DWI

Texas DWI and Intoxication Offense Defense Attorneys | Dotzel Calhoun

Dotzel Calhoun represents individuals accused of DWI and other intoxication-related offenses in Collin County, Dallas County, Tarrant County, Denton County, and throughout North Texas. Our attorneys handle cases ranging from misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated charges to serious felony allegations involving repeat DWI offenses, Intoxication Assault, and Intoxication Manslaughter. Attorneys Justin Dotzel and Luke Calhoun are former Collin County Chief Felony Prosecutors who have handled thousands of criminal cases and nearly 200 jury trials.

DWI cases frequently involve much more than a breath or blood alcohol number. Traffic-stop evidence, body-camera recordings, field sobriety tests, blood warrants, laboratory testing, prescription medications, accident reconstruction, and the circumstances surrounding an arrest can all become important to the defense.

What Is Driving While Intoxicated in Texas?

Texas law generally prohibits operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. A person may be considered “intoxicated” in Texas if he or she does not have the normal use of mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, a controlled substance, a combination of substances, or another substance introduced into the body. A person may also be considered intoxicated if the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater.

Importantly, a DWI prosecution does not always require the State to prove a particular blood-alcohol concentration. Prosecutors may attempt to prove intoxication through observations, driving behavior, field sobriety tests, body-camera footage, statements, and other evidence.

What Is the Punishment for a First DWI in Texas?

A first DWI is generally a Class B misdemeanor, although punishment can increase depending on the circumstances.

For example, a DWI can become a Class A misdemeanor when the State proves an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or greater at the time the analysis was performed.

Other circumstances—including prior DWI convictions, having a child passenger in the vehicle, or causing serious injury or death—can result in substantially more serious charges.

What Is DWI Second?

A person with a qualifying previous DWI conviction may be charged with DWI Second, generally a Class A misdemeanor.

Prior intoxication convictions can affect not only the level of the charge but also potential punishment, bond conditions, ignition-interlock requirements, driver’s-license consequences, and how prosecutors evaluate the case.

When Does DWI Become a Felony in Texas?

Several types of intoxication offenses can result in felony charges.

A third or subsequent DWI is generally a third-degree felony. Driving while intoxicated with a child passenger younger than 15 may be charged as a state jail felony. Cases in which intoxicated driving allegedly causes serious bodily injury or death can result in charges for Intoxication Assault or Intoxication Manslaughter, which carry significantly greater prison exposure.

For someone facing a felony intoxication charge, the case should be treated as a serious felony prosecution rather than simply as an enhanced traffic-related offense.

What Is Intoxication Assault?

A person may be charged with Intoxication Assault when the State alleges that, while operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated, the person caused serious bodily injury to another person because of that intoxication.

Intoxication Assault is ordinarily a third-degree felony, although certain circumstances can increase the punishment.

These cases often involve substantial investigation beyond ordinary DWI evidence. Medical records, crash reconstruction, vehicle data, witness statements, video recordings, toxicology, and questions regarding what actually caused the collision or injury may become central issues.

What Is Intoxication Manslaughter?

Intoxication Manslaughter is one of the most serious intoxication-related offenses under Texas law.
The State generally must prove that the accused operated a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated and, because of that intoxication, caused the death of another person.
Intoxication Manslaughter is generally a second-degree felony, exposing the accused to a substantial prison sentence.

These cases can require detailed analysis of accident reconstruction, toxicology, blood testing, vehicle data, medical evidence, eyewitness accounts, video evidence, and causation.
The mere fact that a driver was allegedly intoxicated and a death occurred does not eliminate the State’s burden to prove the required causal connection between the intoxication and the death.

What Evidence Is Used in a Texas DWI Case?

