DUI Case - No Plea?

[ToriAmos714]

Texas:

If a person is a 3rd time DUI offender (recently obtained their 3rd) and come time to appear in court, the offender has "No Plea" and the records report "Passed". There is an up-coming court date to revisit this case.

So far, it says the offender has passed 3 times. Is this a tactic used to get out of trouble?

edit: Offender did not agree to breathalyzer and no blood was drawn.

Any information helps.



Thank you!

[CavemanLawyer]

It sounds like the case has just been reset several times. Its normal, very few felonies get worked out on the first or second court setting.

[ToriAmos714]

I know it's pretty far fetched for me to ask since there are only few details provided about the whole issue, but is it likely the offender will receive jail time over this?

The way I see it is that the court will see this person as a repeat offender and take the 3rd instance in a more serious way. I don't know anything about DUI/DWI, so that's just my thought.

[garrula lingua]

Caveman knows Tx law better than I, but I believe that's a third degree felony, with a punishment range of two to ten years with a possible $10,000 fine.

Some Judges are hyper about repeat DUIs.
However, in Tx., the defendant may decide to let the jury decide the sentence... who knows what the jury will decide ?

[CavemanLawyer]

Jail time on a Felony DWI (3rd or more) is definitely likely. The range is indeed 2 yrs to 10 years in prison but if they have not been previously convicted of a felony they are still eligible for probation. There is a minimum of 10 days in county jail if they get probation however. Many MANY judges are highly opposed to offering probation since by the third time, the defendant has almost always been on probation once or twice before on their previous DWIs. Many jurors feel the same way, but if they say they cannot still consider probation than they must be struck. As garrula linqua said, the Defendant has the absolute right to let the jury decide both their guilt/innocence as well as their punishment if convicted.

The truth though is that everything ultimately comes down to the strength of the case and felony DWI's tend to either be very good cases or very bad cases. By the time the person gets to their third DWI they know the drill and know to refuse the breath/blood test and often the field sobriety tests. The State is then usually left with very little evidence of intoxication unless the defendant is sooo intoxicated that its obvious just from the video, or there is a wreck involving injury and the blood draw was forced. It is not at all uncommon for weak felony DWIs to be reduced to misdemeanor DWIs and the defendant put back on probation, usually with some jail time as a condition.