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

USA Today reports that there is proposed federal funding for alcohol detection devices in vehicles. The bill would allocate $60 million in highway safety money to the research and development of an alcohol detection device for vehicles. With this funding, the devices could be available in eight to ten years. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “alcohol detection devices would have saved 8,000 lives in 2008 if they were in cars.” This idea is really being pushed by the Ignition Interlock folks. What no one seems to want to talk about is the number of “False positives” these ignition interlocks report. Too many things, other than alcohol, are showing positive for alcohol. Examples are hand sanitizer, Deep Woods Off, and even some perfumes, just to name a few. If these folks get stranded somewhere when their car won’t start, and they won’t think it is such a good idea to have these things on their car.

As reported by KXAN, the Austin Police Association is upset because one of it’s member/officers was stopped for DWI, forced to do the field tests, and after providing a breath test, required to give blood and urine. Are you kidding me? This happens all the time to the ordinary citizen. They perform the Field Tests….some provide breath tests, some don’t, and then the officer gets a warrant for their blood.

To be fair, the officer did provide a breath test of .02, but I have had clients give all zeros on the breath machine, to only be served with a warrant for their blood. Further, even a representative from the Association admitted that the officer wobbled during the walk and turn test and was stopped because the officer swerved into another lane.

Also, supposedly the officer had a physical impairment with one of his eyes, and that that may have lead to more tests. Well, when my clients have physical ailments that could affect the tests, the arresting officer always claims to “take it into consideration.” Now I am not sure how they do that, because even a young man I represented that only had one leg, still got arrested after the officer assured him he would “take it in to consideration.”

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think this officer, after blowing .02, should have been let go, but for heaven’s sake, let’s make the rule uniform. I find it hypocritical for the Association to complain that an officer had to give blood, but support a “No Refusal” policy. Like my grandma said, “what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

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.

A Virgin Atlantic pilot was removed from a transatlantic flight after failing a breathalyser test. He has finally been cleard of this charge after it was discovered that his low-carbohydrate diet triggered a false reading.

Subsequent blood tests on the pilot showed a blood-alcohol reading of just over a fifth of the limit set for airline pilots – which in turn is a quarter of the drink-drive level.

The pilot’s nightmare began when he went through the security checks for flight crew one of the guards thought he could smell alcohol on his breath.

The pilot was allowed to board the plane but about 45 minutes before take-off police got on the aircraft and breathalysed the pilot in the cockpit using a machine calibrated to aviation levels. The pilot failed this test and was escorted off the plane.

A standby crew was called and the pilot was taken to the police station, where blood tests were taken.

He was suspended from duty and released on bail.

The pilot’s blood was sent it to a laboratory where they found only a minimal blood alcohol reading. After the lab tested two more samples, he was exonerated. Read the rest of this entry »

My client was arrested for DWI in Travis County, Texas by a trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol. The officer reported that my client was stopped for going 78 miles per hour in a 60 miler-per-hour zone.

My client had BREATH TEST RESULTS above the legal limit. He also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs), which he was unaware he could refuse.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol from his breath, had red, glassy eyes, mumbled and swayed while standing. 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 7 of the 8 possible clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: losing balance during the instructions, stepping off line, failing to touch heel to toe, stopping during the test, using arms for balance 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 his arms to balance, swaying and putting his foot down. The officer reported that my client almost fell to the ground during this test.

We took the case to court and let the State know that we were going to fight. We learned through our research that the police officer that arrested my client had been fired from his job. Eventually the prosecutor agreed to DISMISS THE DWI outright, meaning no fines, probation or community service.

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 by an officer with the Austin Police Department. The officer reported that my client stumbled across a police barricade and attempted to drive away in his vehicle against an officer’s warning.

My client provided a BREATH TEST with RESULTS above the legal limit of .080. My client also performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He was from New York, so he didn’t know he could refuse these.

The officer reported that my client emitted a strong odor of alcohol, had glassy and bloodshot eyes, and stumbled and swayed in his stance. The officer said my client possessed all of the 6 possible clues on the HGN (eye jerking) test. The officer also stated that he demonstrated 4 out of 8 clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: failing to touch heel to toe, losing balance during the instructions, turning improperly and using arms for balance. The officer further stated that my client swayed and used his arms for balance on 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 non-DWI offense. This was particularly important for this client because he was a salesman in New York that frequently travels to Canada, something he couldn’t do with a DWI conviction.

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 because he was clocked doing 50 in a 30 mile-per-hour zone.

My client SUBMITTED TO A BLOOD TEST and performed the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs). He didn’t know he could refuse these.

The officer noted that my client’s eyes were bloodshot and that he was physically unstable. The officer stated that my client exhibited no clues on the HGN (eye jerking) test, but that he had constricted pupils, consistent with the use of narcotics. The officer stated that my client exhibited 5 of the 8 clues on the Walk & Turn test, including: losing balance during the instructions, taking the wrong number of steps, using arms for balance, failing to touch heel to toe and stepping off line. The officer further said that my client showed 3 of the 4 clues on the One Leg Stand test, including: swaying, putting his foot down and using his arms for balance.

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 outright. This meant no probation, fines or community service.

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!