First DWI Offense in Texas

Man getting arrested for First DWI Offense

You’ve been arrested by the police

for driving while intoxicated. You’re likely wondering how being courteous with the police officer backfired and got you arrested. You’re not alone, most clients report they were shocked to be treated like criminals and charged with their first offense.

First off, I want to let you know that the DWI law is an opinion crime, and it’s not well-defined on purpose. It was designed to be opinion-based (on that of the police officer), so speculation would be enough to arrest someone for something they might have done.

Let’s go over the DWI law defined below:

Sec. 49.04. DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED.

  1. A person commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place.

Sec. 49.01. DEFINITIONS.

  1. “Intoxicated” means

    1. not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol … or

    2. having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

The thing with an opinion crime is, your family, friends, or doctor can testify on your behalf to what “normal” is when you don’t drink. How can a police officer who’s known you for 15 minutes say what your “normal” is? Regardless if it’s fair or not, the Texas police can legally use their own opinion on if you were not “normal” due to alcohol and arrest you for DWI.

Now that you know exactly what the DWI law is, you can decide for yourself whether you lost your “normal” abilities due to alcohol.

If you gave a blood or breath sample, read the links to the right on your particular situation. To discuss the specifics of your case, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 512-898-9529 for a free case evaluation.

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