Midland DWI Lawyer

You Need an Experienced Attorney You Can Trust After Being Arrested for a DWI in Midland

Lots of folks in Midland work hard for their money, and they want to relax with a drink or two at the end of a long, hard day. Unfortunately, that often leads to drinking and driving, and a fairly high rate of Driving While Intoxicated arrests in the Midland-Odessa area. Unless you want an unpleasant conclusion to your DWI case, you’re going to need a skilled and seasoned Midland DWI attorney standing by your side.

Since Midland is the county seat, finding a lawyer is about as hard as finding an oil well. However, you need a lawyer who has complete understanding of both DWI laws and the processes and procedures of the Midland County courts. When it comes to DWI laws, a jury has a wide amount of latitude to assign a punishment, so only an experienced attorney will be able to deliver the best possible resolution. Moreover, you benefit dramatically by hiring a Midland DWI attorney who has built a respected reputation within Midland County courts to facilitate the legal process. You can find a an attorney who will take your case and your money but do nothing more than you’re your hand as you wait for a verdict, but you need a lawyer like those at Grossman Law Offices who can devote 20 years of experience and knowledge to helping you find the most favorable outcome you can expect. At Grossman Law Offices, we will do whatever is within our abilities and the law to secure the best possible ending to your DWI trial.

Being charged with a DWI is confusing and scary, so our lawyers want to do what we can to put you at ease. Thus, we’ve written up this informative article which we hope will educate you about DWI laws and procedures; thus, putting you at ease. A DWI conviction carries the threat of prison time, the assurance of hefty fines and a lengthy driver’s license suspension. Moreover, being found guilty of a DWI will negatively affect your reputation for many years to come. Future employers can find out about a DWI conviction with an online background check. If you want to give yourself the best chance of obtaining the outcome to your trial that you desire, you will need to retain the services of a Midland DWI lawyer. In the two decades we’ve been practicing law, our Midland DWI attorneys have seen every different type of drunken driving offense and nearly every possible detail that can arise in such a case. If you’d like to discuss your case with a trained professional, call us now for a free and confidential consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free).

We know the trepidation and anger you’re feeling right now, so we hope this informative article puts you at ease.

DWI is a Different Type of Crime, and DWI Offenders are Different Criminals

When it comes to most crimes, the offender is a knowing criminal who intends to hurt others, but that’s not the case with DWI. People who commit drunken driving offenses are normal, everyday citizens who just erred in judgment by drinking too much and then getting behind the wheel. Alcohol impairs mental and physical ability, so someone who is intoxicated actually lacks the ability to make an accurate decision about whether or not he or she is too drunk to drive. While a robber will be punished like a robber, DWI offenses allow for a great deal of leeway to take unto account the driver’s previous DWI history and the seriousness of the harm done to others with the particular offense in question. However, the state will seek the maximum penalty against a DWI offender until his or her Midland DWI lawyer can convince the court that the defendant deserves leniency. Hopefully, the facts of your case warrant an acquittal, but if not you still need a shrewd and successful attorney to help limit the damage of your punishment.

The Basics of Criminal Law in the United States

We can’t very well start delving into the specifics of DWI laws until we make sure you have a basic understanding of criminal law in this country. In the United States, the Constitution, particularly the first 10 amendments called the Bill of Rights, gives certain rights to all American citizens. When you are charged with a crime, and the police try to build a case against you, they must respect these rights, and to convict you, the court must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, just like you, different jurisdictions -- states, counties, cities, towns, and villages – also enjoy rights, like creating their own laws to enforce community standards provided those mandates don’t attempt to contradict the rules of a higher jurisdiction. Consider speeding limits to better understand this concept. As a state highway passes through different towns and cities, individual communities can determine what the speed limit on those roads will be. However, the highest speed limit permissible on a highway in Texas is 70 mph, so no community can exceed that number.

When someone is caught breaking the speed limit, the individual community can assess the punishment, but again, within certain limits. The city of Midland can’t sentence someone to prison for speeding. In order to pay a speeding ticket or deal with any other type of law violation in a given community, the offender must adhere to the prescribed procedures of that jurisdiction to do so. In some cities, tickets can be paid over the Internet or by mail, but in others, the offender is required to appear in person. Of course, one of your guaranteed rights in this country is to contest any charge in court if you deem necessary.

