DWI charges in Texas happen when you are accused of driving a vehicle while intoxicated. This can occur when your driving abilities are impaired by drugs or alcohol, or when you drive with a higher-than-standard alcohol level in your blood. The police make DWI arrests when a motorist exhibits signs of intoxication. Afterwards, they run tests to determine your blood alcohol concentration.
A DWI conviction can result in severe penalties, including a lengthy jail sentence, a hefty fine, and the loss of your driving privileges. However, you can influence the outcome of your case if you fight your charges with the help of a DWI lawyer. A lawyer can use some of the best techniques to challenge your arrest and convince the court to dismiss or reduce your charges.
An Overview of Alcohol Legal Limits in Texas
Driving while intoxicated has two distinct meanings under Texas law:
- Driving while your physical and mental abilities are impaired by drugs or alcohol
- Driving while you have a higher-than-allowed alcohol limit in your blood system
You can face DWI charges for the first, second, or any two of the above reasons. Since the police need probable cause for a DWI arrest, they may be compelled by physical signs of intoxication to make an arrest, and then determine your BAC after the arrest.
Under Texas law, different drivers have a legal alcohol limit above which it becomes illegal to drive. These limits mainly apply to ordinary motorists, commercial drivers, and underage drivers (21 years and younger).
An ordinary driver should not operate a vehicle anywhere in Texas when they have a blood-alcohol concentration level of 0.08% or higher. Commercial drivers, including taxi and bus drivers, must keep their BAC below 0.04%. Underage drivers must not drive with any amount of alcohol in their blood, according to the Zero Tolerance Law. Thus, 0.08% is the standard legal threshold for all adult motorists aged 21 or older. If you hold a commercial driver’s license, the threshold changes to 0.04%.
If an officer stops you on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or at a DUI checkpoint, they first conduct a DWI investigation to decide whether to make an arrest. They may ask you to perform some tests on the road to determine whether your physical abilities are impaired. They may also ask you some questions to see how well, or otherwise, you answer. If, during the investigation, the officer’s suspicions intensify, they will arrest you for a DUI.
The police can administer a breath test to determine your blood-alcohol concentration level before or after the arrest. While you can decline the test before the arrest, it is unlawful to do so after an arrest. After a DWI arrest, the implied consent law applies. It means that you automatically consent to taking a breath or blood test after a DWI arrest. If you decline this test, the judge will enhance your DWI penalties.
How the Legal Limit Affects Your DWI Charges
Remember that the legal alcohol limit for drivers in Texas varies depending on the driver. Prosecutors consider the exact amount of alcohol in your system and other circumstances of your case to determine whether to file misdemeanor or felony charges.
In addition to presenting signs of intoxication, an arresting officer can perform a breath or blood test to determine your BAC or the nature and amount of drugs in your system.
If you take a breath test and you have a BAC of 0.08% or higher (but not more than 0.15%), you are considered legally intoxicated. This will result in a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by 180 days in jail, $2,000 in fines, and up to 1 year of driver’s license suspension.
If you have signs of intoxication (your mental or physical driving abilities are impaired), but your BAC is below 0.08%, you will still be charged with DWI. A first offense is a Class B misdemeanor, a second offense is a Class A misdemeanor, and a third or subsequent DWI is a third-degree felony.
If, after taking the test, you have a BAC of 0.15% or higher, the crime becomes a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail, $4000 in fines, and two years of driver's license suspension.
Prosecutors charge a violation of the zero-tolerance law differently, depending on the circumstances of a case and the driver’s criminal history. A first violation is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine, 60 days of driver's license suspension, and up to forty hours of community service. A second offense is punishable by a $500 fine, 120 days of license suspension, and up to 60 hours of community service. A third offense is considered delinquent conduct. It can result in a 180-day license suspension and up to 60 hours of community service.
