Legal rights seek to protect the freedom of all citizens from police misconduct and infringement. Most people know about these rights from TV shows, including the entitlement to legal representation and remaining silent. Understanding and exercising the rights can significantly affect the case outcome. Law enforcement should play by the rules and ensure driving while intoxicated defendants understand their rights. Contact skilled lawyers who are ready to stand with you throughout the legal process and can work to ensure you receive the justice you deserve.

What is DWI in Texas

The acronym stands for driving while intoxicated.

Texas Penal Code 49.04 defines intoxication as operating a car when not having the normal use of mental and physical abilities due to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both. It also means having a blood alcohol concentration that exceeds 0.08%.

Even if the blood alcohol concentration is not at the lawful level, you can be intoxicated if your physical and mental capabilities are impaired. Police determine impairment through field sobriety tests and chemical tests.

Here is why a police officer can pull you over:

  • failing to remain within your lane
  • failing yield at an intersection, stop signs, and traffic light
  • speeding
  • aggressive driving

Generally, the officer will start a conversation at the traffic stop to check your ability to hold a conversation or maintain eye contact. The law enforcer will be looking for symptoms such as:

  • Alcoholic odor
  • Bloody eyes
  • Slurred speech
  • Occasional remarks by the driver that they have been in a party or bar

Right to Refuse to Submit to Field Sobriety Tests

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has endorsed the following field sobriety tests that a police officer can request you to conduct to determine the impairment level:

  • One-leg stand
  • Walk-and-turn
  • Horizontal gaze nystagmus

A suspect is not lawfully obligated to take these tests, irrespective of the number of times the officer asks them. These tests are the police's investigative aid. However, that cannot stop the police from arresting the drunk driver if the police believe there is probable cause that the motorist was driving while intoxicated.

While a defendant can say that they refuse to submit to a breath test when requested to take a breath test or breathalyzer, the truth is that refusing to take the test can result in severe legal repercussions. Your auto insurance rates can significantly increase, and the Texas Department of Public Safety revokes your driver's license. Implied consent law requires you to take the chemical test if an officer asks you as a condition when acquiring a driver's license. Also, if your DWI case proceeds to a court trial, the prosecution is permitted to tell the court that you refused to submit to the chemical test.

Nevertheless, the law changes as far as blood tests are concerned, and a defendant can lawfully refuse to take a blood test. In 2016, the United States Supreme Court decided Birchfield v. North Dakota (a criminal case that led to states being instructed not to criminalize a person's refusal to take the chemical test, absent a warrant, as a normal DWI arrest incident). The only exemption is in an urgent circumstance where proof can be absent, and a subject cannot consent to perform the test. A perfect example is unconsciousness at the accident scene.

Right to Legal Representation

A defendant has the right to legal counsel under the 6th Amendment to the United States Constitution. In other words, they are entitled to a skilled legal counsel. If they cannot afford to retain a legal expert, the court will appoint one to handle their DWI case at no cost.

Since you cannot place a price tag on your freedom, the role of a lawyer is imperative in each criminal case, especially for defendants with the probability of incarceration.

While obligations of a lawyer vary depending mainly on the charge's facts and nature, the primary duties of any legal expert include the following:

  • Ensuring you understand the constitutional rights
  • Explaining what to anticipate at different phases of the criminal process
  • Ensuring your legal rights are not broken in court proceedings or via police misconduct
  • Participating in plea bargain negotiation with the prosecution team on your behalf
  • Investigating case evidence and circumstances
  • Objecting to inappropriate proof and questions
  • Cross-examining government witnesses
  • Presenting the most effective legal defenses

Right to Adequate Representation

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that both who have hired private criminal defense lawyers and those represented by public defendants have a right to adequate legal representation. It means having an attorney who does a reasonably good job protecting the defendant's rights. The accused has a right to adequate representation during plea bargain negotiation and trial.

Inadequate legal representation can have significant consequences in your criminal proceeding. If the representation is inadequate, it can justify the court throwing out a guilty verdict. It can require the criminal case to be retried.