Major crimes like threatening the present or committing a terrorist act, on the other hand, are ruled by the federal government and are not subject to any limit in jurisdiction.

Every court has the intention of weighing justice, but they all have slightly different ways of doing so. While there is a limit to any judge or jurisdiction’s eccentricity, individual courts and judges can develop their own procedures and punishments in the same way the municipality can create its own laws. It’s almost as if each court has its own personality. Think of it like baseball stadiums. Every ballpark in the country serves the same purpose – providing a place where teams can play baseball and fans can watch. Although, each ballpark goes about accomplishing this goal in various different ways, and they all appear different. Fenway Park offers its short left field ending in the towering Green Monster, while Pac Bell Ballpark has the San Francisco Bay just beyond the right field fence. At one park, they may sell Budweiser, while another offers Miller products. One concession stand may have barbecue sandwiches while another sushi. Courts are much the same in that they all have unique methods of doing dispensing justice. Thus, you must have a lawyer who knows the personality of the Midland County courts to get the most appeasing resolution to your case.

Being convicted of a drunken driving offense will definitely end with your paying thousands of dollars in fines and losing your license for a period of time. As well, you could be sentenced to prison. Don’t take your chances on your own with such serious implications if you lose. Your rights state you can have a trial if you like, but that’s not always the best method to resolve a DWI case. A plea agreement may be a much more feasible solution that enables you to greatly limit the amount of punishment you face. You’re not the only one who is at risk in a trial. Believe it or not, but the prosecution also risks its reputation and even employability every time it tries a case. Prosecutors who too often lose will likely lose their jobs, and they’re heavily reliant on the competence of the arresting officer. If the officer errs in the way he or she conducts the DWI arrest, then the prosecutor will be the one who loses the case. Even when the arresting officer has done his job well, a savvy and well-seasoned Midland DWI attorney can often convince the court to question the reliability of blood alcohol content testing. Just like many defendants want to limit their losses by making a plea agreement, the prosecutor wants to limit his or her risk.

How a Midland DWI Attorney Can Help You

In Texas, DWI laws were created to punish the offenders according to the harm caused by his or her crime, thus, one’s punishment is dependent upon both one’s past DWI history and the severity of the crime. A skilled Midland DWI attorney knows how to make the judge and jury accept you as someone who just made a lone error and deserves some leniency.

At Grossman Law Offices, our Midland drunken driving attorneys have negotiated plea bargains and tried cases in court for every kind of drunken driving offense. Over the course of time, we’ve developed methods we’ve been able to rely upon to handle DWI cases. The first thing we’re going to want to do is meet with you and listen to your side of the story. We must beg you to be truthful with us, for we can’t develop an adequate trial strategy without it. Next, we’ll want to meet with the prosecution to find out what evidence they have and what punishment they’re seeking. There is a period called discovery in which both sides in a case must share their evidence, but our familiarity with the Midland County courts will ease this often clunky process considerably. After we’ve gathered everything we need to know about the case, we can determine whether a trial or a plea bargain is your best option. Whichever method we used to resolve your case, we will make sure you know what is happening with your case as each new development unfolds.

What is a DWI Exactly?

Now, that we’ve explained how court cases work, let’s explain about DWI laws specifically.

The fact that you’re reading this indicates that you’ve already learned the hard way that driving while intoxicated is illegal in the United States. Even though you know this, do you understand what intoxicated means? When it comes to drunken driving, intoxicated has two meanings – either the driver has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 percent or higher, or he or she has lost his or her normal mental and physical faculties. If you’ve ever wondered why a seemingly arbitrary number like .08 percent has been selected as the demarcation line of who is and who is not intoxicated. Scientific studies have shown this is the limit at which most people lose their mental and physical abilities.

The other definition is much harder to prove in court, for common law in Texas has come to recognize this as meaning what is normal for the given driver in question and not for an average driver. This raises questions about how a law enforcement officer who has never met you before can determine the normalcy of your behavior.

