DWI Attorney in The Woodlands Texas - Will my License be Suspended if I am arrested for DWI?

DWI Attorney in The Woodlands Texas - Will my license be suspended if I am arrested for DWI?

When you are arrested for DWI the first thing that happens is often a police officer reading you a form called the DIC-24. They start by saying you are under arrest and that if you refuse to give a specimen of your breath or blood that your license "will be suspended or denied for not less than 180 days." Now this isn't necessarily true if you retain an attorney and request an ALR hearing. The rest of the form outlines that you have 15 days from the date of the refusal or failure of a breath or blood test in order to request the hearing.

So if you consent to a blood test what happens?

If you consent to a blood test then they are going to take your blood at a hospital or by a nurse at the jail. They will typically take two vials of blood in grey top forensic tubes. Once this is complete then the blood samples are sent to a laboratory for testing. This means that at the time of arrest the officer doesn't know if your blood alcohol level is above the legal limit and therefore cannot confiscate your driver's license.

Officers often will confiscate the driver's license anyway, or fail to confiscate it even when there is a failure of a breath test or a refusal and the law allows them to confiscate. It depends more on what the officers original field training officer told them to do when they were a new officer.

This means that if you consented to blood then your driver's license shouldn't be suspended unless the result is reported to DPS as greater than 0.08. So what about the 15 days? The 15 day deadline will be changed to a 20 day deadline after DPS sends you a letter at your current registered address. This is the address that appears on your driver's license. If this address hasn't been updated then you can do so even after being arrested for DWI.

At an ALR hearing your lawyer can subpoena the police officer who arrested you, request discovery, watch the video, cross examine police officers and fight to win your ALR hearing. If you win the ALR hearing then your license will not be suspended because of the refusal or failure. This can help avoid, costly occupational driver's licenses, loss of employment, and other issues related to driving.

Just because you are arrested for a DWI your driver's license doesn't have to be suspended. Even if you believe you are guilty, and even if you refused to give a blood or breath sample. If you've been charged with DWI in the Woodlands Texas, Conroe Texas, or Montgomery County, Texas then call an experienced attorney today for a consultation.

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