Common evidence in a DWI investigation can include:

• body-camera and dash-camera recordings;
• driving behavior before the stop;
• statements made by the driver;
• odor of alcohol;
• observations regarding balance, speech, or coordination;
• standardized field sobriety tests;
• breath-test results;
• blood-test results;
• open containers;
• receipts or surveillance video from bars or restaurants;
• phone or location evidence;
• witness testimony; and
• accident or vehicle evidence in collision cases.

An experienced defense attorney should evaluate the entire investigation, rather than simply accepting the conclusion written in the police report.

What Are Standardized Field Sobriety Tests?

Officers investigating DWI frequently use standardized field sobriety tests developed to help evaluate possible impairment. Common tests include the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, the Walk-and-Turn, and the One-Leg Stand.

The way these tests were explained, administered, demonstrated, and performed can matter. Road conditions, footwear, injuries, age, physical limitations, lighting, weather, nervousness, and the officer’s instructions may all affect what appears on a video.

Body-camera evidence often allows a defense attorney to compare an officer’s written description of the tests with what actually happened.

Can Police Get a Blood Sample Without My Consent?

In some circumstances, law enforcement may seek a search warrant for a blood draw after a DWI arrest. The defense may examine the information used to obtain the warrant, the procedures surrounding the blood draw, laboratory testing, chain of custody, and whether the evidence was lawfully obtained.

A laboratory number does not end the analysis. The defense may also examine when the person was driving, when the sample was collected, how the sample was handled, and what conclusions can legitimately be drawn from the test result.

What Is Retrograde Extrapolation?

Blood or breath testing commonly occurs some time after the person was actually driving. Retrograde extrapolation is an attempt to estimate a person’s alcohol concentration at an earlier point in time based on a later test result.

The reliability of such an opinion can depend on information such as when and how much alcohol was consumed, when the person last drank, food consumption, the timing of the blood draw, and assumptions about absorption and elimination.

In an appropriate case, these issues may become important in evaluating what a later blood result actually proves about the accused’s condition while driving.

Can Prescription Drugs Cause a DWI Charge?

Yes. Texas DWI law is not limited to alcohol. A person can potentially be prosecuted when the State alleges that drugs, prescription medication, controlled substances, or combinations of alcohol and drugs caused the loss of normal mental or physical faculties.

The presence of a prescription medication in a blood test does not necessarily resolve whether that medication actually caused intoxication. Dosage, timing, therapeutic levels, other substances, observed behavior, medical history, and expert toxicology may become relevant.

Should I Speak to Police After a DWI Arrest?

A person accused of DWI should be cautious about making statements intended to explain the situation without first understanding how those statements may be used.
Statements about where a person was drinking, how many drinks were consumed, when the last drink occurred, medications taken, or whether the person “felt okay to drive” may later become part of the State’s evidence.

What Defenses Apply to a Texas DWI Charge?

The available defenses depend on the circumstances of the case. Common issues include:

• Lack of Intoxication: The State must prove intoxication beyond a reasonable doubt. Video evidence, witness observations, field sobriety testing, and chemical testing may all be challenged.
• Illegal Traffic Stop: Police generally need a lawful basis to stop or detain a driver. If the initial detention was unlawful, evidence obtained afterward may sometimes be suppressed.
• Problems With Field Sobriety Testing: Improper instructions, poor testing conditions, physical limitations, or differences between an officer’s report and body-camera footage may affect the reliability of the tests.
• Blood or Breath Testing Issues: The collection, handling, testing, and interpretation of chemical evidence may become disputed.
• Timing of Alcohol Consumption: A later chemical test does not necessarily establish the precise alcohol concentration at the time of driving.
• Drug Toxicology Issues: The fact that a medication or drug is present in someone’s system does not necessarily establish that it caused intoxication.
• Identity or Operation: In some cases, particularly accidents or vehicles discovered after driving has stopped, the State may have difficulty proving who actually operated the vehicle.
• Causation: In Intoxication Assault and Intoxication Manslaughter cases, prosecutors must prove the required connection between the alleged intoxication and the injury or death.
• Insufficient Evidence: As in every criminal prosecution, the State bears the burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt.