Thus, law enforcement officers always try to acquire a BAC test of some sort before making an arrest for a drunken driving offense. Getting a conviction based upon a police officer’s belief that someone is drunk is very difficult; even when, the prosecution has video evidence to back it up. Starting in September, Texas law enforcers got a second motivation for insisting upon testing BAC. On the first of the month, Texas enacted a new law creating an offense called Extreme or Aggravated DWI when someone drives with a BAC exceeding .15 percent. When somebody is that severely intoxicated while driving, the accidents tend to be even more severe, so this law intends to punish these people with stiffer fines and penalties, as we will delve into later on in this article.

If you have been charged with standard DWI or extreme DWI, our Midland DWI lawyers can help you make the most of your difficult situation.

DWI Plea Bargains vs. Going to Court and Other Options

Like we’ve already told you: there is a very strong necessity that you be honest with your attorney, so that he or she knows how to handle your case. Of course, you will want to go to court if the state was weak evidence or the arresting officer trod on your rights in some way. In rare instances, we may even be able to convince the prosecution it would be in their best interests to drop the charges.

However, such instances are very few and far between since law enforcement agencies generally train their police officers to follow time-tested procedures for gathering evidence against a DWI suspect. Police officers will begin running surveillance video on a DWI suspect, while he or she is still rolling down the road. Then, the officer will align his or her car to get video of the interaction with the suspect. Next, the officer will conduct an interview with the suspect in an effort to gauge how drunk the person may or may not be. Any driver that sounds as if he or she may be intoxicated will be asked to take a field sobriety test. Anyone declining the roadside sobriety test or stumbling through it will then be asked to submit to a breathalyzer test. Anyone refusing this test is immediately arrested and has he or license revoked, while anyone testing a BAC over .08 percent will also be cuffed and arrested. Any driver whose BAC is under .08 percent is free to drive home. While we discuss later on why BAC tests are unreliable, you still may be wiser to plea bargain than try and shoot down a BAC test in court. Doing so successfully can be accomplished, but even the best Midland DWI attorney can’t always pull it off due to the negative preconceptions many people have of drunken drivers. At Grossman Law Offices, we want to help you find the best resolution possible.

By incorrectly choosing to go to trial instead of plea bargaining, you will cost yourself significantly in the punishment doled out by the court to reprimand you for wasting its time and resources.

Texas DWI Penalties

Like we’ve mentioned a couple of times already, the punishment that accompanies a DWI crime is linked to the offender’s previous DWI convictions and how much harm was caused by the current offense. While you should note that probation is much more common than jail time in these cases, here is a brief list of the maximum penalties accompanying various drunken driving offenses:

First-time DWI

Any driver convicted an initial DWI with a BAC lower than .15 percent has committed a Class B misdemeanor, punishable with a driver’s license suspension between 90 days and a year, up to six months in jail, and a maximum fine of $2,000.

Extreme DWI

On the other hand, first-time DWI offenders who have a BAC over .15 percent have committed a Class A Misdemeanor, which comes with a much harsher penalty of 180 days to two years in jail and a maximum fine of $4,000.

Second-time DWI

The punishment for a second-time DWI mirrors that of extreme DWI, but with a When someone is convicted of a second DWI, it I also a Class A misdemeanor that carries the same punitive measures as an Aggravated DWI, but the driver’s license suspension increases to a maximum length of two years.

Third-time DWI

DWI laws are intended to curtail drinking and driving, so the punitive measures curve sharply upward with a third DWI, classified as a 3d-degree felony, with jail time as long as 10 years, a fine of as high as $10,000, and a driver’s license suspension of two years.

Open Containers

Carrying a container with alcohol that has already been open during a DWI offense only makes the punishment worse, with at least six more days of jail time and $2,000 more fine added to any sentence.

