Texas DWI Blog

A new Texas DWI law went into effect last week with little to no publicity.  As of September 1, 2011, a person arrested for a DWI in Texas with a Blood or Breath alcohol concentration of .15 or greater will now be facing more severe penalties.  Prior to the new law taking effect, a citizen charged with a 1st DWI in Texas would be facing a possible fine of up to $2000 and a possible jail sentence of up to 180 days, regardless of the blood or breath alcohol concentration.  However, now a person arrested for DWI with a Blood or Breath alcohol concentration of .15 or greater will be facing a possible fine of up to $4000 and a possible jail sentence of up to one year in the county jail.  

I think the legislature may be missing the boat on this issue.  What this really says to a citizen is "Don't Blow or Don't Give Blood," because if you do and the number is over a .15, you will be charged with an enhanced DWI.

Thinking about drinking over the 4th of July weekend?  Great, you are not unlike many others out there.  Thinking about drinking and driving over the July 4th weekend?  Don't do it.

The Harris County District Attorney's office announced that the 4th of July holiday weekend will be another DWI "No Refusal" weekend for Houston.  If you are arrested for DWI and refuse to volunteer to give a breath test or blood test, the police with the assistance of the District Attorney's Office, will ask a Judge to sign a search warrant.  That warrant will give the police the authority to forcibly strap you down and forcibly stick a needle in your arm to draw your blood.

The simple solution to this Harris County DWI "No Refusal" weekend?  Don't Drink and Drive.  Certainly don't drive while intoxicated.

If you or someone you know finds yourself in need of a Houston DWI Lawyer, call our Houston DWI Attorneys at 713-222-0400.

A teacher was arrested over the winter holiday break and charged with his 2nd DWI offense in Houston.  The case was eventually set for trial and a jury was selected.  

The officers testified that they were dispatched to a vehicle in a parking lot that had a man slumped over the wheel.  The testimony further showed that nobody saw the vehicle enter the parking lot or move in the parking lot.  In fact, the testimony showed the car had been in the parking lot for over an hour when the police arrived - never moving. 

Based on the officers investigation, they thought the driver was intoxicated and charged him with a 2nd DWI offense.  After all of the evidence was presented to the jury, the Judge determined there was not evidence to submit the case to the jury on the issue of operation of the vehicle and instructed the jury to acquit the defendant and find him "Not Guilty."

Needless to say, client was incredibly relieved that he was found not guilty of DWI, thus saving is career.

If you or someone you know needs a Houston DWI Attorney, call the lawyers at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.  Our Houston DWI lawyers have helped many charged with DWI over the years.

After being arrested by the Houston Police Department for DWI, a Houston lawyer thought his/her government career was over.  However, the attorney did what any citizen would do - hired a competent Houston DWI lawyer to represent his/her interests.  That is exactly what we did.  Despite the insistence by the Houston police officer that client was intoxicated, we were able to expose mistakes that the officer had made while speaking with our attorney client. 

Ultimately, the Harris County District Attorney's office made the difficult and correct decision to dismiss the Houston DWI.  Another DWI dismissal means another career that was saved. 

After more than 3 months of court appearances on her Houston DWI case, the Harris County district attorney's office dismissed the client's DWI case.  After obtaining a copy of the DWI arrest video, we were able to show prosecutors the .14 breath test evidence in the DWI case was coerced.  The arresting officer in the DWI case asked if she would take a breath test and client refused and continued to refuse.  Eventually, the DWI task force officer told client that he would let her go if she passed the breath test.  It was only after this statement that client consented to giving a breath test. 

Fortunately, we had a prosecutor that had some sense and recognized that this statement was legally considered coercion and the DWI case was dismissed.

If you have been charged with DWI and need a Houston DWI Lawyer, call the Houston DWI Lawyer, call the Houston DWI attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400 or email Dane Johnson at dane@dwi-houston.com. 

After being offered DIVERT by the Harris County District Attorney's Office, 2 DWI clients rejected that offer and set their cases for trial.  Each of these DWI cases were set for trial this week and each was dismissed by the prosecutor just before jury selection.  As the saying goes, "Good things happen when you set a DWI case for trial."

If you or someone you know has been charged with a DWI, call the Houston DWI lawyers of Johnson, Johnson Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.  Our Houston DWI lawyers of Johnson, Johnson Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.  Our Houston DWI Attorneys have helped thousands of DWI clients over the years.

After a citizen called the police to report a person that was boating while intoxicated, La Porte police officers responded to the scene and arrested the operator of the boat for Boating While Intoxicated. 

Officers motioned the driver of the boat to shore and ordered him off of his boat.  After asking questions and performing Field Sobriety Tests, the La Porte police officers arrested him for BWI.  They transported him to the police station and asked him to take a breath test, which he did.  The results registered .165 and .167 on the breath test.

As we discovered during our investigation of the case, it turns out that the portion of Galveston Bay adjacent to La Porte is actually a part of Chambers County.  After pointing this out to the attorney for the government, a dismissal was filed.

If you or someone you know needs to speak to a Houston DWI Lawyer, please call the Houston DWI Attorneys at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713.222.0400.

