offender. When someone has a BAC of .16 or greater, he or she must pay an annual surcharge of $2,000 over three years to retain his or her driver’s license after a first-conviction, while any DWIs featuring a BAC of less than .16 percent carry a surcharge of only $1,000 for those same three years. We’ll discuss Drivers License Surcharges in this article as well.

If you have been charged with some form of drunken driving offense, the Allen DWI attorneys at Grossman Law Offices can help deliver the best possible result no matter if the case against you relies upon a blood test, a breath test, or just the subjective opinion of a law enforcement officer.

Texas DWI Penalties Vary From Expensive to Unreasonably Draconian

In order to cope with the many kinds of criminals, Texas courts allow for a wide array of punishments in DWI cases. The severity of these punitive measures depends upon:

• The circumstances of the DWI offense.
• The defendant’s previous DWI history.
• If an accident was caused by the DWI driver.
• And the degree of injury to the occupants of the other vehicle if an accident occurred.

Here is a list of all of the various DWI offenses, and the spectrum of punishments that can accordingly be assigned:

• First-time DWI - This is categorized as a Class B misdemeanor, and convicted offenders can receive up to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, and a driver’s license suspension ranging from 90 days to one 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.
• Second-time DWI - For a repeat offender, the DWI jumps to a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum prison term of one year, a maximum fine of $4,000, and a driver’s license revocation of up to two years.
• Third-time DWI - Classified as “revolving door drunken drivers,” these offenders become felons upon the third conviction, which is classified as a third degree felony. It is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $10,000, and a mandatory driver’s license suspension of two years once they are released from imprisonment.
• Open Container Laws - When someone convicted of a DWI also has an open container with alcohol in the car, he or she only makes the punishment worse, adding an additional fine of up to $2,000 and a minimum six days in jail. The Texas Open Container law was recently modified to include any passenger inside the vehicle from the old standard of only a passenger in the front seat.
• Intoxication Assault - The purpose of the court is to protect society, so punishments get harsher when a drunken driver physically harms others in an auto accident. This is known as intoxication assault and is a 3rd-degree felony and carries the same punishment as a third-time DWI: a prison sentence of between two and ten years and a $10,000 fine, in addition to mandatory driver’s license suspension of two years once they are released from imprisonment.
• Intoxication Manslaughter - This is doubtlessly the worst “negligent” DWI offense. It’s a 2nd-degree felony in which someone dies in an auto wreck with a drunken driver. Any driver convicted of this offense can receive as much as 20 years in jail and a fine of $10,000. But on rare occasions, if a drunk driver maliciously and purposefully causes an accident that kills people, an argument can be made that this is a capital offense, which is a first-degree felony.

What Happens Once You are Stopped by an Officer for Suspicion of DWI

The first rule of how to respond when pulled over under suspicion of drunken driving is a very simple one. Actually, there are two: don’t panic and keep quiet unless you are asked a direct question by the police officer. And then keep your answer short, on-point and respectful. You only hurt yourself when you lose your cool or get angry with the police officer even if you haven’t been drinking. It’s like walking around with a “kick me hard” sign on your back.

If the officer asks you a few questions or smells alcohol on your breath you will be asked to get out of your vehicle and if the police officer suspects you might be intoxicated, will be asked to submit to some field sobriety tests. Remember, the definition of intoxicated pertains to what you would normally be able to do when you are not drunk. Thus, if you honestly feel you couldn’t pass the field sobriety test when sober, and then you have the right to decline to take it. For instance, somebody who has dyslexia will have trouble reciting the alphabet, let alone doing it backwards while standing on one leg. So the best interests of such people is to decline a field sobriety test when asked.

However, you should remember that there is a significant downside that comes with your refusal. When you decline one roadside sobriety test, the officer will ask you a second time. After that, officers then will request a breathalyzer from anyone who twice declines to perform field sobriety tests. Citing concerns over the accuracy of these tests, you can refuse the breathalyzer too, but this has an even harsher consequence. Once you decline a breathalyzer test, your driver’s license is immediately suspended, and you will be placed under arrest. At the jail, you will be given the opportunity to take a blood test. If you refuse that test as well, then the officer may apply for a warrant to draw your blood without your consent. However, in the middle of the night (when most DWI traffic stops occur) the officer is not generally likely to be able to find an available judge.