Driver’s License Surcharges

The price paid by a drunken driver for a DWI conviction doesn’t stop at the fines inherent in the sentence itself, either. When your license is revoked for a drunken driving offense, you must pay a surcharge annually for the first three years after getting your license reinstated. Otherwise, you are not permitted to drive at all. For a standard DWI, a first-time surcharge is $1,000 annually for three years, for a second DWI it’s $1,500 and for a third, $2,000. For an extreme DWI, the price of the surcharge doubles for each year. Moreover, picking up multiple DWIs in a three-year period causes a drunken driver to pay multiple surcharges, making it possible for a particularly irresponsible drunken driver to pay $9,000 for a surcharge in a given year.

Intoxication Assault

In order to protect the public from drunken drivers, the punishments are even more harsh for drunken driver’s who injure people in accidents – what is called intoxication assault. This is a 3rd-degree felony that carries a possible jail sentence of 10 years and a possible fine as high as $10,000. With this crime, the offender can be assured he or she will spend at least some time in prison.

Intoxication Manslaughter

The only DWI offense treated more severely than intoxication assault is intoxication manslaughter. This is a 2nd-degree felony, which like intoxication assault carries some mandatory prison time. The jail sentence on intoxication manslaughter can be as long as 20 years, the fine can be as high as $10,000, and just like intoxication assault, some jail time is mandatory.

Community Supervision

Excluding intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter, most DWI offenses will be punished with probation. Intoxication manslaughter, on the other hand, has a minimum jail sentence of 120 days, and intoxication assault requires convicts to spend at least 30 days in prison. Someone who is convicted of intoxication assault with a deadly weapon is completely barred from probation.

Granted, probation is a much preferable fate to any length of time in jail, but that doesn’t mean this is something you’d wish for. The court will assign you to report to a probation officer on a monthly basis, at which time you must pay a fee of $60 for the privilege. The purpose of these monthly meetings is to verify that you’re complying with the terms of your probation: refraining from drinking, spending times in bars or hanging out with disreputable people. Obviously, you’re not permitted to break the law beyond a minor moving violation. You must also hold down a job, make all fine payments on schedule, attend DWI and alcohol awareness class and fulfill all of your community service hours as scheduled. In some instances, your probation officer may allow you to skip some monthly meetings in exchange for mailing in monthly report to confirm you are complying with the terms of your probation. However, this is up to the individual probation officer and depends upon your ability to meet all of the terms of your probation for several months to start off the community supervision period. If the probation officer believes you may be drinking or using narcotics, then you may also be asked to take monthly or random urine tests, with that likelihood increasing dramatically if drugs were involved with your DWI in any way.

While not a concern for first-time drunken driving offenders, convicts with multiple DWIs will be required to install an interlock device on the ignition system of his or her car. Before the car will start, the driver must blow into the interlock device which measures BAC content on the breath in order to confirm sobriety. If the driver is legally intoxicated, then the car will not start, and the interlock device will not be able to test again for two hours. The mere presence of the interlock device is embarrassing when witnessed by dates, bosses, relatives or co-workers, even when the driver is able to blow a sober sample and start the car. A failed interlock device test, on the other hand, is reported to the probation officer and could lead to the revocation of probation and confinement in prison.

In most cases, DWI conviction can never be expunged from the record, and even in the rare case where it can be expunged, the conviction never leaves the driving record, driving up insurance rates for the next decade.

The best way to curtail the fallout from a DWI is to engage the services of a skilled and experienced Midland DWI attorney to lead you through the intimidating DWI criminal proceedings. With 20 years of experience handling these cases, the DWI lawyers at Grossman Law Offices know by instinct what the best resolution to your case will be, and then we will help you achieve it.

Blood Alcohol Concentration in Texas DWI Cases

You know that .08 percent is the legal limit for intoxication in the United States, and there are three methods for measuring this BAC level:

• The amount of grams of alcohol contained in 210 liters of breath.
• The amount of grams of alcohol contained in 100 milliliters of blood.
• The amount of grams of alcohol contained in 67 milliliters of urine.

