Driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a serious criminal offense and one of the most commonly prosecuted crimes in Texas. If you are convicted of DWI in Plano, you can face a wide range of serious penalties, and the record of the offense will interfere with your life in various ways for many years. If you have been charged with DWI, you need to call the Collin County DWI lawyers at the Pelley Law Office, L.L.P., at 972-236-5809 to schedule a consultation with our team.
Arrested For DWI? It Is Not Going Away On Its Own.
If you or a family member are arrested for DWI in Texas, it is imperative to know your rights and the value of hiring an experienced DWI lawyer in Dallas and Plano to represent you. Do not assume that you can handle defending yourself on your own or that it is not worth hiring an experienced private criminal defense lawyer to represent you. The right Plano and Dallas DWI attorney can help you reach far better results than you could likely manage without them.
The team at the Pelley Law Office, L.L.P. will respond immediately to your request for legal counsel. We will listen to your story, examine the details of your arrest, and help you develop a viable legal strategy aimed at avoiding conviction if at all possible. We will also verify that the police have handled your arrest and booking appropriately under the laws of due process. Our firm has decades of criminal defense experience and will fully leverage all of our professional resources to fight on your behalf
You have a limited time to secure defense counsel and start building your case. The longer you delay, the more this hurts your case and the more it helps the prosecution, who will be looking for all the evidence they can find to ensure conviction. The sooner you connect with the DWI lawyers in Dallas and Plano at Pelley Law Office, L.L.P., the more time we have to build your defense.
How Police Conduct DWI Arrests in Plano
Police in Texas will conduct an arrest for DWI if they establish probable cause to believe that the driver is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. A police officer must have reasonable suspicion to conduct a traffic stop, such as observing a driver committing a moving violation, driving erratically, or observing them leave an establishment that serves alcohol and get into their vehicle.
Once the police officer has conducted the traffic stop, they will need to establish probable cause in order to conduct a lawful DWI arrest. They may observe open alcohol containers inside of the vehicle, smell alcohol on the driver’s breath, or notice physiological signs of impairment. Some police officers will ask drivers to perform preliminary alcohol screenings, and it is important to understand what this entails.
Texas enforces an implied consent law for DWI testing. This means that once a police officer has established probable cause, the driver has given their implied consent to a chemical test for DWI. This does not apply to preliminary alcohol screenings. A driver has a right to refuse a preliminary alcohol screening, but it is likely they will be arrested anyway, and they will need to consent to a chemical test after their arrest.
A police officer may use a preliminary alcohol screening to confirm the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) and arrest them for DWI, so consenting to a preliminary alcohol screening can essentially give the officer the probable cause they need to arrest you. However, refusing a chemical test after arrest will result in an automatic 180-day driver’s license suspension, and if the driver is later convicted of DWI in court, they face increased penalties due to their refusal of the chemical test.
The legal BAC limit for most drivers in Texas is .08%. Any amount above that will qualify as DWI. Additionally, it is possible for a driver to be charged with DWI if they are under the influence of drugs. Chemical testing is used to confirm DWI with drugs and/or alcohol, and the severity of the driver’s impairment can lead to increased penalties under certain conditions.
What to Do After an Arrest for DWI in Collin County
It is imperative that you immediately hire our D.W.I. defense team. You only have Fifteen (15) days from the date of your arrest to request an ALR hearing, or your license will be suspended and you could then expose yourself to another arrest! One of our Collin County DWI lawyers can provide valuable guidance for this hearing so you can hopefully retain your driver’s license.
Driving While Intoxicated is a serious allegation in Texas. Citizens who are convicted of D.W.I. are severely punished. A citizen accused of a sexual offense or homicide can be placed on deferred adjudication, and after a period of time the case can be dismissed (much like a traffic ticket). In 1994, the Texas legislature statutorily prohibited deferred adjudication in D.W.I. cases. D.W.I. convictions force Defendants to pay the State of Texas a tremendous amount of money. Our D.W.I. defense team has helped many people in your situation avoid those consequences.
Know Your Rights
Before you will be able to contact a DWI lawyer in Dallas and Plano to represent you, you will need to endure the arrest and booking process. This can be traumatic, especially if it is your first arrest, and the actions you take during this process can impact your case severely. It is essential that you know the constitutional rights that come into play in this situation.
The Fifth Amendment protects you from self-incrimination. You are not required to act as a witness against yourself, meaning you do not have to answer any questions from arresting officers, no matter what they might claim to the contrary. You are not required to sign any statements. Simply comply with the officers’ instructions and say nothing except, “I want my lawyer.”
The Sixth Amendment ensures your right to legal counsel when you are charged with any criminal offense, and you also have the right to a speedy trial. Working with an experienced Dallas DWI attorney offers the best chance of avoiding conviction or at least mitigating the penalties that might be assigned to you. As soon as you are able to make your phone calls, you need to reach out to an experienced Collin County DWI lawyer you can trust.