DWI FAQs
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Field Sobriety Test FAQs
BREATH TEST FAQ'S
I WAS ARRESTED FOR DWI AND I REFUSED THE BREATH TEST. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY LICENSE?
Your Texas license is not suspended yet, and will not "automatically" be suspended. An experienced Houston DWI lawyer can often prevent the license suspension from ever occurring. Generally the police will confiscate your physical license when you are arrested for DWI and give you a piece of paper labeled "NOTICE OF SUSPENSION - TEMPORARY DRIVING PERMIT" This is legally your license until one of two things happen.: 1.) You do not request a hearing to fight the license suspension within 15 days of arrest. In this case, 41 days from your arrest the permit expires and your license to drive will be suspended for at least 180 days, or 2.) Your Houston DWI attorney requests a hearing to fight the suspension within 15 days. In this situation, the permit is a valid license to drive until the date of the hearing. This is often 2 months or more after the date of arrest. If your Houston DWI lawyer wins the hearing, your license will not be suspended. Jim Medley prevents many license suspensions every month!
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I TOOK THE DWI BREATH TEST AND BLEW OVER A .08. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY LICENSE?
Same as above, but the suspension will generally only be 90 days if it is suspended. Suspension periods increase significantly if you have any prior DWI arrests or convictions. Jim Medley is a skilled Houston DWI lawyer who can help you save your license.
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I TOOK THE DWI BREATH TEST AND IT WAS OVER THE LIMIT. IS MY CASE HOPELESS?
There is always hope if your Texas DWI lawyer is not scared of those numbers and knows all the ways those numbers can be wrong. The DWI breath test used by police in Texas does not measure alcohol specifically, and can make many types of errors. Jim Medley is an expert in DWI breath testing and knows how to examine the breath testing records to identify whether the machine that produced it was working improperly or if there are other reasons to believe the number it printed out was inaccurate.
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DO I HAVE TO TAKE DWI FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS IF REQUESTED BY AN OFFICER?
No. There are no legal consequences to refuse sobriety tests in Texas law. You are never required to prove you are NOT committing a crime. At worst, the government will try to use your refusal as evidence that you believed you were guilty if your case goes to trial. No one should ever attempt these tests without first consulting a Houston DWI lawyer for advice.
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WHAT IS THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN IF I AM CONVICTED OF DWI?
If you've never had a Houston DWI (or anywhere else), then the law allows up to 180 days in jail, and a fine of up to $2000. The maximum punishment rarely happens, but it is possible if you aren't represented by a competent Texas DWI lawyer. Either way, your license can be suspended. Once convicted of a Texas DWI, you will have to pay Texas DPS a minimum of $1000 per year for the next three years just to keep your license.
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WHAT HAPPENS TO MY INSURANCE IF I AM CONVICTED OF DWI?
Most insurance carriers will kick you into an expensive high risk company, or just raise your rates. Insurance rates generally increase by 300-500% following a DWI conviction. Remember, just because you are arrested for DWI does not mean you will be convicted. Hire a proven Houston DWI lawyer like Jim Medley.
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I WAS PULLED OVER AND THE OFFICER MADE ME GET OUT OF THE CAR AND DO DWI SOBRIETY TESTS. CAN THEY DO THAT?
Yes and no. A police officer may require you to exit your vehicle if you are lawfully stopped. There are additional requirements that must be met though for the police to hold you for the time required to conduct DWI sobriety tests. Of course once out of the car, you do not have to attempt the tests and you do not have to answer any questions about where you've been or if you've been drinking. If you admit to drinking, the police will almost always suspect you are DWI and start requesting DWI sobriety tests. If you attempt the exercises, you will likely need a Houston DWI lawyer.
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I WASN'T DRINKING, BUT I WAS TAKING PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION. CAN I BE CHARGED WITH DWI ?
Yes, if the medication is capable of causing impairment. Often, the police will assume impairment is caused by a medication if you admit to taking anything. Officers are not trained in which medications or even illegal drugs can cause impairment. Common prescription medications that can cause impairment include: Xanax, Valium, Hydrocodone/ Vicoden, Soma, and Codein. Many other drugs do not impair mental or physical faculties and should not be the basis of a DWI charge. Jim Medley is the only Houston DWI lawyer with a Masters degree in Forensic Toxicology, and can quickly answer questions about which drugs can be responsible for impairment.
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Field Sobriety Test FAQs
DO I HAVE TO TAKE DWI FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS WHEN AN OFFICER ASKS?
Absolutely not. You never have to prove to an officer or anyone that you are not committing a crime. The law presumes you are innocent until the police can prove that a crime has occurred. Most officers will probably arrest you anyway, but if you agree to take these balance tests and you do not perform perfectly, you will likely be arrested anyway, and then your imperfect DWI test performance will be used in Texas court to try to prove you were DWI. You will likely be scared, nervous, or tired and you cannot expect the officer to take those things into consideration.
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DON'T DWI SOBRIETY TESTS MEASURE IMPAIRMENT?