Self-monitoring to determine your level of drunkenness simply isn’t possible, not even if you’re a mathematician armed with a drink conversion chart and a calculator. The accepted BAC tests are much more reliable, but they are still a long way from full-proof. Due to the mathematical formulas used to calculate BAC that are based one what is typical for an average person, inaccurate test results can occur when someone has body chemistry that strays dramatically from the norm. As a result, different types of BAC tests can lead to different test results, causing a person to be judged as intoxicated by one method and not another.

How Breathalyzers can be Inaccurate

On top of differences in body chemistry, too much time flying by between the point a driver is pulled over and the point a BAC test is administered can also cause BAC test inaccuracies. Breathalyzer tests are often not given until 30-45 minutes after the stop, and a blood test might not be given until one or two hours later. What does it really prove if a driver tests intoxicated so long after he or she was actually driving?

As the minutes tick by before a BAC test is given, the driver’s body is busy trying to work the alcohol through and eventually out of his or her system. The speed at which this occurs varies widely according to the driver’s weight, the amount of food eaten before drinking, and the speed at which he or she drank. Time and these factors can cause a BAC test’s accuracy to swing either for or against the driver. For example, a person who made an effort to stop drinking a few hours before getting in the car and was pulled over while technically still drunk might be able to sober up enough in the ensuing hour before taking the BAC test to eventually test below .08 percent BAC. Meanwhile, someone who foolishly downed a couple of drinks for the road and was actually under the legal limit when pulled over could process the additional alcohol into the system and then test a BAC over .08 percent.

If your DWI arrest stemmed from a failed BAC test, then you must explain the details of your case to an experienced Midland DWI lawyer, so that you can discover whether or the circumstances dictated a test that was accurate or possibly one that was unreliable.

Texas DWI Testing Procedures

Blood tests are far and away the most reliable form of BAC testing, and they also allow the officer to store the sample for later re-testing. Although, these tests cannot safely and efficiently be given in the road by an investigating police officer. Then, the amount of elapsed time before the test can be given calls into question its accuracy. Thus, Texas law enforcement turn to breathalyzer tests for roadside usage.

Lone Star State law enforcement agencies rely on the Intoxilyzer 5000 for breathalyzer testing, and this device that measures alcohol on the breath using infrared sensors only causes more concerns with BAC testing. The computer technology utilized by the Intoxilyzer 5000 is over 30 years old, and you wouldn’t use a video game that old let alone rely one a machine to convict drunken driving offenders. The fact that only law enforcement officers are allowed to test these devices, and the manufacturer won’t guarantee their accuracy only snowballs fears of unreliability.

There have been reports of the Intoxilyzer 5000 mistakenly finding harmless substances to be alcohol, but the greatest question with this machine comes with the formula it uses to calculate BAC. The Intoxilyzer 5000 relies upon the average blood to breath ratio of a normal person of 2,100/1 in order to make its calculations. However, people can have blood-to-breath ratios deviating from the norm by as much as 1,000 parts in either direction, causing someone with a high blood-to-breath ratio to have an incorrectly low BAC when measured by the Intoxilyzer and someone with a inordinately low blood-to-breath ratio to have an inaccurately high BAC.

What makes the concerns over the Intoxilyzer truly perplexing is that this machine could be much more accurate if its full capabilities were being utilized. The machine can store breath samples allowing for a more accurate test called a gas chromatography test to be performed later. The Texas Department of Public Safety refuses; however, to mandate that law enforcement officers take advantage of this capability or conduct the gas chromatography tests, apparently preferring a higher conviction rate to accurate convictions.

To put this more plainly, you may not necessarily be convicted for a drunken driving offense just because you failed a BAC test. A clever Midland DWI attorney may be able to get the jury to accept the possible inaccuracy of the test.

Your Rights in a DWI Case

While you have freedom of speech guaranteed right at the beginning of the Bill of Rights, that doesn’t mean you always need to exercise this right and cuss out the cop who pulls you over. In fact, you’re much better off being calm, relaxed and polite, for angering the officer will only make your situation more dire. When the officer asks you questions, you are no compelled by law to answer, but again, you want to remain on good terms with the police officer. Thus, it’s a good idea to answer his or her questions. If you sound as if you might be drunk when answering the questions, then you will be asked to take a field sobriety tests. Since the standard for intoxication is based upon when a driver has lost normal mental and physical faculties, you have the right to decline any field sobriety test you feel that you could not pass under normal circumstances. If you are dyslexic, you’re not going to be able to recite the alphabet backwards while standing on one foot.