Typical examples of inadequate representation include:

  • Failing to cross-examine witnesses
  • Failing to collect additional evidence
  • Failing to file appeals on time
  • Failing to investigate the criminal charges as required
  • Failing to recognize conflict of interest
  • Failing to go against destructive statements/arguments, or evidence

If your previous lawyer was incompetent and you cannot afford to hire another lawyer, the court will appoint a public defender. While you can represent yourself, you should engage a qualified DWI defense lawyer.

Right Against Illegal Search and Seizure

The 4th Amendment offers citizens protection against illegal search and seizure. Also, it extends to interaction with law enforcers, including all traffic stops. Police officers cannot pull you over and question you at any time. Instead, they should have reasons to believe that you broke the law. The prosecution team cannot use any evidence obtained through an illegal search and seizure against you in any court proceeding.

In Fort Worth, the police should have reasonable suspicion that you have violated the law before pulling you over. Reasonable suspicion does not require the police to have confirmable evidence that you have violated the law. Additionally, the officers cannot depend on a hunch or gut feeling. Instead, they should articulate specific and valid reasons for stopping you. The reason can be deemed with association to relevant circumstances.

A police officer can prove reasonable suspicion if they:

  • Saw you breaking the law
  • Saw you walking out of a bar before starting to drive
  • Witnessed specific conduct that is suspicious

After stopping you, the police officers will evaluate the following factors to determine whether you are drunk:

  • Inability to engage in a conversation and maintain eye contact
  • Fatigue
  • Failed FSTs
  • Alcoholic odor
  • Slurred speech

Vehicle Search During a DWI Stop

Whether the police can search your motor vehicle after stopping you on DWI suspicion depends primarily on what occurred during your stop. Typically, a police officer cannot search your car after the traffic stop unless:

  • You consent to their search — The consent should be based on your willingness and decision to adhere to the police's request. Any consent acquired through force or coercion will be invalid.
  • You are arrested — An DWI arrest allows police to search the motor vehicle. The police can use any proof found during the search to strengthen the charges against you.
  • There exists probable cause to conduct a warrantless search — Police officers can search if there is probable cause to be convinced that you broke or will violate the law. It could be visible bottles in the car's passenger compartment, drug paraphernalia around and in the passengers, or an alcoholic odor emitting from your car.
  • The police can also search you if they think it is essential for their safety — Typically, this only applies when police can prove there were exigent circumstances that make searching paramount to prevent the risk. For instance, it can be a shiny metallic object beneath the car seat that they suspect is a weapon.

Miranda Rights

Miranda rights stem from protections offered by the fifth and sixth Amendments, where a law enforcer ought to advise an individual of their rights before interrogating them.

Moreover, Texas has codified the entitlement to remain silent into state statutes. According to Articles 38.21 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, a defendant's statements can be used as evidence against them if they appear that the defendant voluntarily and freely made them without persuasion or compulsion. On the other hand, Article 38.22 states that the prosecutor cannot use the defendant's written statements against them unless the interrogating law enforcer reads the defendant their legal rights and chooses to waive them. The legal rights in Article 38.22 include:

  • You are entitled to remain silent.
  • The prosecution can use your statements as proof against you at trial.
  • You are entitled to have an attorney present to guide you before and during interrogation.
  • If you cannot afford a lawyer, you are entitled to a public defender appointed by the government to represent you.
  • You are entitled to terminate your interrogation at any time.

Whether a law enforcer should read you these rights depends on whether you are detained or not. If the defendant is not in police custody and voluntarily provides information, the police do not have to read the rights to use the information against them. The police strategy is called voluntary assistance. Unknowingly if you believe that you are cooperating with law enforcement, you could be putting yourself in legal trouble.

A police officer should only read you the Miranda warning once they start interrogations. Generally, the questions asked are identical to those during driving while intoxicated investigations. For instance, the officer can enquire whether the drunk motorist has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs and, if yes, the quantity.

Remember, the officer can lawfully ask these questions without Miranda warnings during the investigation. However, a warning is needed after you are detained before any interrogation.

It is not a must that you speak with the police, but it is advisable to provide your basic information. Instead, ask for your lawyer. Asking for a defense lawyer means the interrogation cannot resume unless your lawyer is present.

