Driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Houston and throughout Texas is a serious crime with serious consequences. The majority of people arrested for DWI are hard working professionals without any criminal history like a speeding ticket. The first and second arrest DWI is a misdemeanor and a third or subsequent ones can be a felony. The same is true for DWI with marijuana, DWI with prescription drugs, flying while intoxicated and boating while intoxicated, the latter two of which happen in Texas even though you may not think about it -- even those who are arrested for the same are shocked by it. Then there are the cases where a person is charged with an open container, DWI with a child passenger, intoxication assault, or intoxication manslaughter. In each of those cases, the stakes increase exponentially.
What exactly are those stakes? A DWI conviction risks the following:
- License suspension
- Scram bracelets
- Jail time
- Ignition interlock
- Fines and fees,
- License renewal surcharges from Texas DPS for $1,040 per year for 3 years
- Enhanced penalties depending on who the “victim” was of any vehicle accident caused or purportedly caused by drinking and driving, and
- A whole lot of collateral consequences that can impact your life for the rest of your life.
What are these collateral consequences? Simple: they are things that make your life happen, give it quality and purpose, things like:
- Being able to find and maintain a good job, including careers that require a security clearance or a professional license -- like a pilot's license, medical license, or nursing license.
- Being able to provide for your family and maintain custody of your children.
- Being able to obtain loans for education, a mortgage, rent an apartment, or other purposes.
- Being able to own and use firearms.
- Being able to vote.
Even after you pay your debt to society via successful completion of a sentence, you will stay pay the price through these collateral consequences. For some, like first-time DWI offenders with a breath test or first-time DWI offenders with a blood test, you may be eligible for expunction or nondisclosure. For others, like those convicted of a felony DWI, you lose your basic constitutional rights of owning and using firearms and voting for your representatives. These rights can to an extent be reinstated in Texas, but it is a difficult and time-consuming process without guarantees. In essence: a DWI conviction in Texas carries with it more than jail and fines -- it is baggage you carry with you for the remainder of your life. Fighting the DWI is your only option.
Why fight your DWI in Texas?
The above-listed consequences of a DWI conviction are enough reason to fight your DWI charge in Texas. But in addition to these things, it is your name on the line. DWIs happen to all of us -- all of us who are hard working Americans. A DWI conviction can set us back, can make us lose out on time with family or important business affair -- and that's why you need to fight a DWI conviction because it means you are fighting to maintain the life as you know it.
Of course, the question of so many alleged offenders mind is: How do I fight it if there is a breath or blood test showing I was illegally intoxicated? There are two things to keep in mind:
- DWIs are defensible even if there is alleged evidence demonstrating you were illegally intoxicated.
- You are innocent unless proven guilty, and Doug Murphy will work from all angles to either prove your innocence or weaken the State's case against you so that a conviction does not transpire.
How to fight your DWI in Harris County, TX?
DWI is a specific practice area. Though it is criminal defense, it is a specialized area that requires specialized understanding of the laws, the tests used as alleged evidence, the practices and policies of law enforcement with regard to it, and the court system. There is a lot of intersections in a DWI case, so a DWI attorney must be cognizant of what these things are and how they work -- but not only that: how to use that knowledge and insight to your benefit.
Most attorneys do not know how to properly investigate or interpret blood results, and that's a problem because blood tests are problematic. Most attorneys want to settle via a plea deal, advising you that it is your best option given the evidence. But with a Board Certified DWI attorney who has the experience, insight, and resources, he knows what to look for and obtain the best possible result.
Every case is unique and will need a specific strategy to be successful. There are specific ways a DWI can be fought, and here are a few general successful techniques:
- Representing you at your ALR hearing to obtain important evidence on which to build your criminal case (as well as help you maintain your driving privileges).
- Violation of any constitutional rights, like failure to have reasonable suspicion to pull you over and improper search and seizure of your person or property.
- Challenging field sobriety tests.
- Challenging breath tests.
- Challenging blood tests.
- Challenging the DRE and/or its results.
- Moving the court to suppress evidence or exclude witness testimony.
- Using police reports to identify key pieces of information and challenge police officers recollections and proper administration of the law.
- Challenging witness testimony, including the testimony of police officers.
- If an accident occurred, proving it was not your fault.
In the end, your DWI defense is one part knowing the laws and these defenses and one part being able to put it together strategically. Who can do that? The attorneys at Doug Murphy Law Firm, P.C. With us, it is not about if you can win your case, but how we are going to win it.
Who will help you fight your Texas DWI?
At Doug Murphy Law Firm, P.C., we believe in making the judge and jury accountable to the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty. In any DWI charge, from a misdemeanor to a felony to multiple pending charges, all elements of each crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Anything less means a conviction cannot happen.
Doug Murphy uses his skill and insight to develop a strategy that works to get your charges dismissed prior to trial or you acquitted at trial. As such, he always prepares for trial. He is not the kind of attorney who will persuade you to take a plea deal. He knows a plea deal still has its consequences. For you -- otherwise law-abiding citizens who just went out to have a drink and wound up in a bad situation -- you do not deserve those consequences. You deserve your innocence maintained or a second chance without the plague of a criminal record.
Doug Murphy is more than qualified: he's committed. His track record proves it. His clients testify to it. And when he isn't defending clients, he is traveling throughout Texas and the United States to teach other DWI and criminal defense lawyers how to improve their practices and the fates of their clients. Contact Doug Murphy today either online or at (713) 229-8333 to discuss your case. His office is based in Houston TX, but he represents clients in the entire region, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, and other surrounding area counties.