On the other hand (or foot), you shouldn’t plan on trying to avoid all of the field sobriety tests using this logic. For one, you will look very guilty on the video, and for another the police officer will only escalate to requesting a breathalyzer test. Citing the perceived unreliability of breathalyzer tests, you can decline to take one, but this will result in the immediate suspension and confiscation of your driver’s license and your arrest. Then, you can take a blood test at the police station. Most of the time, the police officer will try to secure a warrant to take your blood without your consent, but this is not always possible since most DWI arrests occur late at night.

Of note, this standard is changing throughout the state. Many judges in many different jurisdictions around the state now authorize their officers to take blood samples against the will of the driver on certain holiday weekends when drinking and driving is more common: New Year’s Eve, Labor Day, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. In fact, San Antonio’s Bexar County has even decided to carry this policy over to all weekends on a trial basis for the remainder of 2011. Such a rule is particularly of import to people who have been using drugs on top of alcohol, since a blood test will provide the documentation of this offense that a breathalyzer would miss.

Whether you have failed a BAC test or only refused it, you need the assistance of a clever and reliable Midland DWI lawyer like those at Grossman Law Offices.

Underage (Under 21) Drunk Driving Criminal Defense

For most facets of law, adulthood is considered to begin at 18, and anyone breaking a law can be tried as an adult at 17. The drinking age throughout the United States, conversely, is 21, not 18. Thus, in terms of drinking and driving laws, minors are any people less than 21 years of age, and minors are not allowed to drive with any alcohol in their systems at all. Minors who violate this law have committed Driving Under the Influence (DUI). For someone from out-of-state, this can be fairly obfuscating since many other states refer to what Texas calls a DWI as a DUI. Even though the punitive measures for DUIs are considerably lighter than for DWIs, you still want a time-tested Midland DWI attorney looking out for your or your teenage son or daughters rights to ensure the least amount of negative fallout.

When stopped and questioned under suspicion of a DUI, minors enjoy the same rights as adults in a DWI traffic stop: refusing a field sobriety test, and also declining to take a breathalyzer test if asked. Just like with adults, there is a price to pay for making this decision, immediate arrest and a driver’s license confiscation and suspension of 120 days upon the first DUI arrest and 240 days for a second. A failed breathalyzer test for a DUI, on the contrary, only results in a 60-day driver’s license suspension, so agreeing to a breathalyzer test is in the best interests of a minor facing a first DUI offense. Remember that a minor will need to eliminate all of the alcohol from his or her system in order to avoid a DUI, and that is impossible. Although, a failed breathalyzer test upon a second DUI conviction will result in a possible driver’s license revocation for a year.

The court also has the discretion of enforcing a mandatory driver’s license revocation until a minor turns 21, if a given minor appears to have a serious, unchanging drinking problem. Moreover, rehab can be ordered for minors who are determined to be alcoholics or drug addicts.

Being under 21 doesn’t allow minors to escape DWI laws either. They can still be charged with a DWI if their BAC exceeds .08 percent and Aggravated DWI if their BAC sails over .15 percent. If the minor is over 17, then he or she will treated just like an adult in a similar situation, while a minor under 17 can be sentenced to juvenile detention.

First-time DUI

Classified as a Class C misdemeanor, a first-time DUI results in 20-40 hours of community services and a mandatory 15-hour alcohol awareness class. Not only may the minor’s parents be forced to attend those classes, but they will definitely be forced to go to every court session. There is one plus to this offense. If the minor completes the conditions of deferred adjudication, then a first-time DUI can be expunged from the minor’s record when he or she turns 21. This is the only drunken driving offense that can be completely expunged from the driver’s criminal record.

Second-time DUI

A second DUI results in an increase to 60 hours of community service, and the conviction can no longer be expunged. The minor is still eligible for deferred adjudication, however.