Factors Influencing Your BAC
Driving with a higher BAC than the legal limit is a serious violation of the DWI law. It makes your DWI charges more serious and could result in a conviction and hefty penalties. However, you could influence the judge’s final decision by fighting your charges during the trial. This is possible when you understand the factors that affect your BAC. Some factors cause your BAC to rise more than the amount of alcohol you have consumed. This may result in serious charges, even if your driving is not really impaired. Other factors cause you to register a false positive BAC. Examples of these factors include the following:
The Amount of Alcohol You Consume
A BAC test always determines the amount of alcohol in your system. If you have consumed alcohol, even a small amount, a breathalyzer will register a positive result for alcohol once it is administered. The more alcohol you drink, the higher the amount of alcohol in your system. A breathalyzer can determine, though not absolutely accurately, the alcohol concentration level in your system. Thus, if you take a small amount of alcohol, your BAC will likely be low, sometimes even lower than the legal limit.
The Rate of Alcohol Consumption
How quickly or otherwise you consume alcohol determines how high your BAC will rise within a short time. People who consume alcohol slowly over a long period mostly register lower BACs than those who consume so much alcohol within a short period. Additionally, when you drink quickly, your liver does not process the alcohol fast enough, causing your BAC to rise so fast.
Your Body Weight
Experts say that your body weight and composition affect how fast your BAC rises after consuming alcohol. People who weigh more, especially those who have more muscle mass, have more water in their bodies, which quickly dissolves alcohol after consumption. These people will register a lower BAC than their counterparts after consuming the same amount of alcohol.
Your Gender
Apparently, they have low water content in their system and lower enzymes that break down alcohol after consumption. This means their BAC rises higher than that of men when both consume the same amount of alcohol.
Your Food Consumption
If you eat before or while drinking alcohol, especially if you eat fatty foods, your alcohol absorption will slow down, resulting in a lower BAC.
Some Medications
If you are on medication, it may affect how your body absorbs alcohol. Some medications intensify the effects of alcohol in your system, causing your BAC to rise and increasing your impairment. Examples include fatigue and diabetes medications.
How to Challenge Your DWI Arrest
How you drive and your blood alcohol concentration are significant factors that determine how the police or prosecutor will handle your DWI case. If the evidence against you is compelling, the prosecutor will have an upper hand in the case, and this could result in a conviction. It helps to know the various defense strategies that could result in a favorable outcome. The help of a skilled DWI lawyer also helps in ensuring you understand your rights and the best defense techniques to influence the court’s decision. Here are some defense strategies that may work in your favor:
Arguing that Your Traffic Stop Was Unlawful
All DWI investigations start with a traffic stop. This can happen as you drive or at a designated checkpoint. If a traffic stop is done randomly, the police need probable cause to stop and investigate you for driving while intoxicated. You could be stopped because you committed a traffic infraction, such as speeding, driving erratically, or running a red light. At a checkpoint, the police must demonstrate that they stopped you in accordance with predetermined criteria.
If an officer lacked probable cause to make a traffic stop, the stop is unlawful. This means that you should not have been investigated for driving while intoxicated. If this is true, then everything that happens after the unlawful stop, including all the evidence gathered against you, will be inadmissible to the court.
You are not guilty of a DWI even if you were driving while intoxicated if an officer fails to follow the proper procedure to stop and investigate you for drunk driving. After reviewing the police reports, an experienced lawyer can identify a loophole in a case and use it to obtain a favorable outcome.
Arguing that Your Impairment Was Not Alcohol or Drug-Related
Some people react differently to different environmental factors or medications. Some of these reactions can produce the same physical signs as intoxication. For example, flu or flu medication could make your eyes appear bloodshot or watery. You may look drowsy when tired or sick, which is also something that could happen when high on drugs or alcohol. An officer can mistakenly make a DWI arrest based on your physical appearance, without knowing that you are actually not intoxicated.
Also, remember that you can face DWI charges even when your BAC results are relatively normal. If an officer believes that your driving abilities have been impaired by drugs or alcohol, they can make an arrest.