However, this delay in securing a warrant might disappear entirely depending upon the time of year and the circumstances. Certain judges in certain jurisdictions make themselves available to immediately authorize warrants to take suspected drunken drivers blood without their consent This mostly happens on certain holiday weekends when drunkenness is common – New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and the Fourth of July, or if a particular community is cracking down on DWI and marshals all of their legal officials to participate in these special campaigns around-the-clock. Thus, they may very well be testing your BAC whether you like it or not. This problem is even worse for anyone who has been abusing illegal drugs to celebrate the holiday weekend. A breathalyzer test would not reveal this illegal behavior, but a blood test surely will.

But the latter brings another concern. Traces of certain narcotics and other recreational drugs remain in a person’s system long after they are taken, and the effects of those drugs are no longer present in the suspect. And many is the time when a person might have “recreated” using drugs that at the time of the arrest, have no bearing on their current conditions and the suspect may not be under the immediate influence of any of the drugs that the blood tests might reveal.

The upshot of this entire process is that the tools exist that can catch DWI offenders dead-to-rights, but the procedures for securing that evidence is open to interpretation, not to mention the actions of aggressive law enforcement officers or prosecutors who might be willing to risk circumventing the Constitution in order to secure a conviction. We won’t speak directly to that but we’ve seen some law enforcement officials play “fast and loose” with the evidentiary rules in DWI cases, not to mention assistant DA’s who are new and trying to “make their bones,” with their fellow prosecutors. And that might be a factor in your case.

If you have refused a Breathalyzer or BAC test, or failed the ones you might have taken, then you need a seasoned and knowledgeable Collin County DWI attorney like those at Grossman Law Offices to protect your rights. We will make sure any evidence that was used against you was obtained legally, is completely accurate and that your Constitutional rights were respected throughout the entire legal process.

How Blood Alcohol Levels are Used in Texas DWI Cases

OK now, you probably know more than you ever wanted to learn about blood alcohol concentration (BAC). You already know: .08 percent BAC is the established legal limit for intoxication when driving any motor vehicle (or are accused of public intoxication if you are not behind the wheel). What this actually means is that the blood in your system contains .08 percent of alcohol as a result of what you have had to drink. Tests have shown that .08 percent BAC is the generally accepted legal standard at which your normal physical and mental abilities allegedly become impaired. This is the level that the law has established as the legal limit. Currently there are three ways of measuring BAC to come up with this .08 percentage:

• The number of grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
• The number of grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath (though you will not submit that much of your breath, breathalyzers are calibrated to measure the level will as little as 25 actual liters of a breath sample).
• The number of grams of alcohol per 67 milliliters of urine.

Unless you are a combination of Albert Einstein and W.C. Fields armed with a scientific calculator, or happen to carry a breathalyzer in your pocket, it’s virtually impossible to monitor your own BAC as you continue to drink. The government’s methods of detecting your BAC level are more reliable than self monitoring, but they’re still far from perfect. All of the modes for measuring BAC base their formulas on the norms for an average human being. By one testing method, your BAC may be well over the legal limit, but by another you might not even be considered intoxicated. To explain, a breath test could detect a BAC of .07 percent, while a blood test rated the same person’s BAC at .09 percent. While it will be hard to prove in court, any police officer can arrest you for a DWI without testing your BAC. They can always claim that your “normal mental and physical” abilities were impaired; even though, that’s very difficult to establish beyond a reasonable doubt. So essentially, due to the variable results of these three tests, the actual arrest is based more on the suspicion of the officer than the true data gleaned from any or all of the measurement tests; even if the data from one test contradicts that of another.

Breathalyzer Inaccuracies

Elapsed time between the arrest and any BAC tests can further cloud the reliability of all of them. In order to prove that a driver is guilty of a DWI, the state must be able to establish that the driver was intoxicated while he or she was actually driving. Due to the laws that must be followed, BAC tests are usually not given until from 45 to as much as 90 minutes after the driver has been stopped. And the moment that a person stops drinking, his or her body begins to recover and BAC levels move towards more normally accepted levels.

