Results: Driving While Intoxicated (DWI)
These summaries do not guarantee results in any future case. The outcome of any individual criminal case depends on the facts and the law in that case.
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client was speeding when he was pulled over. The officers asked him to walk over to a parking lot where the slope was very noticeable to perform his walk and turn test. Also, it had been raining and was slippery. Video was grainy and out of focus during the horizontal gaze nystagmus (or "pen" test), but it appeared the officer had his pen too close to client's face. Officer said client could not remain in the instructions position but the video showed otherwise. Client passed the One Leg Stand test with flying colors though officer said he swayed and used his arms for balance. Result: case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client was pulled over for speeding and admitted to drinking 4-5 beers. This was a classic case of officer ignorance and arrogance. Specifically, the trooper when demonstrating the turn on the "walk and turn" test, demonstrated the turn wrong. If done correctly, the trooper would have left his lead (left) foot in place and then turned to his left by using his back foot to move around. Instead, the trooper turned to his right. Then (ironically) the trooper claimed my client did the turn wrong, having assumed that he had demonstrated the turn correctly. Result: case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. AA1st was arrested on graduation night at the University of Texas. He was there to help his girlfriend celebrate her graduation. Here is what happened from the police video. The video started at some completely irrelevant location. We can see the officer drive towards the south mall of the UT campus. When the police car first rolls up, it is impossible to tell where anyone is. It isn't that it is crowded. The problem is that the officer hasn't yet gotten close to the few people who are there. Eventually he drives his patrol unit forward and we can see that another officer had just finished administering the first of the three Standardized Field Sobriety Tests ("SFSTs"). So we really have no idea how well the test was administered. Even when the Walk And Turn test is done the video is of poor quality. We can hear neither what the officer said nor what my client said. We can only clearly see how my client performs on the test, not how it is explained to him. And if my client was instructed incorrectly, and then performs as he was instructed, it would not be fair for him to be penalized. Finally, when it comes to the One Leg Stand, we see that my client did okay. This case was set for trial and was on the jury docket on many settings. But when my client's case was finally reached, the State finally offered something that my client felt he could not turn down, and the State dismissed the DWI charge. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client was clocked at 75 MPH in a 55 MPH zone on I-35. Client's vehicle drifted from the left lane into the middle lane, then straddled both lanes. Police officer watched client's vehicle swerve into the right hand lane, which was occupied, and watched the vehicle that already occupied the right hand lane swerve to avoid collision. Officer pulled client over and gave him field sobriety tests. Client failed all three. Client agreed to blow, and the result was .115 both times. Result: case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client had 2-3 whiskey and cokes, then was trying to drive friends back home when was pulled over. Officer interfered with the client as he performed the Field Sobriety Tests. Case nearly went to trial, but State decided not to try the case, and instead to offer a non-alcohol related charge. Result: DWI charge dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client drove back to Austin from attending out of town funeral of family friend. Client was very upset, crying, and had a drink before leaving funeral. When pulled over, client was speeding. Police officers had client perform the "walk the line" test on large speed hump, so that client had to walk both uphill and downhill during the test. Result: case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. This is a good example example of medical conditions that existed before the arrest having affected the validity of the officer's opinion that my client was intoxicated. The police originally noticed my client because he had parked on a median of a freeway on-ramp. My client had parked there because his car had become inoperable. My client told the officer that he was on several heart medications. After the arrest, my client's doctor fine-tuned his prescription of heart medications, reducing the dosage of one medication and eliminating the other completely because the combination of drugs was causing my client to become dizzy and lose his balance. Also, my client's doctor really stepped up, took responsibility, and wrote in his letter to me that he had orally instructed my client that he could consume alcohol in moderate amounts, even when taking the medications. Result: DWI Case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. This case was an old-fashioned battle about how well the police officer administered the field sobriety tests. As for the pen test, the officer held the pen way too high and moved it more diagonally than horizontally and she held the pen too close to my client's face, when she should have held it 12-15" away from his face. The walk and turn test was a closer call, mostly because of the officer's somewhat aggressive grading. The one leg stand test was interesting, because the officer allowed my client to start the test and then (as officers often will) tried to make a secret, quiet comment to herself on the audio of the tape that she saw my client's foot go down. The problem was: her comment was neither secret nor quiet. It sounded like a command, not a "note to self." So my client, in obedience to the command he heard, put his foot down. This was all good grist for the negotiation that led to my client's DWI case being dismissed. Result: DWI Case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. This is a good example of using legitimate medical problems that existed before the arrest. This client had extensive nerve damage, which we documented with many medical records. The fact of the matter was that he could not have performed the field sobriety tests stone cold sober because of his medical condition. We proved that and got the right result. Result: DWI Case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. This is another good example of using legitimate medical problems that existed before the arrest. Before his arrest, this client had surgery on his pelvis, and had on-going pain. He told the police officer about all of that, but they still wanted him to do the walk and turn and the one leg stand tests. Result: DWI Case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. This is yet another good example of using legitimate medical problems that existed before the arrest. This client had had eye surgery which had not gone well and had knee surgery. The eye surgery, of course, affected his ability to perform on the "pen" test and the bad knee affected his ability to perform on the walk and turn and on the one leg stand tests. Result: DWI Case Dismissed.Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client had driven his vehicle west bound on 6th Street across Lamar and was pulled over for speeding. Client was an Iraq war veteran, who had been wounded in the legs by shrapnel from enemy mortar rounds. Police officer questioned client in rapid fire fashion about his health, among other things. In answer to one of the rapid fire questions, client said "no, sir," in answer to whether he had any health problems. Then the field sobriety tests began. When it came time for the "walk the line" part of the tests, client brought up that he had been wounded in legs and suffered nerve damage. Officer behaved as if client were making up a story about being wounded in the legs in combat, even though client was wearing shorts and wounds were visible. Result: Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated.My client went with some friends to a club on 6th Street to see a band. Client's plan was to drive down in his car, see the show, have a few drinks, and then get a ride back home with his designated driver. At some point during the show, client decided he'd had way too much to drink, so he walked outside to get some air. It was warm out, so client went to get in his vehicle to turn on the air conditioning. Witnesses said that before client made it to his vehicle, he vomited. Then client got in, turned the engine on, turned the air conditioning on, and passed out. The police arrived. The first thing client said was "I'm way too drunk to drive." Police asked client to perform field sobriety tests. Client said he was too drunk to do that, too. Police asked client to blow. He did, and his result was approximately .161. Case was set for jury trial, the whole issue being whether client had "operated" a motor vehicle. Result: Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated.The DWI Task Force officer said that my client showed 6 clues out of a possible 6 on the pen test. But even the officer admitted that my client did not make a single mistake on the Walk and Turn test. The officer contended that my client failed the One Leg Stand test. Case was set for jury trial. Result: Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated.Client was pulled over for speeding early in the morning in a neighborhood. Field sobriety tests were administered. Client did well on the Walk and Turn test, but swayed and used his arms for balance on the One Leg Stand test. During the ALR hearing, the officer admitted that he had incorrectly administered the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test. (My client kept his license. See below.) I showed the prosecutor that my client's performance during the One Leg Stand test was due to a pre-existing medical condition. Result: Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client was pulled over for speeding while driving northbound on I-35, after taking the flyover exit to US 183 northbound. The officer elected to have client perform the Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) at the highest part of the flyover, on a windy day, with cars whizzing by at freeway speeds. Officer repeatedly interrupted client during the client's performance of the FSTs when he should have just stood back and observed. Result: DWI Case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Client collided with another vehicle in downtown Austin. Client admitted to having some strong drinks before driving. Police officer administered field sobriety tests, then said my client failed. If you look closely at the Dismissal Form, you'll see an "x" next to a sentence that says "The case has been refiled." That means that the case was reduced from a DWI case to a non-alcohol related charge my client was willing to plead "no contest" to. Result: DWI case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. Class A Misdemeanor. Client was pulled over for speeding. Police officer administered Field Sobriety Tests, then said my client failed. Police arrested client, then searched him and found a controlled substance in his pocket. If you look closely at the Dismissal Form, you'll see an "x" next to a sentence that says "The case has been refiled." That means that the case was reduced from a DWI case to a non-alcohol related charge my client was willing to plead guilty to. Result: DWI case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. The prosecutor's case was weak and I showed them that. They offered to dismiss the DWI if my client would plead to a "reckless driving" charge. My client felt he could not turn down their offer. Result: case dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. The Administrative License Revocation hearing went well for my client because the Administrative Law Judge decided that the Department of Public Safety had tried to push past the boundaries of the hearsay rule. Here's how it went down. Some unknown person called 911 and said my client had failed to pay for a drink and that he "didn't look right." The unknown 911 operator dispatched an officer to the scene. The officer who arrived and found my client behind the wheel trying to start the engine did not show up to testify. The officer who did testify could not say of his own personal observation that my client was operating, or even attempting to operate a motor vehicle. So, if there was no proof of driving, then there was no proof of driving while intoxicated. Result: Client kept his driver's license. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated. The University of Texas Police Department pulled my client over for running a stop sign, smelled alcohol on my client's breath, and had him get out of his car to perform Field Sobriety Tests. The second UTPD officer who arrived arranged his car and his camera so far back that my client and the officer who gave the Field Sobriety Test could barely be seen. My client didn't blow and the UTPD video was basically worthless. Result: Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. |
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Driving While Intoxicated -- License Revocation Hearing. My client was pulled over for allegedly speeding in a residential neighborhood. The officer who administered Field Sobriety Tests admitted under my cross-examination that he administered the tests, including the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (sometimes called the "pen" test) incorrectly. After you click on the images next to this, you can roll your arrow over the image, and an icon comes up to make the image bigger. Click on that and you can read the order for yourself. Result: License revocation case Dismissed. Click here to see enlarged image. (Part 1) Click here to see enlarged image. (Part 2) |