The DWI exercises can reveal effects of intoxication, along with many other things not related to drugs at all. Roadside field tests generally are balance tests. Balance can be affected by alcohol and drugs. Unfortunately though, anxiety affects the tests; fatigue affects balance; sleepiness affects balance; an unlevel surface affects balance; having a cold or sinus infection affects balance; having bad knees, ankles, or back affects balance; older age affects balance; high heels affect balance; being overweight affects balance… add some of these conditions with the smell of alcohol on someone's breath and guess what? Someone needs a top Houston DWI lawyer like Jim Medley.
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WHO DESIGNED THE DWI SOBRIETY TESTS?
Police officers designed the Texas DWI sobriety tests. The DWI tests were not designed by doctors, or physical therapists, or toxicologists, but street cops. Almost all of the DWI sobriety tests place the subject in an unbalanced or unnatural position and if the person demonstrates virtually any imperfection in balance, they are thought to be "impaired" by the officers.
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I FOLLOWED THE PEN PERFECTLY … DIDN'T I PASS THE DWI EYE TEST?
The eye test officers give is not a test to see if the pen can be followed. The officer is looking at how the eyes move while following the pen. The person taking the test cannot see the motion the officers look for. The theory behind the test is that most people's eyes will move smoothly unless they have certain drugs or alcohol in their system. Officers are allowed to testify that the eye movements mean alcohol or some other depressant drug is present, and that in their opinion the person is impaired. Strangely enough though, the test does not directly measure impairment in any way. Most Houston DWI lawyers do not understand the pen test.
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BREATH TEST FAQ'S
Do I have to take the DWI breath test?
You cannot be physically forced to take the breath test. The law in Texas provides that if you refuse to give a specimen, your license may be suspended for at least 180 days, even if you beat your Houston DWI case. The refusal may also be admitted as circumstantial evidence that you were intoxicated. A wise Houston DWI attorney can also show how the refusal is evidence of sobriety!
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Should I take the DWI breath test?
If you have had no alcohol to drink, are not diabetic or hypoglycemic, and you do not work around hydrocarbon chemicals, the Texas DWI breath test is very unlikely to harm you. If you have had any amount of alcohol to drink, there is no way to predict what exact number the machine will spit out. Even if the machine says you are under the limit, if you perform poorly on the sobriety tests, the police will often say you have low tolerance and were intoxicated even though you were under the limit. You're going to need a Houston DWI attorney anyway!
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How does the DWI breath test measure how much I had to drink?
That's the trick! It doesn't! The breath test machine does nothing more than measure the absorption of infrared (IR) light at one wavelength. The wavelength of IR light that is measured are known to be wavelengths absorbed by the excitation of single hydrogen-carbon chemical bonds. Any single hydrogen-carbon bond will absorb IR light at those same wavelengths. There are hundreds of chemicals that have those chemical bonds other than alcohol, but the machine will assume they are alcohol. Very few Houston DWI lawyers understand all of the mistakes the Texas DWI breath test can make.
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What are some mistakes the DWI breath test can make?
The Texas DWI breath test machine doesn't necessarily make many "mechanical" mistakes per se. The machine is just programmed to make dozens of assumptions that do not necessarily apply to any individual being tested. These assumptions include:
- Only alcohol coming from the deep lungs is what is measured in the analysis chamber.
- No other chemicals are in the chamber absorbing IR light at the same wavelength as alcohol.
- Every individual will blow into the machine the exact same volume of air.
- Every individual will blow the exact same pressure of air.
- Every individual has the exact same lung volume.
- Every individual has the exact same predictable body temperature.
- Every individual has the exact same alcohol partition ratio between the blood / breath.
- There is no residual alcohol in the machine from prior tests.
- There are no electrical or radio frequency interference issues with the machine.
- The machine is properly calibrated, maintenanced, and cleaned.
- The calculations the machine make on the sample are flawless.
- ANY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION IS MULTIPLIED BY A FACTOR OF ABOUT 2,593. (The machine measures an assumed .081 liters of air, assumes the absorbed IR light is by alcohol, and the result is printed in terms of grams of alcohol per a hypothetical 210 liters of breath- about 55 gallons!)
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Who makes the Texas DWI breath test machine?
The Intoxilyzer 5000 is used in virtually every jurisdiction in Texas. The machine is manufactured in Owensboro, Kentucky by a company called CMI. CMI is very secretive about how the machine "works," and will not reveal on request any information about how the machine comes up with its numbers. CMI will not even guarantee or warranty the Intoxilyzer 5000 to accurately measure alcohol in the breath. Few Houston criminal defense lawyers own their own CMI Intoxylizer 5000 like Jim Medley does.
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I passed the Texas DWI breath test but got arrested for DWI anyway!
Passing the DWI breath test is not a ticket home. If you performed poorly on the DWI field tests, the police can say you were impaired by less than .08 BAC, and you need a Houston DWI attorney ANYWAY. Even if you blow a .0.0 BAC, some officers will just say you must be DWI on some other drug, and they will initiate other ridiculous tests to try to prove you are intoxicated.
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Contact Jim Medley about your Houston DWI today!
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