An hour might not be a large amount of time. But in the greater scheme of things, that hour can have a significant effect on the BAC level of a tested driver; especially if their BA level was just at .08 when he or she was arrested and transported to jail. During the ride “downtown,” the driver’s body is processing alcohol through its system. Some people do this faster than others, with several facets of the driver’s body make-up and behavior impacting the process – the weight of the driver, the speed at which the driver was consuming alcohol, the amount he or she had to eat that night, the various kinds of alcohol that he or she drank, and the consumption of any drugs (either illegal or prescription) by the driver.

So, a delayed BAC test could either help or hurt the defendant. It’s possible after being stopped that a driver could naturally flush some of the alcohol in his or her blood by urinating before the test (we won’t say where or how). This allows his or her BAC to drop below the level of being legally intoxicated when the driver might have been – in point of fact – drunk at the time he or she was pulled over. And in the grand scheme of things, if you are administered a BAC an hour after arrest that is .07, conjecture by the officer (or the prosecutor) that you had to have a level of .08 or higher is not viable evidence in a DWI case. Even if it was true, there’s no proof. But on the other hand, it’s equally likely that the driver was not legally intoxicated at the time of the traffic stop but still had alcohol in his or her stomach that had yet to be processed into the system. In this case, the ensuing hour before the BAC test allowed the driver’s blood to absorb that alcohol, and the driver’s BAC soared over the level of legal intoxication.

It is also possible that the device used to measure your blood alcohol content may be improperly calibrated. These are sophisticated machines that must be in perfect working order if they are to be relied upon. Or sometimes, they are not properly maintained or calibrated. And sometimes, the police receive a bulletin that updates them on new calibration processes but they were not done when you were administered your test, which could also produce a false-positive. Just because the device gives a positive that might apparently say that you are drunk, the condition or calibration of the device can be called into question. It doesn’t happen a lot. But it does happen more than a little.

If your BAC test was taken too long after you were pulled over to maintain its accuracy, then a savvy and experienced McKinney or Allen DWI attorney will make sure that tainted evidence is excluded from your trial just the same as if it was illegally taken without your consent.

Texas DWI Testing Procedures

If the state relied upon blood tests, then BAC testing would be far more reliable. Not only are these tests more accurate, but they allow for the blood sample to be stored and re-tested in the event there is a question about their validity later in the process of determining your level of intoxication. Unfortunately, blood tests cannot be given by the side of the road, creating a delay before they can be administered (and the inevitable calling into question of the accuracy of the tests). Breathalyzers may not be as accurate at blood tests, but they can be given in the field. This makes the breathalyzer the most popular BAC test used by Texas law enforcement. Many guilty verdicts have been obtained just based on breathalyzer data.

Using an infrared light absorption method, the Intoxilyzer 5000 is the go-to breathalyzer device for law enforcement officers in Texas. However, this machine is only slightly more advanced than an Intellivision (another older device), as the latter utilizes 30-year-old (first-generation) technology. And though there are plenty of Intellivision devices still in-use, it comes as little surprise that over the years, there have been concerns about its accuracy.

But the newer Intoxilyzer 5000 has also been known to mistake other substances commonly found in the breath for alcohol. However, that’s fairly rare. A much more glaring problem comes from the method by which this device measures alcohol in the blood, basing all of its calculations on a ratio of alcohol in the breath compared to the blood that is normal for an average human being: 2100 parts of alcohol in the breath for every one in the blood. However, it’s possible for someone to have a breath/blood ratio as high as 3100/1, who would have a BAC test score well below his or her actual BAC (as low as 1100/1). The accuracy of BAC tests can also be thrown off by extremes in lung capacity, blood composition, height, weight, or muscle mass. Some popular breath mints have sometimes thrown the data off if a suspect consumes a mouthful of them shortly before taking a breathalyzer test.

Making fears of inaccuracy with the Intoxilyzer 5000 even more disconcerting, only law enforcement officers may test the devices. But its manufacturer refuses to guarantee its findings unless a certified technician administers the test. So it’s a case of “maybe” the results prove intoxication, but there is no clearly-defined procedure to codify the results if only law officers administer them.