What Happens to My Driver’s License After a DWI Arrest?

A DWI arrest can create a driver’s-license proceeding separate from the criminal prosecution.
Depending on the circumstances, a person may face an administrative suspension following a breath or blood test failure or a refusal to provide a requested specimen. Deadlines for challenging an administrative suspension can arise quickly.

The driver’s-license case and criminal DWI prosecution are related but distinct proceedings, and the outcome of one does not necessarily determine the outcome of the other.

Can a DWI Case Be Dismissed or Reduced?

Yes, depending on the evidence. A defense attorney may identify problems involving the traffic stop, field sobriety testing, chemical evidence, witness testimony, body-camera footage, or other aspects of the State’s case. Those issues can sometimes lead to dismissal, reduction, favorable plea negotiations, or an acquittal at trial.

No particular result can be guaranteed, and every case depends on its own evidence.

What Should Someone Do After Being Arrested for DWI?

A person accused of DWI should preserve any evidence that may become important to the case.
That can include receipts, photographs, text messages, rideshare information, location history, medical information, names of people who observed the person before or after driving, and information concerning where and when alcohol was consumed.

In collision cases, video recordings and other evidence can disappear quickly.

Because driver’s-license deadlines may also begin shortly after arrest, contacting a criminal defense attorney early can help preserve available options and evidence.

Our Experience Defending DWI and Intoxication Cases

Justin Dotzel and Luke Calhoun are former Collin County Chief Felony Prosecutors who have handled thousands of criminal cases and nearly 200 jury trials. And years before being promoted to Collin County Chief Felony Prosecutors, each founding partner was a Chief Misdemeanor prosecutor, meaning they supervised county court prosecutors, primarily on DWI case work. That experience enables the attorneys to analyze the evidence in these cases through the lens of the State, which can further bolster a strong defense strategy.

Dotzel Calhoun represents individuals accused of misdemeanor and felony intoxication offenses in Collin County, Dallas County, and throughout North Texas, including DWI, felony DWI, Intoxication Assault, and Intoxication Manslaughter.

Our attorneys evaluate traffic stops, video evidence, field sobriety testing, blood and breath evidence, toxicology, accident evidence, and the other circumstances that determine whether the State can prove its case.

CASE RESULT:

Not Guilty from Jury on DWI Offense

Luke Calhoun of Dotzel Calhoun represented a woman in a North Texas suburb who was charged with DWI. The case proceeded to jury trial and the jury returned a Not Guilty verdict. As discussed above, not only alcohol, but drugs can be the intoxicant that the State leans on to secure a guilty verdict. In this case, the intoxicant in question was marijuana, and evidence at trial showed that the client was smoking marijuana while driving. The State claimed that she performed poorly on the standardized field sobriety tests. Defense arguments at trial included poor administration of the standardized field sobriety tests as well as issues with the absorption/elimination rate of marijuana.

How Can a Texas DWI Defense Attorney Help?

An experienced DWI attorney can:

• Review body-camera and dash-camera recordings
• Challenge unlawful traffic stops or detentions
• Analyze standardized field sobriety tests
• Review breath and blood evidence
• Examine search warrants and blood-draw procedures
• Work with toxicology or accident-reconstruction experts when appropriate
• Investigate prescription-drug or controlled-substance allegations
• Challenge causation in Intoxication Assault and Manslaughter cases
• Address driver’s-license consequences
• Negotiate for dismissal or reduction when supported by the evidence
• Defend the accused before a jury when necessary

Contact Dotzel Calhoun

Dotzel Calhoun represents clients accused of DWI, Felony DWI, Intoxication Assault, Intoxication Manslaughter, and other intoxication offenses in Collin County, Dallas County, and throughout North Texas.

Contact Dotzel Calhoun at (972) 372-9383, or info@dotzelcalhoun.com for a confidential consultation and case evaluation.

Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in a future case. Every case depends on its own facts and circumstances