After another vehicle crashed into her vehicle, a respected military member called the police to report the accident.  She had been out with friends and was on her way home.  Her car was totalled. 

When the police arrived at the scene of the accident, they focused their attention on investigating our client - a respected member of the military.  They did not seem to be interested in investigating the person that fled the scene of the accident, instead they began grilling our client about where she had been and how much she had to drink.  She fully cooperated and answered all of their questions.

They then asked her to do their field sobriety tests, which she did.  Fortunately for our client, the tests in this case were captured on video tape.  The officer wrote in his report that she failed all of the tests and proceeded to arrest her for DWI and then took her to the police department for more investigation.  Like many who are arrested for DWI, she declined to take a breath test because she does not trust the breath test machine.   

As stated before, fortunately the field exercises were on tape.  After reviewing the tape with the prosecutor and explaining the entire situation to the prosecutor, he agreed the case needed to be dismissed. 

If you or someone you know has been arrested for DWI, contact the Houston DWI Attorneys at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. to fight for you.  Our Texas DWI lawyers have over 50 years of combined experience.

Jordan Lewis saved a high school football coach’s career this summer when he obtained a Not Guilty verdict after the coach was charged with DWI. A football coach at a local high school was arrested at the end of a long day of coaching, scouting, and spending the evening watching a former student play against a local college. As the coach was leaving the college game, and while he was trying to call his wife to tell her that he was on his way home, he had a minor one-car accident. Within moments, police had arrived on the scene, and before it was over, there were more than a half-dozen officers milling about. After he admitted that he had a couple of beers during the game, a DWI Task Force officer with HPD was called to the scene where the coach performed field sobriety tests. His performance was not perfect, and he was arrested and charged with DWI. While the case was pending, he was informed that his job (and career) may be on the line if convicted. At trial, Jordan presented evidence that the coach’s 30-plus years of participating in football, both as player and coach, had taken its toll on his body, and that his various injuries meant that he was destined to fail the field tests that he took. The evidence also showed that, despite the officers’ testimony, his speech, gait, and general demeanor were completely normal, if a little bit nervous. After a relatively short deliberation, the jury determined that he was Not Guilty of Driving While Intoxicated. After such a stressful experience, it took a few moments for the verdict to register with the coach. With tears in his eyes, he asked Jordan, “Wait. That means we won, right?”

After stopping a Houston DWI suspect for a traffic infraction, police began a DWI investigation. The investigation included field sobriety tests and ultimately led to the arrest of the suspect for DWI - Driving While Intoxicated. After arresting the suspect for DWI, the officer reads the required statutory warning to the DWI suspect. The suspect then asks the officer if he is required to take the test. The officer responds that it is the law to take the test, leaving the Houston DWI suspect with the erroneous perception that he is required to take the breath test. When we brought this issue to the prosecutor's attention, fortunately, the district attorney handling the case agreed that the interchange was coercive and dismissed the Houston DWI case. If you need to speak to a Houston DWI Lawyer, call the Houston DWI attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P. C. at 713-222-0400.

A common question that we receive regularly is, "Can I get deferred probation on my DWI case?" The easy and simple answer is, NO. The more difficult question to answer is why and does it make any sense? Would it surprise you to know that DWI is the only crime in Texas that you are not eligible for deferred probation as a first offender? That's right. You can get deferred probation for murder, rape of a child, or any other offense in Texas, but not DWI. I guess the Texas Legislature thinks a DWI is worse than any other crime? Or maybe MADD has the most powerful lobbying group in Texas? I'm guessing its the latter - MADD has an incredible amount of power with Texas DWI legislation. If you or someone you know needs a Houston DWI lawyer, call the Houston DWI attorneys at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.

As is the case with many holiday weekends in Houston, the July 4th weekend will once again be dubbed a "No Refusal" weekend. What this means is that the police officers in and around Houston will try and forcibly draw blood from anyone arrested for DWI that does not volunteer for a breath test. After arresting an individual for DWI, the police are required to read a form to the DWI suspect before requesting a breath or blood sample. If the DWI suspect refuses to give a voluntary sample of breath or blood, the officer will ask a Judge to sign a warrant that will allow the police literally strap the DWI suspect down and forcibly take his/her blood. As I have maintained, this practice of forcibly strapping citizens down and drawing their blood should be considered an unreasonable search and seizure under the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

It seems we are coming closer every day to a police state when it comes to DWI enforcement. Houston Police officers have been training to become phlebotomists so they can take our citizens blood at the time of a DWI arrest. As I have stated before, police should not be drawing citizens blood in DWI cases for any reason. The Houston Police Department began training its some of its DWI task force members to draw blood in DWI arrests. Now it has been uncovered that they have used psychiatric patients at TDCJ for their selfish purposes. Surely, someone over at HPD thought this type of DWI training was a bit suspect. Do we really want DWI cops taking citizens blood in DWI cases? Let's stop the MADDness in DWI enforcement.