What’s truly frustrating about the Intoxilyzer is that it has the capacity for much more reliable testing if the Texas DPS (who establishes testing standards in our state) would change its policies. The Intoxilyzer system can transfer and store breath samples in a mater database, which could make them available for subsequent testing with a much more reliable gas chromatographer. This would make the process virtually foolproof. However, the current intoxication laws do not require the DPS (and by definition, local law enforcement) to confirm Intoxilyzer results with a second test via gas chromatographer; nor is the breath sample saved. What would happen if they did? Drivers who failed a BAC test might discover those tests were incorrect, allowing them to go free. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the DPS’ (and by definition, all law enforcement’s) motivation. They are apparently more concerned with convictions than true justice, just like the politicians who write the laws that sometimes trample on our Constitutional rights in their rush to conviction.

Even some law enforcement officers admit these problems and in some cases privately doubt the universal accuracy of the Intoxilyzer 5000. If you are facing DWI charges and you failed a breathalyzer test, you don’t want to automatically assume you’re going to be found guilty. If you suspect the results of your BAC test were inaccurate, then contact Grossman Law Offices. One of our Frisco or Prosper DWI attorneys will listen to your story and assess your situation.

DWI Plea Bargains vs. Jury Trials and Other Options

As we’ve already mentioned, if you mislead your attorney about the facts of your case, then you’re only doing yourself a disservice. Your lawyer can’t devise an adequate strategy based upon lies or half-truths. Your attorney is the last one you want to have in the dark when it comes to the truth of your situation, and will only seriously harm your chances of securing the best possible outcome to your case. If the prosecution doesn’t have much evidence, then you may want to go to court to force an acquittal. When the police have really dropped the ball when gathering evidence, the charges may even be outright dropped, enabling the defendant to expunge the arrest from his record.

But here’s the thing about trials. Registered voters who are randomly chosen every week must appear for jury duty. When they show up, it’s often reluctantly. You too have probably been called for jury duty and probably hoped to get out of it. Just like you, those empaneled citizens can think of a hundred better things they’d rather be doing than sit inside a courtroom and listening to a bunch of lawyers arguing your case. Juries alone are enough to explain why a trial is a very risky proposition for both sides. And it’s not hard to appreciate why only around one-in four DWI cases eventually end up in court. Being forced to argue a case in front of a jury is a risk both sides take. And sometimes the prosecution runs a greater risk than you of taking the case to trial.

When it comes to most DWI offenses, however, the chances of the charges being dropped are not a realistic hope. Law enforcement agencies have developed methods over time, and have been given some sophisticated tools designed to produce viable, even airtight, evidence. And most police officers follow these procedures religiously. In all likelihood, the police officer positioned his vehicle to capture the entire roadside exchange on tape, and your drunken behavior has been documented, possibly with not only a dash cam in the police unit but one clipped to the officer’s shoulder. You were certainly asked to take some sort of BAC test. Whether you refused to take it, or you failed it, the state probably (but not always) has strong evidence against you. You also must remember that the judge and jury are probably going to color you in a negative light before they even hear the evidence against you because most people do not hold drunk drivers in high regard. If this is such a case, it’s likely in your best interests to pursue some sort of plea agreement that is acceptable to prosecutors and the court.

If you agree to a plea bargain, then the prosecution has far more incentive to agree to a more lenient sentence, or deferred adjudication; especially if you are not a repeat offender or some aspects of the case suggest to the prosecutor - now that he has a plead-out conviction - that leniency is appropriate. Prosecutors are people too and they know some defendants make mistakes of omission rather than commission. Once you complete the prescribed community supervision period during deferred adjudication, the charges are officially dropped and no longer appear on your criminal record.

Again, it’s critical that you remain truthful with your lawyer, or there is very little point in having one because you’re bootstrapping the very person you are paying to help you out of your predicament.

Getting your Drivers License Back Through an ALR Hearing after a DWI

As we’ve said, once you have refused to take a breathalyzer test, your driver’s license will be instantly revoked by the arresting officer. After taking your license, the officer will issue a provisional license that lasts for the next 40 days, but you will have an opportunity to fight the license revocation before your trial. Once the arresting officer or the DPS has contacted you to inform you of your license suspension, you have 15 days to request a Administrative License Revocation Hearing (or an ALR hearing), in which your attorney can present evidence to try to get the license revocation overturned. If you do not file such a request within the prescribed 15 days, then you waive the right to an ALR hearing.

