Montgomery County Criminal Defense Attorney - New Years Eve Instructions

Montgomery County Criminal Defense Attorney - Brian Foley - Board Certified in Criminal Law.

Every year the record for the most arrests for DWI and other crimes is New Years Eve going into New Years Day. This has been true for Montgomery County certainly since they have been doing what they call "No-Refusal Weekends."

During a No-Refusal Weekend the District Attorney's office spearheads a team of law enforcement officers, nurses, and prosecutors that work together to facilitate the process of obtaining search warrants for blood samples in DWI cases. This takes place at the Montgomery County Jail located in Conroe, Texas.

Since about January of 2022 the Montgomery County Jail has been processing people much more slowly than in the past. I have heard stories of having to stay in jail for 24-72 hours while being processed for a simple misdemeanor offense. If the Judge decides to place an ankle tracking monitor on you as a condition of bond the probation department is involved and can delay things up to 5 days in some cases.

Many of the law enforcement personnel working on this holiday are being paid overtime to do so. Some are part of government grant programs. If the government grant is related to Driving While Intoxicated cases, this means that their entire purpose on the roadways tonight is going to be focused on DWI enforcement. If you have poor balance and smell like alcohol when you are pulled over, expect to be in jail until maybe January 2nd based on the amount of people likely to be arrested.

Nurses too are part of the team and as a former member of this team myself I can say that they generally try very hard to do a good job and draw the blood as quickly and painlessly as they can. Most nurses used in Montgomery County have been at this type of work for many years.

If you find yourself in the position of being pulled over for a traffic violation tonight there is no requirement for you to participate in filed sobriety tests or to discuss where you've come from or where you are going. For that matter if you are pulled over for speeding and the officer asks you how fast you were going you are under no obligation to answer that question either. However, if you refuse to participate at all with an officer investigating for DWI on New Years Eve you are likely to be arrested. If you have already admitted to drinking alcohol the police may try to use your refusal to participate in questioning and field sobriety tests as evidence to arrest you and obtain a blood warrant. Its a very difficult situation to be in. In general if you have had anything to drink you should ask to talk with your lawyer and inform the officer you would be glad to answer his questions or participate after having the chance to speak to your lawyer. The officer is not going to allow this. But its better than just telling him that you're not going to participate at all. And it puts the blame on your lawyer for your lack of participation.

If you are certain that you have had nothing to drink nor had any drugs in your system then I would suggest saying so, refusing the standardized filed sobriety tests, and asking the officer to give you a portable breath test to show you have not had any alcohol. This is really the only test that the officer can do and still decide not to arrest you. If you are being asked for a blood test then the officer has already placed you under arrest. There are no blood test investigation DWIs that do not start with a sever vehicular wreck. In those rare occasions people are transported to the hospital before officers can conduct an investigation and a blood sample obtained by the hospital may be grand jury subpoenaed by the DA's office.

So if you're headed out tonight I suggest taking an Uber or Lyft or other driving service if you are going to have ANYTHING at all to drink. If you have poor balance to begin with it can be against your best interest to perform the standardized field sobriety tests even if you are totally sober. You might not appear that way to the officer performing the tests.

If you or a loved one is arrested for DWI or any other criminal offense call for a free consultation 936-596-0407.

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