• 3rd Degree Felony

• 2 – 10 years Texas Department of Criminal Justice

• Up to a $10,000 fine

• Driver’s License Suspension up to 180 days to 2 years

• Annual fee of $1,000, $1500, or $2,000 for 3 years to maintain driver’s license

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If you have a prior DWI or a BAC of .15 or greater, you will be required to install an interlock ignition device and requires you to breathe into it to your detect blood alcohol concentration (BAC); if the device detects your BAC levels to be above the programmed limit, your car will not start.

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Undecided about hiring DWI Lawyer for your case in Texas?

If you are undecided about fighting your DWI case, I have found that people have a misconception about the cost of their DWI.  Pleading guilty is usually not going to save you money over the cost of hiring an attorney to fight the charge.  There are numerous costs associated with a DWI charge. These costs could easily total $5000 or more for just pleading guilty.  This cost does not even include attorney fees. Costs associated with a DWI conviction:

1. $100-$200 towing fee to get your car out of impound

2. Community service work hours while on probation

3. Probation fees of at least $50 per month while on probation

4. $125 license reinstatement fee

5. Fee for taking alcohol education classes

6. $1000-$2000 DWI surcharge per year for 3 years

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Scientific Reasons to fight your DWI Case

1. The breathalyzer machine assumes that everyone has the same metabolism, the same blood breath partition ratio and breath temperature.  The machine is based on human averages. It is not based on a person's specific metabolism and breath temperature. 

2. Texas DWI Law does not allow any way to retest samples given by you.  

3. The breathalyzer machine software is not available for scientific peer review.  This means no one outside of the company or law enforcement can test it for accuracy.

4. There are many things which have been shown to affect a breath test score. 

5. Texas does not allow for non-law enforcement or government personnel to become certified as breath test technical operators. 

6. Much of the Texas breath program remains limited to outsiders despite a generally assumed belief that these machines have undergone and passed wide general scientific review.