In most cases, the court will not be able to schedule your ALR hearing within the 40 days you have been allotted on the provisional driver’s license, for the Collin County courts are fairly clogged. Don’t worry, your provisional license extends until the date of the ALR hearing if there’s some sort of delay in your trial. Should you lose your ALR hearing, you can appeal, but you must do so within the next 30 days, or you waive this right. By submitting an appeal, your provisional license is good for another 90 days. If you win the ALR hearing or subsequently your DWI trial, then the suspension is immediately ended and your license returned.

At Grossman Law Offices, our Plano DWI lawyers can put you back in the driver’s seat, so don’ panic if your driver’s license has been suspended or revoked.

Occupational Driver's Licenses

If you are convicted of a DWI, then your license will to be suspended regardless of what happens with your ALR hearing. But, everyone still needs to get to work, do the shopping, and take the kids to school. And DART is useless for most people living in Collin County. But the State of Texas allows anyone who has had his or her driver’s license revoked due to a DWI to apply for an Occupational Driver’s License (ODL). Having one is better than nothing, but it’s a lot more expensive. The city where the DWI violation took place charges you a fee to apply for the ODL; between $500-$1,000. Once you have an ODL, you must maintain a trip log that proves you have complied with the conditions of the license and keep track of all of the details of your journey every time you get behind the wheel: such as the date, intended destination, time you left, time you returned, purpose of the trip, and miles driven. And the municipality can request a review of your trip logs any time to match your records up with your odometer reading.

Your lawyer will need to draw up a special petition detailing the crime you committed, the type of license you need, and every purpose for which you will need to travel if you wish to be granted an ODL. While not as complicated as trying a case, applying for an ODL requires familiarity with the procedure. Otherwise, you risk alienating the judge. And there are enough problems on your plate right now. So you shouldn’t have the additionally worry of how you’re going to get around. At Grossman Law Offices, our Collin County DWI lawyers can relieve you of this procedural worry. You can be back behind the wheel by getting an ODL. So if you’ve lost your license due to a DWI, then call us now.

Driver’s License Surcharges

The above punishments aren’t the end of your ordeal. In order to reinstate your driver’s license once your suspension period ends. You must pay yet another fine: it’s known as a Drivers License Surcharge. After a first DWI conviction in which the driver’s BAC was less than .16 percent, an annual surcharge of $1,000 for three years must be paid to retain the driver’s license. This surcharges rises to $2,000 annually for three years if the driver’s BAC was higher than .16 percent. Plus, a second DWI conviction can carry an annual three-year surcharge of $1,500, and a third DWI surcharge of $2,000. And in even more extreme circumstances, they can even go higher. But that’s not all. If the terms of your surcharges overlap with other offenses, then you are expected to pay all of the fines simultaneously. In other words, after two DWI convictions in which your BAC was .16 or higher, you will be looking at surcharges at, or above $5,000 additional dollars a year to retain your driver’s license. These “sock-it-to-me” surcharges are just another way of discouraging you of becoming a repeat DWI offender. And that’s an expensive message!

Community Supervision

No matter how high the maximum jail sentence, most people convicted of DWI offenses only receive probation. The exceptions are intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter which have mandatory minimum sentences of 30 and 120 days, respectively (and intoxication assault with a deadly weapon for which probation is also forbidden).

Granted, probation is a massive step up from prison, but it’s nothing to look forward to either. You will be assigned a certain amount of time during which your behavior will be supervised by a community-appointed probation officer, and you will be expected to meet a number of conditions set forth by the court. You will definitely be required to pay a $50 supervisory fee every month. In Collin County, your probation officer typically requires you to report to his office monthly where you’ll likely pay the monthly fee. However, in other jurisdictions, probation officers may allow bi-monthly in-person reporting or (the rarely-awarded but highly-prized) non-reporting probation. In months you don’t report in person, you merely need to mail in a form attesting that you have complied with the conditions of your probation plus your check. The other conditions of your probation will likely contain: adhering to the law, refraining from alcohol, paying all court fees and fines, attending any required alcohol education classes and working a certain number of community service hours.

While you won’t have to do so every month, Collin County will likely expect you to take a few urine tests to confirm that you continue to avoid alcohol; usually when you see your probation officer. If you have a proven history of drug and alcohol abuse, the chances prohibitively rise that your probation officer will expect you to take and pass both drug and alcohol tests. Should you fail to meet any of the conditions of your probation, then your probation is in danger of revocation. Then you will be sent to jail or prison (whichever applies) for the remaining term of your sentence.

