I recieved a DWI, in Texas, what happens now?
blackeye1020 asked:
My Texas DWI Lawyer I hired does not keep me updated. I received a order of suspension from the department of Public safety for three months. My lawyer or his firm never contacted me about anything and my court date is coming up. Is this a formality or has the court already decided on my fate?
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4 Responses to “I recieved a DWI, in Texas, what happens now?”
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November 15th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Time to fire your lawyer and get a better one. He/she may be inundated with DWI cases.
November 18th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
I hate to tell you this, but be prepared to shell out some big bucks.
You will be charged $2000 by the state for the fine, plus the other fines and the suspension of your license.
Add court costs, lawyer fees, and those drinks just got mighty expensive.
If you tell me the county, I may be able to give you more of a break down.
Then, call your lawyer and tell him/her you need to know what’s going on with your case. You are paying them, so they better answer your questions (or you can take them to claims court and appeal to the judge to get their law license suspended).
B-Cool
November 21st, 2010 at 5:40 pm
they empty your bank account and you walk—–not drive, get used to the bus
November 23rd, 2010 at 2:30 am
The biggest factor in your case is wheter or not you blew into the breathalyzer when they took you down. If you didn’t, then your case is a lot easier to fight. If you did and you were over, your only option is to take the best offer they give you. If they offer you probation, you may be able to avoid a license suspension, but they will add SmartStart to your car. What that is is a machine that you have to blow into when you get into your car and if there’s any alcohol in your breath, your car won’t start.
Your other option is to go to jail and pay a fine (mine was 750) which is what I did. A DWI in Texas carries a minumum 3 day sentence (most courts issue 5), but what they don’t tell you is that they count every 12 hours as a day, so it’s really a 2 or 3 day day sentence. The time you sat in jail when they took you down counts toward it as well. So if you went down for 14 hours, you’ve already served two of your 5 days. If you decide to go to jail, you will lose your license. Probably for 6 months if it’s a first offense. And it’s not like you have to go to jail right then. They let you schedule it and here’s the tricky part. On the date you’re scheduled to go in, you go in at 11am. The one hour before noon still counts as a full day.
I know the idea of jail may sound a little bit scary, but it really isn’t that bad if you go in during the week as opposed to the weekend. The only thing you have to remember is only speak when you’re spoken to, do EXACTLY what the guards tell you to, and just treat everyone with the same respect you’d want yourself. If two other inmates get involved in an argument, stay out of it at all costs and move as far away from it as you can. All the horror stories you hear about jail are horror stories from prison where people are serving long sentences. For a short sentence like this, you have nothing to worry about. No one will sexually assault you and if you do what I said, you can avoid a fight.
The only reason I recommend going to jail is because the duration of time is a lot shorter. They offered me 4 more days (48 hours) in jail or 14 months on probation. (I went in at 11am on 1/3 and was released at midnight the next day.) So the time is a lot shorter and there’s no annoying probation officer appointments or drug and alcohol tests to deal with. When you get out of jail, it’s pretty much over. The other thing to consider is, if you take probation and you mess up, you’re just going to end up in jail anyway and for more time than if you just would have gone there in the first place.
The other thing to note is that the State of Texas is going to charge you 3,000 dollars over three years to keep your driver’s license. They’ll offer it to you as a payment plan (I pay 89.17 a month) but it lasts for three years. To me, this is the most annoying part. The money. And trust me, they want a lot of it.
As far as your lawyer not contacting you, if this is your first court appearance for it, they usually don’t. He’ll show up in court and review the facts of the case with you and he has the power to keep pushing your case back futher and futher while you decide how to plead and what to do so don’t let that bother you. He wants his money, so he’ll show up. If he doesn’t just tell the judge that and the judge will ask for the lawyer’s name and number and the lawyer will be in trouble of his own.
A DWI sucks and I hate that you had to join our little club, but I hope this helped.