DWI/DUI Criminal Defense
A lifelong conviction
DWI’s in Texas are not only unpopular among most communities, their incredibly high risk for unintentional death of other drivers has made a DWI a crime that is more punitive and costly than almost any other criminal charge that you can acquire within the same penalty group.
Short-term Problems
DWI convictions are both time-consuming and expensive. In terms of expenses, for just the first DWI alone, you’re usually looking at over $6500-9500 in expenses, which does NOT include attorney’s fees or the hours spent doing community service, rehab, or the increased insurance rates you will expect to see. The $9500 estimate includes reinstatement fees, filing fees for petitioning for an occupational license, court costs, fines, crime stoppers payments, DWI education course, community supervision fees, and SR-22 insurance, just to name a few. There is also a $3000 fine for the first conviction, which gets bumped up to $6,000 if your blood, breath, or urine shows an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more.
Long-Term Problems
A DWI conviction never really goes away. Even though, starting on September 1st, 2019, certain DWI 1st’s can be petitioned for an order of non-disclosure, they are always there in the background, ready to be used to enhance any applicable crime or subsequent DWI. In addition, any other stop
A Charge Where you Don’t Want to wait
Although you rarely want to postpone the process when charged with a crime, a DWI is one where specifically timing is critical. The clock starts ticking as soon as the officer gives you the DIC-25 form, giving you a limited amount of time to contest the suspension of your license. Contesting the suspension gives you an opportunity for an ALR hearing, which is an evidentiary goldmine. Even if you expect to lose an ALR hearing, it is an amazing opportunity which gives you a first mini-trial like run at the officer to see what he or she will testify to.
call now to discuss your dwi
Because of the nuances in trying to navigate DWI charges, I will gladly sit down with you and help give you a general overview over the procedures that you will be expecting. You’ll need to anticipate both a potential ALR hearing if properly requested, as well as the criminal proceedings, both of which run independently of each other.