On first DWI convictions, your state of inebriation will not be legally-monitored prior to driving. But a second or third DWI conviction within 10 years or a first-time intoxication manslaughter or intoxication assault conviction (assuming you are given probation) will legally demand that an interlock device be installed on your vehicle’s ignition system. This system is monitored by a breathalyzer. The driver must blow into this mechanism: which immediately locks down the car if you it detects any trace of alcohol on your breath. When you fail an interlock test, your probation officer is then notified by the device. Even if you successfully start your car every time you blow into the interlock device, it’s still a huge and embarrassing pain in the tuckus – a constant reminder to you and any passengers of the breathalyzer test that led to your conviction.

In all likelihood, a DWI conviction will be part of your permanent record for the rest of your days. Very few DWI offenses can be expunged from the driver’s record. This forces the guilty him or her to carry that stigma around for the rest of their lives. In the rare instances where a DWI can be expunged from a criminal record, it cannot be removed from their driving record. And this leads to disproportionally inflated insurances rates for at least the next 10 years.

The only smart move to make if you or a loved one has been charged with a DWI is to protect yourself with a local DWI lawyer. At Grossman Law Offices, we’ve dealt with every kind of DWI case in the 20-plus years we’ve been practicing law in Collin County. No matter how or why you were arrested, we’re going to know how (and how much) we can help you.

The Differences Between Public Intoxication and DWI

Though few are commonly aware, it is illegal to be drunk in public anywhere in Texas, even if it’s sitting in your driveway.

But don’t make the mistake of confusing DWI with the far less pejorative crime of public intoxication (PI). As a matter of fact, Texas law defines the word, “intoxication” differently in terms of DWI and PI. As we’ve explained, DWI laws define intoxication as when someone is over a BAC of .08 percent or has lost “normal mental and physical ability. However, for someone to be arrested for PI, he or she must be considered to be so drunk as to be a danger to him or herself or others. And history has shown that public intoxication is based on subjective observation by a police officer more than any of the tests they use to determine intoxication for the purposes of a DWI case. Sometimes Public Intoxication is an excuse for an officer to arrest someone due precisely to the subjectivity surrounding the charges.

Earlier in this article, we discussed the established procedures for compiling evidence against a drunken driver and how most police officers religiously adhere to the rules of their department. For someone to be arrested for PI, conversely, a police officer merely has to make a judgment call that the person presents a hazard to him or herself and others.

Moreover, PI differs from DWI in the punishment. People who are intoxicated in public create far less of a hazard than somebody who is drunk and piloting a 3,500-pound missile that’s cruising down the highway at 70 mph. This is why public intoxication is only a Class C misdemeanor, and brings a fine of $500 and no jail time (unless you can’t afford to pay the $500). If you’ve only been charged with public intoxication, then you don’t need a lawyer. Just show up to court as directed and pay the fine.

So if you are facing any type of a DWI charge – even increased charges from PI – you are going to need the help of a seasoned and skilled Prosper or Allen DWI attorney to help get an acquittal; or at least limit the severity of your penalty to fit the actual “crime.”.

Texas DWI & Child Endangerment

Children must go where their parents take them without complaint. So the state of Texas has created DWI laws intended to protect children who cannot protect themselves. This is why the legislature enacted a charge of DWI with a minor in a vehicle, making it a crime of child endangerment. Its purpose is to take a clear, strong stance against people driving drunk with children in the car by punishing the offense worse than a standard DWI.

A DWI with a minor in the vehicle is punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000 and classified a state felony. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg for single parents. Should you be convicted of DWI with a minor, then you stand a very strong chance of losing custody of your children to your ex-spouse or the state (which means foster care for your children). Someone suspected of DWI with a minor passenger stands a much greater chance of being arrested without a BAC test: police officers typically err on the side of caution to protect a child. Plus, once you’ve served your time in jail, you then must to go through the arduous process of getting your children back. And that begins with clearly proving to Texas Child Protective Services and family court (more money you must spend) that you are fully rehabilitated and that your children must be finally returned to you.

