austin dwi

DWI Arrest information and your rights

2008-09-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

DWI is known by many different names and abbreviations. DWI is Driving While Intoxicated, DUI - Driving Under Influence, OUI - Operating under Influence, Drunk Driving and so on. DWI is governed by State Laws. Therefore, terminology differs from State to State. In this article we will specifically discuss laws and punishments related to DWI arrest, your rights if you are charged with DWI and how to get yourself a competent DWI Defense Attorney.

To start with - DWI is a very very serious offense. An alarming number of Americans lose lives every year because of drunk drivers. The DWI Laws are very strict and if you are arrested with DWI charges, it can damage the rest of your life in a big way. DWI arrest can have very serious consequences. A bad police record is something you will have to live with if convicted. If not convicted you end up spending thousands of dollars over various things including DWI attorney fee. Either way there is bound to be criminal waste of countless number of hours visiting police station, meeting up with your Probationary Officer from time to time, volunteering community service, attending alcohol education classes, filling up forms at various stages and what not.. the ordeal is tiring, sometimes meaningless and humiliating. When you are caught under DWI suspicion, you are taken to the jail by the officer who has made the arrest and until you are allowed to make a call and your DWI attorney releases you on bail, you are actually in the jail cell (sharing the cell with one more criminal) in clothes provided by the jail, eating jail food, sleeping on hard jail matress. It traumatizes the person arrested under DWI. Immediately after DWI arrest you lose your right to drive, unless court grants you Occupational License, which comes with conditions such as observing speed limits and driving in limited areas etc. All this, if you get Occupational License. If you don't there is no issue. No driving your kids to school, or your parents to the nearby hospital. Immobility breaks your back. How will you drive to your job? There are instances when people have lost their jobs as a result of their DWI arrest. There are countries that don't allow people with DWI records against them.

Coming to your rights, as you are arrested under DWI charges, the first thing is to make sure the officer has not followed you to your destination/home without you being informed of it. You have a right to know your rights under the circumstances by the police officer arresting you. It is not your right to refuse BAC Test. If you do, your license may be suspended. Later on if it is found that your faculties were not impaired, your case will be dismissed but the status of your license will not change as you refused to co-operate with the arresting officer. You have a right to hire an attorney to fight your DWI case. Which brings us to our third point. How to find a competent DWI attorney.

First thing, if you are arrested under DWI - don't try to be your own attorney. Let a qualified professional handle it. Try to look for an attorney who practices only DWI cases and belongs to the same state where the DWI arrest has happened. Check out the website of your attorney if he has any. Check out his past DWI records. Talk to people whose cases this DWI attorney has handled. If DWI is one of the areas of your DWI attorney's practice, it is less likely that he will be aware of every aspect related to DWI. Where as if you choose your DWI attorney who practices say Austin DWI cases exclusively, he will approach and handle the DWI arrest much better. Start the process of looking for a DWI attorney fast as you have only 15 days to get one after your arrest. The whole DWI arrest process can take anywhere form 6 months to 3 years. Once the case is over you will have to pay an yearly fee of $1000 for next three years to up keep your driving license.

One can save oneself from all this torture torture by always driving sober.Once you are arrested under DWI charges, there is nothing you can do. No excuses work. No short cuts, no second chance. Let's better be sober than sorry!

When you are stopped while driving, the first question that the police invariably asks is "'Do you know why you were stopped?

Your reply should be as normal as it can be. In tone and by body language, both. If you were driving beyond permissible speed limits cite the reason. The best and safest bet however is a non-committal response, "NO". But don't try to fool or outsmart the police asking you question. In short, don't rub him the wrong way. The worst that you can do is to upset him. So keep your cool. Don't get provoked.

Next thing the police questions is "How many drinks have you had? Have you been drinking?"

This is a direct question and you cannot duck it. Keep your cool and instead of an aggressive "a couple of beers in the party", say, "I have had a peg and a half with dinner". Don't get on the defensive under any circumstance and say something like "5 pegs. But that was hours back". such statements can be suicidal & can be used as an evidence during the trial.

What is the best strategy?

