What is a DWI and What Can I Expect?

DWI

The first thing that people need to be aware of when they are arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated in Texas is that they really have two cases pending against them, one is the actual DWI charge, and the other is a case with DPS relating to your drivers license.

For assistance or if you have a case, call 713-234-0DWI.

The DPS Case

When you are arrested and charged with DWI in Texas, DPS is going to try to suspend your drivers license. On a first offense, the suspension period will be for 6 months if someone refuses to take a breath test, and 3 months if someone fails a breath test. You can fight this suspension. If you request what is called an Administrative License Revocation hearing within 15 days, the drivers license suspension is put on hold until DPS “proves” their case at the hearing and the Administrative Judge issues a ruling. If you win this hearing, then there will be no drivers license suspension for refusing or failing the breath test.

You do not have to get a lawyer to request this ALR hearing. At the bottom of your paperwork that you get from the kind folks at the police station after you are arrested, there is some fine print explaining how you can request an ALR hearing. This can be done over the phone or you can fax the request. Just remember that you only have 15 days from the date of arrest to request this hearing, or DPS will suspend your license automatically 40 days after you are arrested.

You should also know that the drivers license suspension periods and requirements change if this is not your first DWI.

The DWI Case

If someone is charged with DWI for the first time in Texas, it is considered a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $2,000 fine. If convicted, there is also a possible drivers license suspension as a result of the conviction that can last up to a year. This drivers license suspension is distinct and separate from a suspension resulting from the DPS case mentioned above. DPS will also charge you a surcharge on your drivers license for three years. This surcharge can range from $1,000 to $2,000 each year for a total of $3,000 to $6,000.

When you are pulled over for DWI, the officer normally asks an individual to perform some “standardized field sobriety tests.” They are called standardized because they are supposed to be done in a standard format that is “scientific” and is repeated the same way for every DWI suspect.

Here are the three standardized field sobriety tests:

Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN)

This test is the “pen test.” This is where the police officer stands in front of you and has you keep your head still while following the tip of his pen, or some other stimulus, with your eyes. During this test, the officer is basically looking at how your eyes move searching for “clues” to your intoxication.

Walk and Turn

This test is where the officer has you take a series of steps down a line and then turn in a certain manner and walk back. The officer is again looking for “clues” to your intoxication, whether you follow directions, keep your balance, miss your steps, etc.

One Leg Stand

This test is the one where you must stand with one leg up for a certain period of time. Again, the officer is looking for “clues” of intoxication. Some things the officer looks for is whether you can keep your balance, whether you sway, drop your foot, and so on.

Eventually, you will end up at the police station where you will be asked to provide a specimen of your breath. This is done by blowing into the breath test machine and it magically spits out a number.

All of this is done so that the powers that be can try to say that you were operating a motor vehicle, in a public place, while intoxicated. Intoxication in Texas is defined as losing the regular use of your mental or physical faculties or by blowing .08 or higher on the magic breath test machine.