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 failing to signal intent to change lanes and failing to maintain a single lane.

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

The officer reported that my client emitted an odor of alcohol from his breath, had red, watery eyes and dilated pupils. 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 his balance during the instructions and used his arms to balance during the Walk & Turn test. The officer further reported that over a quarter of a pound of marijuana was found in my client’s trunk during the search incident to his arrest.

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 and agreed to pay a small fine. We also got the Marijuana case reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. This will allow us to have the DWI arrest completely erased from his record.

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 doing 46 in a 30 mile-per-hour zone.

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

The officer reported that my client emitted an odor of alcohol from his breath, had bloodshot 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 turned improperly and stopped while walking during the Walk & Turn test. The officer stated that my client swayed and used his arms to maintain balance during the One Leg Stand test.

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 and agreed to pay a small fine. This will allow us to have the DWI arrest completely erased from his record.

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 through a flashing red light without stopping.

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

The officer reported that my client had bloodshot, glassy eyes as well as an odor of alcohol coming from his person. The officer said my client showed 4 of the 6 possible clues on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client displayed 5 of the 8 possible clues during the Walk & Turn test, including: losing balance during the instructions, failing to touch heel to toe, using arms for balance, turning improperly and stepping off line. The officer stated that my client showed all 4 possible clues of intoxication during the One Leg Stand test, including: hopping and using arms to maintain balance, swaying and putting his foot down twice.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we intended to fight. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a minor traffic ticket and paid a small fine. This will allow us to have his DWI arrest completely removed from his record.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client cut across two lanes of heavy traffic without signaling then struck a guardrail on the highway entrance with enough force to deploy both of the airbags in her vehicle.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST AND THE STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS (SFSTs), which she knew she had a right to refuse.

The officer reported that my client had slurred speech, red, glassy eyes and a strong odor of alcohol emitting from her breath. The officer said my client admitted to having a couple of glasses of wine, one beer and one mixed drink. The officer stated that my client refused to perform any of the SFSTs.

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, which will allow us to have the DWI completely erased from her record.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client ran a red light.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but did perform the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he did not know he could refuse.

The officer stated that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, that he had bloodshot and watery eyes and that he was unsteady. The officer further stated that my client admitted to drinking about 5 beers over the course of the night. 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 used his arms for balance and stepped off line during the Walk & Turn test and that he put his foot down during the One Leg Stand test.

We took the case to court and let the State know we were going to fight. The prosecutor eventually agreed to DISMISS THE DWI and my client pled to a non-DWI offense, which will allow us to have the DWI completely erased from his record.

My client was arrested for DWI in Travis County, Texas by a trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol. The trooper reported that my client was doing 65 in a 60 mile-per-hour zone.

My client provided a BREATH TEST. He also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. He didn’t know he could refuse ALL the tests.

The officer reported that my client had red, glassy, bloodshot eyes, a strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, and that he swayed while standing. The officer stated that my client displayed each of the 6 clues on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer also said that my client showed 4 of the 8 possible clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: losing balance during the instructions, failing to touch heel to toe, stepping off line and turning improperly. The officer said that my client showed all 4 of the possible clues of intoxication on the One Leg Stand test. The officer noted that she suspected my client was under the influence of drugs.

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. My client didn’t have to plead to anything. This will allow us to have the DWI completely erased from his record.

My client was arrested for DWI in Austin, Texas by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client failed to signal when making a turn.

My client REFUSED THE BREATH TEST, but he did perform the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he did not know he could refuse.

The officer reported that he detected a strong odor of alcohol on my client’s breath and that his speech was slurred. The officer further stated that my client admitted to having a few beers. The officer reported that my client showed all 6 clues on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer said that my client showed 4 of 8 possible clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: losing balance during the instructions, failing to touch heel to toe, turning improperly and stopping during the test. The officer also stated that, during the One Leg Stand test, my client used his arms and hopped to keep balance.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we intended to fight. Eventually, the prosecutor DISMISSED THE DWI and my client pled to a non-DWI offense. This will allow us to have the DWI completely erased from his record.

State legislators have passed the bill which would re-write the law that made it illegal to obscure any part of a license plate.

The Texas House last week approved the legislation; the Senate approved it earlier. (S.B. 360)

Under the new law, provided it is signed by the Governor, states license plate holders are not in violation of the law as long as the license plate number is visible and most of the name of the issuing state is visible and not altered.

The problems with license plate covers began with the passage, in 2003, of the revisions to Section 502.409 of the Transportation Code. The purpose of the bill was to prevent the use of products that would obscure information on license plates (like the reflective spray) and circumvent the effective use of photo radar and law enforcement cameras.

Some law enforcement agencies took this change in the law to extremes. Some agencies have even stopped motorists and issued citation for obscuring the starry night or the cowboy on horseback riding along the bottom of the plates even if the plate number and the word Texas were clearly visible.

One citation for an obscured license plate out of Fredericksburg resulted in the person being charge with a DWI. That case was appealed up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. (State v. Johnson)

The Court of Criminal Appeals decision highlighted the absurdity of the law, but still held that the officer had the right to stop and cite the person. It would have been interesting to see what the court would have done, had it not been part of a DWI case.

“All prescription sleeping pills may sometimes cause sleep-driving,” federal health officials warned Wednesday.

Sleep driving is a variation of sleepwalking. It involves getting in the car in the middle of the night, driving around, and with absolutely no memory of the drive.

The Food and Drug Administration wouldn’t say exactly how many cases of sleep-driving it had linked to insomnia drugs, but neurology chief Dr. Russell Katz said the agency uncovered more than a dozen reports — and is worried that more are going uncounted.

Given the millions of prescriptions for insomnia drugs, Katz called the problem rare, and said he was unaware of any deaths. But because sleep-driving is so dangerous — and there are precautions that patients can take — the FDA ordered a series of strict new steps Wednesday.

First, the makers of 13 sleep drugs must put warnings on their labels about two rare but serious side effects:

• sleep-driving, along with other less dangerous “complex sleep-related behaviors” — like making phone calls, fixing and eating food, and having sex while still asleep.

• and life-threatening allergic reactions, as well as severe facial swelling, both of which can occur either the first time the pills are taken or anytime thereafter. Read the rest of this entry »

The City of Austin has decided to replace their current BAT Bus (Breath Alcohol Test Bus) with a new improved BAT Bus.

The city agreed to buy a breath alcohol testing bus so officers don’t have to make the trip to the county jail.

The new Bat Bus will have to stations for Intoxilyzer 5000s as well as workstations for the officers to review the videotapes of the incident and prepare the offense reports.

Futher, there will be City Marshalls on hand to transport folks who have been arrested to the jail facility. This will allow officers like the one they call “the Machine” to get back on the street faster. The Machine currently holds the record for making 7 arrests in one night.

“Typical, DWI arrest takes between three and four hours,” Austin police Cmdr. Patti Robertson said. “It narrows it down. Takes off 3/4 of that time. They have all the paperwork, turns it over to the officers on the bus.”

DWI has become big business in Austin.

“We are at 800 per 100,000 people for DWI arrests…” Robertson said. “What that means is we are ……the highest in the state for DWI arrests. I think that speaks volumes.” It certainly does.

There are approximately 10 different agencies in and around Austin that are all competing for grant money related to DWIs. The question then becomes, “Could this possibly motivate officer to make more and more arrests?” My belief……ABSOLUTELY!