The Police questions because he/she is looking for evidence against you. Be careful. I repeat, don't be rude o do anything to upset him. Keep your cool and try to handle the questions as gracefully and positively as possible. The police officer is not stupid so don't try tricks. If you think your blood alcohol content may be above permissible limits and the police is insisting on Roadside Sobriety Tests, be quiet and inform the police that you'd like to consult your DWI lawyer before answering any questions. Sometimes depending up on the law prevalent is the state you will be allowed to consult your DWI lawyer only after you have taken the roadside tests.

Can you refuse the Roadside Sobriety Tests?

Yes you can. But that does not stop police from arresting you under DWI suspicion. Also your driving license will be confiscated and within a prescribed time period you will have to apply for getting your driving license back. Generally this time limit is 10 days from the date of arrest.

Austin Dwi: How to handle your violance

2008-09-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

While you should never drive while intoxicated, in Austin or anywhere else, it also helps to know the rules. What exactly constitutes a Austin DWI violation? That is what we will discuss here. The Austin DWI laws are quite strict and as long as you know what they are, you can avoid a lot of serious problems.

An Austin DWI offense is regulated by the blood alcohol content. When a police officer stops you for suspicious driving, he is permitted to do a blood alcohol test on the driver of the car. This may be either a breath test or a blood test, but it is completely legal under Austin DWI law for the official to request it. If your blood alcohol concentration is over .08, the legal limit, you can be arrested. If you refuse to take the test, you will be assumed guilty, so it is worth doing the breath analysis in case you are actually below the limit.

While the blood alcohol content test is a legal Austin DWI method of testing potentially drunk drivers, police officers usually begin by administering a sobriety test. These are pretty standard all over the country, where you will be asked to touch your nose with alternating fingers, walk in a straight line and stand on one foot. Should you fail this, you will be given the blood alcohol test. If you fail the test, you will be arrested under Austin DWI law and taken in to the police station.

Austin DWI laws are quite specific and you should be very careful to avoid breaking them since you can be held in jail until your court date. Simply appointing a designated driver will solve all these problems on a good night out.

procedure of DWI in USA

2008-09-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

ALR (Administrative License Revocation) A Program to suspend the driving license Of Drivers Which are found driving carelessly under dwi(driving while intoxicated).You need a proper class if you are driving in USA And know nothing about it. I will teach you all one by one. Your license can be cancelled if: a) You Refuse to give test necessary for determining weather you are intoxicated or not. b) You Allow for test but your blood alcohol content is found greater than 0.8. Note That This program covers over 41 states and this program is administrated by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). And believe me, ALR is not the only thing that you are going to face. Actually DWI initiates two things: 1) Criminal case,
2) ALR also known as Administrative License cancellation,

Someone should know how ALR works. If a Law enforcement officer believes during traffic a reasonable cause for stopping driver then 1) First officer need to tell him his rights. These rights are:

a) Anything you tell us can be used against you.

b) You can arrange a lawyer during interrogation.

c) You have the right to legal counsel.

d) You have a right to remain silent. After all these nonsense field sobriety tests. If Tests fails Then driver can be arrested and imported to Police station where Requested To give Breath Test (Breathalyzer) or blood test. Ideal concept but know, How ideal this world is. If he denies then officer confiscates his driving license and determines suspension period. Adult Refusal: 3 Month- 2 years Adult Failure: 3 Month - 1 year Minor DUI: 2 Month - 3 Month And then conducts further procedure.(Obviously nothing good for you).

But what to do if nothing worked. But you don't need to worry. In Case, license is suspended then a temporary license can be issued for some certain routes (Such as office to home root), known as hardship license. You Have 15 days for requesting Administrative License Revocation Hearing. DWI Checkpoints are devils for careless drivers. Austin law enforcement agencies selects some points on roadside( or on highways ) and detects suspected persons for DWI. These points are known as DWI checkpoints. But all that is later. If your lawyer is not good enough then nothing will work. How will you know who is the best. Just because somebody charging you a lot. That should not be your algorithm. Please Check:
1) Lawyer past record, how many DWI cases he has handled and what is his success record.
2) Lawyer is a specialist of DWI or handles all types of cases,
3) Financial settlement, what is the cost of lawyer.
4) Does lawyer has his own Intoxilizer 5000 breath machine and he is well familiar with it.
5) Is law familiar with Standardized Field Sobriety Tests?
6) Dwi attorney self confidence, can he satisfy you.

