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 reported that my client was stopped for speeding, swerving all over the road and driving well over the posted speed limit.

My client REFUSED the BREATH TEST, but performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he was unaware he could refuse.

The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and admitted to consuming 5 beers, two Jager Bombs and Benadryl that evening. The officer said my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client lost balance during the instructions, turned improperly, failed to touch heel to toe and stepped off line during the Walk & Turn test. The officer further stated that my client exhibited 2 of the 4 clues on the One Leg Stand test.

We took the case to court and let the State Prosecutors know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI, and my client pled to a non-DWI charge. My client received deferred adjudication on the new charge, meaning that hw will excape being convicted of anything. My client will now be able to have any mention of the original DWI arrest permanently erased from his record, and we will be able to have the non-DWI charge sealed.

Recently, the Gregg County (Longview) sheriff made the proclimation that if you drink and drive this independence day weekend - you will go to jail.

In December 2006, Gregg County commissioners approved a grant to participate in the statewide “Drink, Drive, Go To Jail” campaign with the funding being provided by the Texas Department of Transportation.

This grant provides resources necessary to conduct DWI enforcement throughout the holiday periods to increase the arrests of folks that drink and drive.

Captain Ken Hartley with the Gregg County Sheriff’s Department says; “We’d just like to remind people to drive responsibly. Don’t drink and drive. Enforcement will be out there and it’s not worth that chance and certainly not taking a chance of hurting yourself or others.”

Well, here lies the rub….it is not against the law to drink and then drive as long as two things are true: 1) you are at least 21 years of age, and 2) you are not intoxicated. I believe that the Sheriff is setting up a great argument for the fact that people are going to be arrested that don’t meet the above criteria. Read the rest of this entry »

University of Florida researchers have deteremined that tougher punishments may not be effective in deterring people from driving drunk.

Increasing the minimum jail time keeps few drunken drivers off the road and doesn’t significantly prevent fatal car crashes, according to the study, published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention.

The researchers examined the changes in DWI laws and policies between 1976 and 2002. They also studied the rates of DWI arrests and fatal alcohol-related car crashes.

Alexander C. Wagenaar cq , lead author of the study and epidemiology professor in the UF College of Medicine, said researchers wanted to find out if stricter regulations deterred people from drinking and driving and if the number of accidents would drop in the population as a whole.

“We found out that’s not the case,” he said.

James C. Fell, director of traffic safety and enforcement programs for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland, said on average, statistics show that a person drives under the influence 50 to 200 times before he or she is caught or gets into a crash.

I have said over and over and over, we must move our resources into education, rather than punishment. Until the powers that be, the Legislature, figures this out, they will continue to increase punishments to no avail. I was once told that the two areas that Legislators love to go home and tout, is tax cuts and being tough on crime. Unfortunately, I guess that still holds true today.

My client was arrested for DWI in Sunset Valley, Texas by an officer with the Sunset Valley Police Department. The officer reported that my client was stopped for driving at night with one headlight out.

My client knew her rights and REFUSED THE BREATH TEST AND THE STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS (SFSTS).

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from her breath, had bloodshot, glassy eyes and confused speech. Due to her total refusal, the officer had to arrest my client based solely on this information.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a minor traffic ticket for having no headlight.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client was stopped for driving 61 miles per hour in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.

My client provided a BREATH SAMPLE. My client also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He said he didn’t know he could refuse them.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, glassy eyes and slurred speech. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client lost his balance during the instructions and failed to touch heel to toe during the Walk & Turn test. The officer then reported that my client performed the One Leg Stand test as instructed. In light of all these fact, the officer decided to arrest my client for DWI.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pleaded to a minor traffic ticket.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client was stopped for driving 61 miles per hour in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.

My client provided a BREATH SAMPLE. My client also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He said he didn’t know he could refuse them.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, glassy eyes and slurred speech. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client lost his balance during the instructions and failed to touch heel to toe during the Walk & Turn test. The officer then reported that my client performed the One Leg Stand test as instructed. In light of all these fact, the officer decided to arrest my client for DWI.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pleaded to a minor traffic ticket.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the University of Texas Police Department. The officer stopped my client for backing into a gas pump at a gas station and driving away without checking for damage. The officer noted that my client emitted an odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, eyes and very poor balance.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he was unaware he could refuse. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client could not maintain his balance and began the test before instructed on the Walk & Turn test. The officer also stated that my client swayed, used his arms to balance, hopped and put his foot down during the One Leg Stand test.

We appealed the so called “automatic” suspension of my client’s driver’s license. We filed discovery requests and subpoenaed all officers involved to justify the arrest and the suspension. At the Hearing, DPS realized they were not going to be able to prove all the elements necessary to suspend my client’s license. DPS agreed to dismiss the Suspension Case and my client’s LICENSE WAS NOT SUSPENDED.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the University of Texas Police Department. The officer stopped my client for backing into a gas pump at a gas station and driving away without checking for damage. The officer noted that my client emitted an odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot, eyes and very poor balance.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he was unaware he could refuse. The officer reported that my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer stated that my client could not maintain his balance and began the test before instructed on the Walk & Turn test. The officer also stated that my client swayed, used his arms to balance, hopped and put his foot down during the One Leg Stand test.

We appealed the so called “automatic” suspension of my client’s driver’s license. We filed discovery requests and subpoenaed all officers involved to justify the arrest and the suspension. At the Hearing, DPS realized they were not going to be able to prove all the elements necessary to suspend my client’s license. DPS agreed to dismiss the Suspension Case and my client’s LICENSE WAS NOT SUSPENDED.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client was stopped for driving at night without her headlights.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but she performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which she was unaware she could refuse.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from her breath and had bloodshot, glassy eyes. The officer said my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client displayed several clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: stepping off line, failing to touch heel to toe, stopping during the test and turning incorrectly. The officer further stated that my client exhibited 3 of the 4 possible clues on the One Leg Stand test, including: using her arms to balance, swaying and putting her foot down 4 times.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a non-DWI offense and paid a small fine.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Rollingwood Police Department. The officer reported that my client was stopped for doing 47 in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but she performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which she was unaware she could refuse.

The officer reported that my client emitted an odor of alcohol from her breath, had red, watery eyes and slurred speech. The officer said my client displayed all 6 of the possible clues of intoxication on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client displayed several clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: losing her balance during the instructions, failing to touch heel to toe and failing to follow the instructions. The officer stated that my client could barely stand without using her car to balance. The officer further stated that on the One Leg Stand test, my client used her arms to balance, put her foot down and almost fell over at one point.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. We also were able to discover enough fbad acts about the officer to cause the State to abandon their case. The prosecutor DISMISSED THE DWI outright, meaning no fines, community service or probation. This is particularly good because it allowed us to have the DWI arrest completely erased from her record. We also were able to keep her license from ever being suspended.