What Transpires If Your Miranda Rights are Violated?

Some of the ways the police can violate the Miranda rights include:

  • The law enforcement did not read any warning
  • The police failed to read you the rights before starting the interrogations
  • The officer continued questioning you after you invoked your entitlement to remain silent
  • The law enforcer coerced or threatened you to induce you to waive your rights
  • The law enforcer questioned you after you requested a criminal defense attorney

If the police broke your rights in any manner, your defense attorney should file a motion to suppress the proof. If the court grants the motion, the judge will exclude from evidence every statement you make after the officers violated the rights.

Please note that a violation does not always mean the criminal charge will be dropped or dismissed. Moreover, it does not mean that your statements will be excluded. The prosecution will suppress only statements made during interrogation when the police violated your rights. The prosecutor can still add into evidence statements made:

  • During the DWI investigation
  • Not regarding your interrogation
  • After you intentionally and meaningfully waived your Miranda rights

You Have a Right to Leave If You Are Not Detained

If you have not been detained and not arrested, you are free to leave. If you ask the police whether you should go, and they reply, you can leave silently and calmly, irrespective of the questions the police are asking you. Please do not run away from them.

If the officers say you are not free to go and it is later discovered that they did not have probable cause to detain you, they will face legal consequences. Your criminal defense lawyer can ensure that you are treated legally and fairly. If law enforcers broke your rights, the odds are the prosecutor would drop the charges against you.

Right Not to Be Placed in Double Jeopardy

According to the 5th Amendment, no person should be tried for the same crime to be twice out in jeopardy of limb or life. The double jeopardy clause protects accused persons from being put on trial at least once for the same offense.

You are Entitled to a Speedy Trial

A speedy trial means the court should try you for your DWI charges within a reasonable timeframe following your arrest. Your trial should begin within 70 days from:

  • the date your charges were filed, or
  • when you appear before an officer of the court in which your charges are pending,

whichever is later.

However, whether your trial is speedy enough per the 6th Amendment amounts to the reasons for delays and case circumstances.

Typically, when the court determines that the delay between your arrest and trial was prejudicial and unreasonable, the court will dismiss your charges.

The United States Constitution does not elaborate on a speedy trial when determining whether your trial happened soon enough. Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court outlines factors to consider when deciding whether the trial was speedy. They include:

  • Reason for trial delay
  • Duration of delay
  • Prejudice to the accused
  • Accused assertion of their rights

Statutory Right to a Speedy Trial

Statutory rights are different from constitutional rights. You can argue that the government broke your constitutional entitlement to a speedy trial even when the case goes to trial within the statutory time limit. If you want to assert your entitlement to a speedy trial, you should:

  • Demand a speedy trial
  • Object to continuances beyond statutory time limits for trial
  • Bring a speedy trial motion when the court or prosecutor delays your trial

Given the short duration that your case should go to trial, it is in your best interests to waive your entitlement to a speedy trial. It allows you to find relevant evidence or witnesses and build your case.

Right to a Public Trial

The 6th Amendment guarantees public trial in every criminal case where family, friends, the press, and ordinary citizens are present.

Some of the benefits of conducting the legal proceedings in public include:

  • Ensuring a just and fair trial — A public trial permits public members to see if the justice system functions appropriately and treats you fairly.
  • Holds the Texas criminal justice system responsible
  • Encourages witnesses to come forward
  • Discourages perjury

Contact a Knowledgeable Fort Worth DWI Defense Lawyer

If detained for driving while intoxicated (DWI), you should understand that you have constitutional rights. Exercising these legal rights can have positive effects, especially regarding your criminal charges and the possible case results. Each DWI case is unique. The experienced attorneys at Fort Worth DWI Defense Lawyer are dedicated to protecting your constitutional rights and realizing the most favorable case results for you. We can offer legal representation and advice on your legal rights and responsibilities before and after the arrest. If law enforcers and the prosecution violated your rights, we could work aggressively to ensure the criminal charges are reduced or even dropped. To schedule your free initial consultation, contact us at 817-470-2128.