In Texas, a drinking and driving charge is serious enough on its own. Then there are the add-ons and related charges that can make the penalties you face even stronger. Without adequate legal defense, you could face huge fines, the loss of your driver’s license, and even jail time — even if you did not drive drunk.
Aggravated and related DWI charged
Besides standard DWI charges, there are:
- DWI with a blood-alcohol level (BAL) above .15. Texas’ BAL limit for driving is .08. A driver caught with a BAL above .15 is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a jail sentence of up to one year — much higher than the punishment for a standard first-offense DWI.
- DWI with a child passenger. If a person suspected of drinking and driving has a passenger under age 15, it is a state jail felony, which means you could be sentenced to between 180 days and two years and fined up to $10,000.
- Declining to take a sobriety test. If a police officer asks you to take a breathalyzer, field sobriety test or another sobriety test, your license will be suspended automatically 180 days if it is the first time you have done so. A second refusal leads to a two-year suspension.
Every day, Texas State Troopers and local police aggressively pursue DWI charges against the public. Aggravating factors like the ones we listed above can further complicate your case. Before you plead guilty just to make the charges “go away,” speak with an experienced criminal defense lawyer. There may be weaknesses in the prosecution’s case that can get the charges against you reduced or dropped altogether.