Police officers pulled client over for speeding. After stopping client, the officers smelled alcohol on the man's breath and began a DWI investigation. Though there was a camera in the police vehicle, the field sobriety tests were not done in the view of the camera. The cops claim he did not perform well on those field exercises. The police then arrested him for DWI and transported him to the police station for more testing. Now there was a video camera recording the sobriety exercises - he looked pretty good on them. Officers then asked him if he would take a breath test and he responded with, "What happens if I pass the breath test." The arresting officer proceeds to tell client that if he takes and passes the breath test, he would allow client to go home. Client ultimately decided to give a breath test and registered a .12 on that breath test. The Texas courts have held this type of verbal exchange to be coercive if the suspect relies on these statements. After providing the prosecutors with the legal research on this issue, the prosecutor dismissed the DWI case. Call the Houston DWI lawyers at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. if you or someone you know has been arrested for a Houston DWI. Our Houston DWI attorneys are here to help you.

Houston Police pulled client over for changing lanes without signaling. After smelling alcohol on her breath, the police asked her to perform field sobriety tests - she complied. The cops claimed that she failed the field sobriety tests and arrested her for DWI. The Houston police gave her a free ride to the jail and asked her to give a breath test. She decided to exercise her right to refuse that breath test and they proceeded to book her into the Harris County Jail. After she was released, client hired our firm to represent her on the DWI and ALR cases. We obtained a copy of the video tape from the night client was arrested. After showing the video to the prosecutor, the assitant district attorney determined that there was insufficient evidence to go forward on the DWI case and dismissed the charge.

Police officers stopped Houston DWI client for traffic infraction and susbsequently arrested him for DWI.  According to the report, the suspect failed the field sobriety tests and was then arrested.  The officer transported client to the police station and gave him a breath test that registered a .17. 

On the day of trial, prosecutors discovered what we had known all along - the cop that gave the breath test was not certified to give the breath test at the time he gave the test.  They wisely dismissed the Houston DWI.

After his Harris County DWI case had been pending in the criminal courts for over 5 months, a Houston man finally received the dismissal he knew that he deserved.

Houston police pulled our client over for speeding on Washington Avenue on a weekend night.  The police officer that stopped him then called for an on-duty DWI task force officer to come to the scene and follow up on the investigation.  The DWI task force officer arrived and took over the DWI investigation.  In his DIC-23 (a sworn report), the officer claimed that he gave client 3 field sobriety tests.  In actuality, the officer only gave our client 1 field test, the Horizontal Gaze Nystgmus test.

After we inquired about the scene video in the case, the officer told the prosecutor that there was no scene video and that his video equipment must have been malfunctioning.  Well, we investigated that claim and found that his video equipment has not had any malfunctions since our client was arrested.  Looks like the cop got caught in a bit of a lie.  Needless to say, the prosecutor was none too happy about the officer lying to him and decided to dismiss the case.

I personally think the lies in the sworn document should be investigated and potentially prosecuted by the district attorneys office.  The government said they would look into it.

If you or someone you knows needs a Houston DWI Lawyer, call our Houston DWI Attorneys at 713-222-0400.

A Houston police officer stopped client for "weaving" and later arrested client for DWI.  During the motion to suppress, the officer truthfully acknowledged that there was no other traffic on the road (hard not to acknowledge because the video evidence showed this) and that client did not weave "unsafely" on th night of his DWI arrest. 

At the conclusion of the hearing, we submitted the relevant cases to the Judge who rightfully granted the motion to suppress the stop.  The government was forced to dismiss the DWI case.

If you orsomeone you know needs a Houston DWI lawyer, call the Houston DWI attorneys at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.

After months of resets and requests by us to view a copy of the DWI video tape, Harris County prosecutors decided to dismiss client's Houston DWI case.  We made repeated efforts to obtain the video tape of the DWI arrest without success.  Just before trial, the assistant district attorney assigned to the case made the correct decision to dismiss the case and not proceed to trial.

Having a DWI lawyer fight for you in your DWI case can make the difference in winning and losing your DWI.  If you or someone you knows needs a Houston DWI lawyer, call the Houston DWI attorneys at Johnson, Johnson & Baer, P.C. at 713-222-0400.

After 5 different prosecutors looked at the Houston DWI case, the last district attorney to review it decided to dismiss the case while the jury was in the hall. 

Client was stopped by a Harris County Sheriff Deputy in the early morning hours.  After smelling alcohol on his breath, the officers asked him to do field sobriety tests.  Before doing the tests, client told the officer that he had extremely bad knees.  However, the officers performed the tests and scored the tests just like they would for someone that did not have any medical problems. 

As you may expect, client did not "pass" the field exercises according to the officers and they arrested client and took him to the jail.  While at the jail, the officers asked him to give a breath test and he refused.

During the time when the case was pending trial, we obtained the medical records related to client's knee injuries and provided them to the district attorney's office.  It was not until the day of trial (actually the 3rd trial setting in the case) that the attorney for the state filled out a dismissal.

If you or someone you know is charged with a DWI, call the Houston DWI lawyers at 713-222-0400.  Having a quality Houston DWI attorney can be the difference in winning or losing your DWI case.