Did you get arrested for a DWI and have questions? Read this article about the 4 common DWI questions that we often get asked, then call our lawyers today.
1. How long will my DWI case take?
In Texas, you’re probably wondering how long it’s going to take to resolve your DWI. There are multiple steps that have to happen. A DPS hearing needs to be requested within 15 days. After you make the request for the DPS hearing, that hearing will happen in about 60 days. Your actual criminal case, which is separate from the DPS hearing, can take anything from two to three months up to two years.
Normally, it’s around a nine month period, where you end up in a situation where you’d make a decision. Are you going to try it? Are you going to resolve it? I would say probably 50% of the time the cases are resolved in around six months.
2. Can you go to Jail for a DWI in Texas?
In Texas, on a DWI-first, you normally don’t go to jail. In fact, I’ve never had anybody go to jail on a DWI-first or second. However, legally, it can happen. When you’re in the court room, you’ll see it happen. People do occasionally go to jail on DWI-first or second, but I’ve never had it happen with a client, and that’s with 30 years of defending people with DWIs. If someone’s injured in a DWI accident or if it’s a third or more DWI, there’s a chance of going to prison or jail. That does not happen all the time, but there is a chance it will.
You need to hire somebody that knows what they’re doing and can prepare you. For a felony DWI, or when you have three or more DWIs, I normally recommend to my client right away that he gets involved in some sort of treatment because a judge is not going to accept that the client does not have a problem. We need to be proactive, get involved in those things, in case you are convicted. That allows your attorney to make a good argument that you do not need to go to jail or prison.
3. Will you lose your license after a DWI arrest?
On a DWI-first, you could lose your license at the DPS hearing. The DPS hearing is an administrative hearing, it’s held about 60 days after your arrest, and it’s a very informal hearing. I don’t have my clients show up; I show up without my client. If we win that hearing, you’re not going to lose your license on a DWI-first. If we lose that hearing, I can get you an occupational license.
With the occupational license, you’re really not going to notice much difference than your normal license. You’re going to be able to drive for essential household duties, going to the grocery store, and going to work. The only thing you really can’t do is go out to a bar; you can’t go out and socialize. That could get you in trouble, potentially. However, in a lot of cases, you’re not going to lose your license. You don’t lose your license because of being convicted of a DWI. What we make sure is, if the judge orders that you take a DWI education course, upon a conviction, then you don’t lose your license.
4. Can You Plea Bargain a DWI in Texas?
In Texas, if you’re charged with a DWI, the decision about whether to work out a plea bargain or whether to set a case for trial usually takes about three months to reach that point because there’s a discovery process that we go through. We collect video tapes, we collect DVDs, we collect breath tests, we collect blood tests, we collect the police reports, and then we usually sit down with the client and we look at it all. In a lot of cases, there are other things that we also consider.
Did the officer know what he was doing? Sometimes an officer is in training and he doesn’t do the field sobriety test correctly. Very often, in Texas for instance, a police officer stops somebody for weaving within their lane. Weaving within your lane is not an offense, but a lot of new officers stop somebody for that. The fact is, even if someone is quite intoxicated, if the stop was not a good stop, you can have the case thrown out. What we end up doing is collecting all the evidence, and then after we collect it all, we sit down with the client and we map out a game plan. Sometimes the game plan is to work out a deal because the situation is not worth spending the money and the delay to end up with the same result. Very often, that decision is made three or four months down the road, we look at the case and it’s made jointly with the client.
Were you or a loved one arrested for drunk driving and have questions about a DWI in Texas? After checking out these 4 common DWI questions, contact a San Antonio DWI attorney at Rush & Gransee today for a consultation on your case and all of your potential defenses. Let our experience work for you.
Attorney Kurt W. Gransee has achieved the highest rating of superb on Avvo.
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