Field Sobriety Test can be performed on you .They are for on the spot determination of weather driver is drunk or not. These tests were developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These are: A) The horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN):
if the eye cannot follow a moving object smoothly. B) The walk-and-turn,
Listen and follow instructions during physical movements. C) The one-leg stand.

Austin DWI Dismissal

2008-09-24T04:58:00.001-07:00

Looking for a DWI lawyer in Austin? First, educate yourself here on the facts of Austin DWI defense and the Texas laws for drinking and driving.

First, it is easy to fall in the trap of feeling bad for yourself after getting caught for drinking and driving.В The instinct is to replay all the different times when you had the ability to change your decision.В No matter how you look at it though, saying, вЂњI should have taken a cab,вЂќ or вЂњI should have let my sober friend drive the car home,вЂќ is unproductive. В So, initially, get over the feelings of remorse and focus on the future. In short, get your defense together and learn the facts about your case.

Second, if you are under twenty-one and are a casualty of TexasвЂ™ вЂњzero toleranceвЂќ policy, then you most likely were charged with a Driving Under the Influence unless the officer believed you were substantially intoxicated.В For more facts on DUIвЂ™s in Texas click here.

In the state of Texas a driver can be arrested for Driving While Intoxicated if a police officer can prove 1) he had reason to pull over the car and 2) had reason to believe the driver was intoxicated.В В If the driver submits a blood, urine, or breathalyzer test with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of over .08%

POSSIBLE PUNISHMENTS

CIVIL COURTS

If convicted of a DWI offense for the 1st time the Department of Public Safety seeks to suspend the driverвЂ™s license for no less than 90 days and no more than a year.В If this is a second alcohol related incident, the DPS will seek license suspensions of no less than one year.

CRIMINAL COURTS

If this is a first time arrest for DWI, it will be classified as a Class вЂњBвЂќ misdemeanor. The punishment range for a Class вЂњBвЂќ DWI is not less than three (3) days in jail and a two thousand dollar ($2000) fine. As with DUI, alcohol education classes, community service, probation and court costs are all possibilities when facing a DWI conviction.

In addition, according to recent Texas laws, the DPS is required to collect a surcharge from individuals convicted of a DWI.В For those who either did not provide a sample or provided one of 0.15 BAC or less the surcharge is $1,000 per year for three years.В For those who had a 0.16 BAC or higher the surcharge is $2,000 dollars per year for three years.

Austin DWI Attorney - Top 5 Firms in Austin

2008-09-24T04:55:00.000-07:00

1-Dunham & Rogers: With an experience of more than 20 years, attorneys at Dunham & Rogers know fully well how to defend and win DWI cases. Another good thing about this law firm is that the fees are not too high and you can easily afford it.

2-Law Office of EG Morris: Texas Board of Legal Specialization has recently awarded EG Morris the designation of Criminal Law Specialist. In addition, he has also earned the prestigious AV rating from the Martindale Hubbell legal directory. With team members also been highly qualified, Law Office of EG Morris is a perfect DWI attorney firm for your DWI case. Customer service is also top class at Law Office of EG Morris.

3-KUHN, DOYLE, & KUHN: KUHN, DOYLE, & KUHN is an Austin based law firm that specializes in DWI. The best part about this law firm is that they do not charge any sort of consultation fee.

4-Ben Florey Law Offices: Unlike many law firms where individual attention is not given to the clients, Ben Florey Law offices give their clients individual attention, which is quite critical in handling of DWI cases.

5-IAN INGLIS Attorney at Law: Certified as criminal law specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Ian Inglis has an experience of more than 25 years in handling DWI cases. When you take the services of Ian Inglis, he will arrange an administrative license revocation hearing for you, which means that you are not going to loose your driving license.

DWI attorneys try their best to ensure their clients receive the minimum penalty possible but it is upto the client to be positive and generally truthful in their dealings with the attorney.

Sara Sentor