You simply can’t put the fate of your family in the hands of an inexperienced attorney or your own layperson’s understanding of the state’s complicated DWI laws. If you are facing a charge of DWI with a minor in the vehicle, you can’t go into court with anything less than the best Collin County DWI attorney you can find on your side. You’re not just fighting to stay out of prison or dodging hefty fines. You’re literally fighting for your family’s life. You need a clever and trial-tested attorney who knows how to question judgment and exaggerations of the arresting officer and the validity of BAC test. At Grossman Law Offices, we’ve helped many parents who were pulled over with the kids in the car after having one too many drinks at dinner, so we know how to convince the court that your children were in no danger when you were stopped. If you try to save money by going with a cheap attorney or no representation at all, then you could only end up losing your children, and spend countless hours (and dollars) trying to get them back.

More on Texas Intoxication Assault and Manslaughter Charges

The negative stigma that accompanies intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter is profound. So do charges of DWI with a minor in the vehicle. The penalties are harder for these crimes, and the court only needs to prove that the driver was drunk and harm was done; even if it was implied. No malicious intent must be established. As we’ve told you, the punishments are very hard: two to ten years for intoxication assault, 20 years of intoxication manslaughter, and fines of up to $10,000 for each offense.

Only a local DWI attorney who has experience and familiarity with both with DWI laws and Collin County court procedures, judges and prosecutors can devise and execute a trial strategy that will give you the best possible chance of achieving the best possible end to your case. At Grossman Law Offices, we’ve helped others accused of drunken driving in Collin County and the entire Metroplex. And the odds are that we can help you reduce the harmful impact of your DWI arrest, as well

The well-known saying that “people who represent themselves in court have fools for clients” has never been truer than when a defendant represents himself in a criminal matter where he or she is facing jail time: on top of fines and fees that can total $10 grand - and rocket much higher in the blink of an eye.

How the Law Handles Minors under 21 in the Matter of DWI & DUI

The laws surrounding driving and alcohol change dramatically for those below age 21. Since it is the established drinking age in Texas, nobody 21 can operate any type of motor vehicle with any amount whatsoever of alcohol in his or her system. A minor who gets behind the wheel in Texas with any alcohol in his or her system has committed Driving under the Influence (DUI)

Like adults, minors can refuse to take a field sobriety test or a breathalyzer. But they will see the same consequences as those over 21. When a minor is convicted of a DUI after refusing a breathalyzer, his or her driver’s license is revoked for 120 days. Upon a second DUI conviction after a refused BAC test, the revocation is doubled (240 days).

But on the other hand, minors who are convicted of a first-time DUI after failing a breathalyzer test only receive a 60-day suspension of his or her driver’s license. However, a second DUI as a result of a failed breathalyzer produces a driver’s license suspension of one year. Despite what most teenagers think, driving is a privilege, not a right. It’s the same way for adults too, we hasten to add. Moreover, if the court decides a minor is a severe alcoholic who compulsively drinks, then they can revoke his or her license until he or she turns 21. Additionally, in cases when drugs are a problem with a teen who repeatedly runs afoul of Texas DWI and DUI laws, the court can force rehabilitation and in some cases, incarceration in a juvenile detention facility; ranging from a few months to until the chronic-offending teenager’s 18th birthday; depending on the nature of the offense and the teenager’s condition.

In addition, teens that drink and drive can face DWI charges in addition to DUI charges, if their BAC exceeds .08 percent. When a minor between 17 and 20 years-old is convicted of DWI, then he or she could be staring at a maximum jail sentence of 180 days just like any other guilty adult DWI. Anyone under 17 could face the prospect of juvenile detention. And it is not unusual for 17 year old DWI felons who kill someone to begin serving their sentences in juvenile facilities until they turn 18 and, and then – depending on how much time is left.- be transferred to either the county jail or the Texas Department of Corrections to serve-out the rest of their sentence.

• First-time Minor DUI - While your teenage son might try to tell his friends differently, a first-time DUI is nothing to brag about. While not accompanied by jail time, it’s a Class C misdemeanor punishable with 20-40 hours of community service (more highway trash pickup) and mandatory attendance of an alcohol awareness class that is even worse than taking defensive driving. There is one small positive to a first DUI conviction, but only in comparison to all other drunken driving offenses. A first-time DUI, with no additional charges, can qualifies for deferred adjudication and expunged from the record upon the driver’s 21st birthday: it all conditions of probation are met.
• Second-time Minor DUI - There are only two slight differences between a first and a second DUI conviction. Second DUI offenses cannot be expunged from the record (although the offender is still eligible for deferred adjudication) and 60 hours of community service must be completed.
• Third-time Minor DUI - This was recently upgraded to a Class B misdemeanor. There’s no deferred adjudication. But even worse, anyone 17 or older can receive a fine of between $500 and $2,000, and a maximum sentence of 180 days in county jail. However, probation is a strong possibility but is predicated on the facts of the case, if the court is convinced that this third-time teenaged offender is indeed repentant, and that this probation will finally “scare the youngster straight.”

