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

My client was arrested for DWI in Hays County, Texas by a trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol. The officer stopped my client for speeding, 100 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone. My client also had an open container of beer in the car. The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and bloodshot and glassy eyes.

My client felt as if the trooper had made up his mind to arrest him regardless of how he did on the test, so he REFUSED THE FIELD TESTS.

My client REFUSED A BREATH SAMPLE, as well. He did however admit to drinking “a couple of pitchers of beer.”

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 be placed on deferred adjudication of a Non-DWI 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. On another note, we were also able to keep my client’s license from EVER being suspended in the ALR process. His ALR HEARING was DISMISSED.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer stopped my client for not wearing her seat belt.

The officer reported that my client had a strong odor of alcohol coming from her breath and bloodshot and watery eyes. My client didn’t know she could refuse the Field Sobriety Tests, so she 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 5 of the 8 clues of intoxication on the Walk & Turn test. The Officer said that my client used her arms for balance and put her foot down twice on the One Leg Stand test.

My client REFUSED A BREATH SAMPLE. She had an open container in the car and admitted to drinking three beers.

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 we would fight the case to the end, the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI, with the understanding that my client would pled guilty to a Class C traffic ticket 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 Williamson County, Texas by a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The officer responded to a rollover car accident involving my client.

The officer reported that my client had an “overwhelming” odor of alcohol coming from his breath and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The Officer reported that my client had slurred and thick-tongued speech. My client was taken to the hospital where blood was drawn against his wishes. My client also admitted to drinking three “Tall Boys.”

This was a particularly difficult case because my client already had a DWI reduced back in 1998.
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 DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a Non-DWI charge.

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.