Austin Texas Drunk Driving Defense, Ken Gibson, Attorney at Law

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer stopped him because he drove through a double barricade on a closed lane of traffic.

The officer reported that my client had an odor of alcohol coming from his breath and bloodshot, watery and glassy eyes. The Officer said my client exhibited 2 clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The Officer said that my client displayed 4 of the 8 clues of intoxication on the Walk & Turn test. The Officer said that my client swayed, used his arms for balance and put his foot down 4 times on the One Leg Stand test. My Client told the officer that he “couldn’t do the one leg stand if he was sober.”

My Client was not aware that he had a right to refuse a breath sample and PROVIDED A BREATH SAMPLE.
Instead of just pleading guilty, as many lawyers would have advised, we took the case to court and let the State know we were going to fight the case. Eventually, the prosecutor agreed to outright DISMISS THE DWI, with the understanding that my client would pled to a traffic ticket for disregarding the barricade and pay a small fine.

I am proud to also report that we kept his license from being suspended in the ALR process as well.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer stopped my client for speeding, 83 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone. The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and bloodshot and watery eyes.

My client didn’t know he could refuse the Field Sobriety Tests, but he told me that he felt the officers were going to arrest him whether he did them or not, so he REFUSED THE FIELD TESTS. The officers badgered him for 30 minutes, and yet he stood firm and refused to do them.

My client REFUSED A BREATH SAMPLE. Instead of just pleading guilty, as many lawyers would have advised, we took the case to court and let the State know we were going to fight the case.

Knowing they had a weak case, the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI, with the understanding that my client would pled guilty to a Class C (same as a traffic ticket) offense and pay a small fine. The wonderful thing about this is that it will allow us to file a Petition to have all my client’s arrest records destroyed.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer stopped him because he was allegedly following a car too closely.

The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and bloodshot and glassy eyes. My client didn’t know he could refuse the Field Sobriety Tests, so he did them. The Officer said my client exhibited all 6 clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The Officer said that my client displayed 2 of the 8 clues of intoxication on the Walk & Turn test. The Officer said that my client swayed on the One Leg Stand test.

My client REFUSED A BREATH SAMPLE. He also admitted to taking Paxil and drinking 3 beers earlier in the evening. Instead of just pleading guilty, as many lawyers would have advised, we took the case to court and let the State know we were going to fight the case.

We fought the probable cause for the stop. Knowing they had a weak case, the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI with the understanding that if my client stayed out of trouble for a year and did a little volunteer work, they would agree not to pursue any future action. The wonderful thing about this is that it will allow us to file a Petition to have all my client’s arrest records destroyed.

My client was arrested for a 2nd DWI within 5 years in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. He was stopped for speeding and failing to maintain a single marked lane.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but he did do the standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He told me that he didn’t know he could refuse the SFSTs….We didn’t represent him on his prior DWI.

We appealed the so called “automatic” suspension of his driver’s license. We filed discovery requests and subpoenaed all the officers involved to justify our client’s arrest and the suspension.

We were successful in keeping our client’s license from being suspended. We were able to get his ALR Hearing DISMISSED.

This was an important win for our client, because he is in sales and would have ended up with a 2 year suspension, and since it was a 2nd within 5 years, he would have not been able to get an Occupational License for the 1st 90 days of his suspension.

Please note that each case is different. As such, prior cases should not be construed as a warranty of success in any particular future case.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer stopped him because he saw him with an open container staggering to his car earlier in the evening.

The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath. The officer reported that he was wobbling, swaying and needed support to stand. The officer said that my client’s speech was slurred and that he mumbled and stuttered when he spoke.

The Officer said my client exhibited all 6 clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The Officer said that my client displayed 6 of the 8 clues of intoxication on the Walk & Turn test. The Officer said that my client swayed, used his arms for balance and put his foot down 3 times on the One Leg Stand test.

My Client admitted to drinking 5 beers earlier, and he REFUSED TO PROVIDE A BREATH SAMPLE.

I prepared a brief and argued to the Prosecutor that the detention of my client was illegal. Also, our investigation found that the Officer had a suspension for Conduct Unbecoming a Police Officer(unrelated to my client’s case).

When I showed up for the pre-trial hearing to contest the legality of my client’s detention, the Prosecutor DISMISSED the DWI and wrote on the paperwork that it was done, “In the Interest of Justice.”

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The officer stopped him because he was speeding, 75 in a 60 mile per hour zone. Upon contact, the officer saw my client with an open container in the car.

The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and bloodshot, watery and glassy eyes. The Officer said my client exhibited all 6 clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The Officer said that my client displayed 6 of the 8 clues of intoxication on the Walk & Turn test. The Officer said that my client swayed, used his arms for balance on the One Leg Stand test.

This was my client’s 2nd DWI, with a prior in 2003. Since I didn’t represent him on his prior, he was not aware that he had a right to refuse a breath sample and PROVIDED A BREATH SAMPLE. He provided two breath specimens with a reported BAC of .186 and .187.

Instead of just pleading guilty, as many lawyers would have advised, we took the case to court and let the State know we were going to fight the case. Eventually, the prosecutor agreed to outright DISMISS THE DWI.

I am proud to also report that we kept his license from being suspended in the ALR process as well. This was particularly important for him, because since it would have been his second ALR suspension, it would have been for 2 years. Also, had he been convicted of the 2nd DWI, he would have faced mandatory jail time and a 1 year hard suspension where he COULD NOT get an Occupational License.

Please note that each case is different. As such, prior cases should not be construed as a warranty of success in any particular future case.

Williamson County Deputy Richard “Monty” Cline, whose criminal history discredited him as a witness in a drunken driving case, has been fired for untruthfulness, officials said Tuesday.

Cline, who has at least two misdemeanor convictions, including one for drunken driving, did not appeal the decision in the 10 days allowed by the sheriff’s department.

The specifics of Cline’s 2002 hiring are unknown because the office’s administration changed when Sheriff James Wilson took office in January, department spokesman John Foster said.

Since Cline was fired, the sheriff’s department has conducted background checks on all of its officers, Foster said.

Click here for the full story in the Austin American Statesman

Debra Bolton had a glass of red wine with dinner. That’s what she told the police officer who pulled her over. That’s what the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test indicated — .03, comfortably below the legal limit.

She had been pulled over in Georgetown about 12:30 a.m. for driving without headlights. She apologized and explained that the parking attendant must have turned off her vehicle’s automatic-light

Bolton thought she might get a ticket. Instead, she was handcuffed, searched, arrested, put in a jail cell until 4:30 a.m. and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Bolton, 45, an energy lawyer and single mother of two who lives in Alexandria, had just run into a little-known piece of D.C. law: In the District, a driver can be arrested with as little as .01 blood-alcohol content.

As D.C. police officer Dennis Fair, who arrested Bolton on May 15, put it in an interview recently: “If you get behind the wheel of a car with any measurable amount of alcohol, you will be dealt with in D.C. We have zero tolerance. . . . Anything above .01, we can arrest.”

Neither the police department nor the attorney general’s office keeps detailed records of how many people with low blood alcohol levels are arrested. But last year, according to police records, 321 people were arrested for driving under the influence with blood alcohol levels below the legal limit of .08. In 2003, 409 people were arrested. Read the rest of this entry »