Third-time DUI

When convicted of a third DUI, the offense kicks up to a Class B misdemeanor, and the offender is treated almost exactly like an adult found guilty of a DWI. For a third DUI, a minor is treated almost exactly like an adult who has been convicted of a DWI. The maximum prison sentence is 180 days for minors 17-years-old or older and the fine ranges from $500 to $2,000.

You wouldn’t be sitting here reading this paragraph if you or somebody you love hadn’t done something seriously regretful. Don’t add to your family’s regrets by failing to acquire the services of the right Midland DWI lawyer to lead you through this trying ordeal.

Texas DWI & Child Endangerment

The Texas State Legislature realizes that children are incapable of telling their parents they don’t want to get in the car because the adults have had too much to drink. Thus, the state of Texas has a separate DWI offense called DWI with a minor in the vehicle that treats this offense as a form a child endangerment and a state felony. The official punishment for this crime is up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. For single parents, on the other hand, there is a far greater unofficial punishment: the chance of losing custody of their children to the ex or even child protective services. When it comes to DWI with a minor in the vehicle, police officers are far more likely to arrest someone without a BAC test in order to shield the children.

You must have a competent and clever Midland drunken driving attorney looking out for your interests and rights and helping hold your family together if you have been charged with DWI with a minor in the vehicle.

More on Texas Intoxication Assault and Manslaughter Charges

When you’re charged with intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter, your blood will be taken without your consent. This gives the prosecution an evidentiary advantage, and it already had an advantage since most jurors will naturally be prejudiced against someone accused of such a heinous crime. Moreover, all the prosecution needs to do to satisfy the burden of proof is prove that the defendant was intoxicated when he or she got into an accident and someone was hurt or killed in the wreck. When that burden of proof cannot be surmounted by the defense, the negative fallout can be $10,000 in fines and up to 10 years in jail for intoxication assault or 20 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter.

Beyond dealing with a minor moving violation or maybe public intoxication, you’re always better off going to court with a lawyer by your side. When it comes to facing an intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter charges, you either a fool or a lunatic to attempt to represent yourself.

ALR Hearing After a DWI

By refusing a breathalyzer test, a DWI suspect insures that his or her driver’s license will be revoked immediately. However, while the issue waits to be resolved in front of a judge, the police officer also issues a provisional license that lasts on face value for 40 days.

After the arrest, the officer or the DPS will mail you notification that you have 15 days to apply for an Administrative License Revocation Hearing (or an ALR hearing) to contest the revocation of your license.

In many cases, the busy courts are unable to schedule the ALR before the 40 days on the provisional license have subsided. When this happens, the temporary license extends until the date of the hearing. If your lawyer can convince the judge the license revocation was unfounded, then the judge will end the suspension and return the license. If the defendant loses the ALR hearing, then he or she has 30 days to appeal. By filing an appeal, the driver’s license suspension also extends for another 90 days. If the defendant can win the actual trial, then the license suspension is also ended.

If you’ve lost your license due to a DWI, don’t give up hope. Instead, call Grossman Law Offices, for perhaps we can help you get back behind the wheel.

Occupational Driver's Licenses

Even if you lose your ALR hearing, the Midland DWI lawyers at Grossman Law Offices can help you drive again legally, albeit with restrictions. Even people convicted of DWIs need to get to work and school and take care of their children’s needs, so the state of Texas allows people who’ve had their licenses suspended due to DWIs to apply for Occupational Driver’s Licenses (ODLs). Let’s face it, in a city like Midland, you just can’t get to where you’re trying to go on public transportation. However, an ODL comes with strict limits on driving privileges and purchasing an ODL is also fairly expensive. The state only permits ODL drivers to work and other approved locations, and all travel must be tracked in detail in a daily driving log with specifics such as date, time, intended location, and length of journey in both time and miles.

Obtaining an ODL also requires following the procedure and restrictions set forth by the courts in Midland County. If you don’t fill out the paperwork properly, then you risk having the judge reject your ODL application altogether or possibly not allow travel to all of the locations you require. The best way you can guarantee that you’re awarded an ODL is to hire a Midland DWI lawyer who thoroughly understands court procedures in this county.