Let’s face it: you wouldn’t be reading this right now if you or your son or daughter hadn’t already done something that you regret. If you decide as a parent to handle this case yourself, or hire an inadequate, inexperienced lawyer, you only add to your family’s troubles. Help secure the best viable resolution to this case by calling a crafty and careful McKinney, Collin County DWI attorney like those at Grossman Law Offices.

Your Rights When You are Arrested for a DWI

So long as you’re a U.S. citizen, your rights must be protected when you are accused of DWI. Remember, you can decline to take any field sobriety or BAC test. But the state can then legally suspend your driver’s license upon refusal. This might not seem fair. But like your teenaged son or daughter, you must remember that driving is a privilege and not a right.

Also, for many years suspected drunken drivers dodged justice because they could refuse to take a breathalyzer test. Until a few years ago, there was nothing that law enforcement or county district attorneys could do about it. The state’s logic is that only a guilty person would avoid a test that could clear his or her name. But there are exceptions to every rule (and opinion). But, that doesn’t mean that the state can’t yank your driver’s license for two years for refusing a breathalyzer test once you have been convicted of a DWI any time in the last 10 years. It can also use the declined BAC test as evidence against you in court. When you are suspected of intoxication assault or manslaughter, then your rights are limited even further, and your blood can be taken without your consent. Sometimes it’s hard to not believe that the prosecution’s real position is “guilty until proven innocent,” rather than the other way around which is the actual case, according to the Constitution.

In order to encourage people to take breathalyzers, the driver’s license suspension is only 90 days when you willingly take and then fail it. Also, you should remember that everything you do or say is being recorded by the camera in the officer’s cruiser (or the minicam on his or her shoulder, which are more prominent of every day).

While you’re pulled over and trying to remain calm as the police officer strolls toward your window, you can’t try to squeeze in a call to your lawyer. The only time you have “the right to an attorney” is when you’ve been arrested and are being interrogated about any criminal offense: not before. However, like you’ve seen on the cop shows, you do have the “right to remain silent” the moment you are greeted. You don’t have to volunteer any information, and you can remain absolutely silent as the police officer asks you questions. Now, this won’t get you out of being arrested. And while it might limit the amount of evidence the officer can collect, it could possibly result in an obstruction of justice charge; even if it’s later dismissed.

Grossman Law Offices Can Help

At Grossman Law Offices, our Collin County DWI attorneys have been handling criminal and civil DWI cases in Prosper, Allen, McKinney and Princeton for over 20 years. Through all of that experience we’ve learned the ins and outs of DWI law, prosecutorial behavior and court procedure in your County. We don’t know the facts of your case. So we would never presume to tell what to expect: even if we could. But we can guarantee to devote our full attention and resources to deliver the best possible result to your case that the circumstances warrant.

We can help, regardless of the circumstances of your DWI arrest: if you’re a minor who got stopped by a cop after just one beer, if you’re a father of four who had a couple too many glasses of wine at a company inner and then got pulled over after picking up the kids at the babysitters. If you’re an adult woman who had a BAC of .19 percent when you injured another driver in a wreck, if you refused a breathalyzer test and don’t know what will happen to you next, you always have legal options. And much as police, prosecutors, and the general public might want pay and pay and pay some more for the “cause du-jour” sin of DWI, you still have rights that deserve to be protected.

We do our best to help who call on us. After over 20 years dealing with these cases, we can help you no matter what the details of your case may be. This is your opportunity to benefit from our expertise and familiarity with the Collin County courts. To discuss your situation with one of our DWI experts, call us now for a free consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free).

You can also reach us by filling out the contact form at the top of this page. You’ll be replied too quickly. And the moment we begin speaking, rest easy. Whether you decide to hire us or not, all consultations are completely confidential. Tell us your tale and ask all the questions you need to make an informed decision.