If your impairment has nothing to do with alcohol, but another factor like a drug or a reaction to an environmental factor, your lawyer can use this defense to fight your charges. If your BAC results are negative for alcohol, and a blood test comes out negative for drugs, your skilled lawyer can use this as evidence to back their claims. You are only guilty of a DWI if your driving is impaired by drugs or alcohol, not something else.
The Breathalyzer Was Faulty
Breathalyzers are devices law enforcement officers use to determine a motorist’s blood alcohol concentration levels. It uses a driver’s breath sample to estimate the amount of alcohol they have consumed. Like any other electronic device, a breathalyzer should be adequately maintained to produce accurate and reliable results. They should be well-calibrated.
Calibration means resetting the device’s sensor to ensure that it produces accurate BAC readings whenever it is used. This is generally required every 6 to 12 months, or after every 100 uses. An aggressive lawyer will determine whether the device used to measure your BAC is appropriately calibrated. If it has not been calibrated recently, as required under the law, they can compel the judge to dismiss your BAC results. This may weaken your case, causing the court to rule in your favor.
Your lawyer can also cite faulty results if the breathalyzer is evidently incorrect. This can happen even if the device is calibrated correctly. Some electronic devices do not work well after a fall, or any other mechanical defect. If there is evidence that a faulty breathalyzer was used to determine your BAC, the judge will dismiss the results, weakening the prosecutor’s case.
The BAC Testing Procedures Were Not Adhered To
Texas police must follow a particular testing procedure when testing a driver’s blood-alcohol concentration. For example, they must give motorists a 15- to 20-minute observation period before conducting a breath test. This ensures that the results will not be influenced by alcohol in the mouth from vomiting or burping. If the test was administered immediately after the traffic stop. Your lawyer can argue that the results were inaccurate. If indeed the police did not follow the required testing procedures, the judge will dismiss the BAC results.
Your lawyer can also cite improper testing procedures if officers demanded a breath sample while you were too intoxicated to provide a valid breath sample. In cases where a motorist is too drunk or unconscious, the police are allowed to obtain a blood sample and test it for BAC and drugs. If the officer only administered a breathalyzer test when you could not properly give a breath sample, the test results could be inaccurate.
A police report or surveillance videos can prove how intoxicated you were at the time of the testing. In this case, the judge will dismiss the results, which could work in your favor.
Yours was a Case of Rising BAC
In most cases, the amount of alcohol you consume is not an accurate determinant of how high your BAC has risen. Remember that several factors determine your BACm, including how fast or slow you drink and how soon after drinking you take the test. When you start consuming alcohol, your BAC rises steadily and remains at the peak for some time before it starts to fall. The rise continues to the peak and remains there even after you stop drinking. If your BAC is tested when your alcohol level has risen to the peak, it could give a false interpretation of how much alcohol you have consumed.
Competent DWI lawyers understand this logic too well and can use it to fight serious DWI charges. If, after the traffic stop, the police gave you the needed 20 minutes before administering a breathalyzer test, your BAC will likely be higher than it was while you were driving. This means that your driving was not actually impaired by alcohol because your BAC at that time was lower than the legal standard. If your lawyer convinces the court of this, the judge can dismiss your BAC results.
Your Positive BAC Results Were False
Your breath can test positive for alcohol, and even give a higher than legal BAC when, in actual sense, you have not consumed any alcohol. This may happen if you have a condition like GERD or have used an alcohol-based product like a mouthguard before taking the test. False positive BACs are very common. Thus, you should get a favorable outcome in your case if your lawyer provides evidence to support their argument.
Find a Competent DWI Lawyer Near Me
If you face DWI charges in Fort Worth, a skilled lawyer can help you fight your charges for a favorable outcome. The defense strategies your lawyer will use will depend on the evidence the prosecutor has against you. The prosecutor may have a strong case against you because of your impaired driving or a higher-than-legal BAC.
At Fort Worth DWI Defense Lawyer, we understand how severe a DWI conviction can be. We can use our best defense techniques to protect your rights and prevent a conviction. Call us at 817-470-2128 to learn more about your case and our services.