Differences Between Public Intoxication and DWI

Since both offenses involve alcohol, most people immediately lump the offense public intoxication (P.I.) with DWI; however, the two crimes don’t even define “intoxication” the same. Public intoxication defines intoxication as when a person has become so drunk that he or she presents a danger to him or herself and others.

DWI also differs from P.I. in the way the two crimes are investigated. As we explained, Texas law enforcement officers have developed a tried-and-true procedure for investigating DWI, but no such reliable standard of investigation exists for public intoxication. A person is arrested for public intoxication just because a police officer used his or her judgment to determine the person’s drunkenness presented an immediate danger.

With ease, you can see how someone committing P.I. presents less of a danger than someone who commits DWI and thus is punished less stringently by the state. When a drunk passes out in somebody’s front yard, he or she is not nearly has dangerous as when he passes out in the driver’s seat of an Escalade tearing down the highway at 85 mph. Due to the lower amount of peril presented, public intoxication is only a Class C misdemeanor that carries not threat of jail time or probation and only a fine of $500. Unless you feel a public intoxication charge was unfounded and with to fight it, you won’ need a lawyer to deal with a P.I. offense. Just follow what procedures are in place for paying the fine in the particular jurisdiction. The opposite is the case when charged with any drunken driving offense – you need the help of a skilled attorney.

Your Rights When Stopped Under Suspicion of a DWI

It’s important to remember whenever considering any DWI law or punishment that driving is a privilege awarded by the state and not a right of birth. When you choose to decline a breathalyzer test, the state can choose to revoke your license for taking that obstinate route. If the state didn’t take this stance, then what would happen? Everyone would decline breathalyzer tests, and the state would never be able to prove a case against a drunken driver. Instead, the state uses a driver’s license suspension to compel drivers to comply with BAC tests and even uses BAC refusals as evidence against the defendant. Moreover, a skilled and seasoned Midland DWI lawyer may be able to get the jury to ignore a failed BAC test anyway; thus, sometimes, a suspect benefits by relenting to the BAC assessment.

Whether opting to take or refuse a breathalyzer test, you always need to maintain the best stature and behavior as possible to present the best image on the surveillance system that is undoubtedly tracking your every move and word.

Don’t assume you have “the right to attorney” when you’re being stopped for suspicion of DWI. No matter what you think you’ve seen on TV and in movies, you only have this right when questioned in connection with a criminal interrogation. On the other hand, you can use your “right to remain silent” and refuse to answer the officer’s questions at all. While this will provide very little concrete evidence of your intoxication, it will also infuriate the officer and virtually guarantee your arrest.

Grossman Law Offices Can Help

For the past two decades, the Midland DWI attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been dealing with all kinds of drunken driving offenses and offenders. Thus, we’ve learned how to instinctively determine the best route to take to secure the least damaging resolution for the defendant. Whether that means taking the case to court and fighting for an acquittal or negotiating a plea agreement will depend upon the specific details of the case.

After 20 years, we’ve learned all of the intimate details of DWI laws, and the unique personality of the Midland County court. Moreover, we’ve dealt with every type of case, so we know how to help anyone accused of any drunken driving crime. If you’re a teenager who got caught driving after one beer, then we can help. If you’re a mother of three who got caught driving home from dinner with the kids after having one glass of wine too many, then we can help. If you’re a man who lost track of how much he had to drink and then injured another driver in a wreck, then we can help. If you’re a drunken driver who was charged based upon borderline a BAC test taken 90 minutes after the traffic stop, then we can help you too. We can’t write that we can deliver an acquittal, because we won’t even know the facts of your case. Frankly, it’s unethical to guarantee a victory in any case, since jury trials always have a degree of uncertainty. What we can tell you is that we will devote our full attention and knowledge compiled over 20 years of handling these cases to deliver the best possible solution to your case. To find out exactly what we can do for you, call us now for a free and confidential consultation at 1-855-427-0000 (toll free). Give us a call and tell us your story. Then, we can answer your questions and tell you what we can do for you.