DWI Second Offense - Texas

[Sw1f7]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I recently was arrested for DWI(Second Offense). I had hit a very low curb triangle(not a curb on the side of road, a small cement curb between where 2 sections of the road merged, it was about 3" high) It blew my front right tire, and I lost control and then proceeded to knock over a Stop Sign.

I promptly pulled over after that in a parking lot, and got out of the Car. I was looking at the front of my Car to check for Damages, and then 2 Cops showed up. It turned out someone called the police and reported what happened. They proceeded to ask me a few questions about where I was going and what I was doing. They did a walk the line test, which I did ok(did sorta stumble once on the way back from the line) but I am overweight, so my balance is not too good. I was then handcuffed and put in the car. The cop did not say anything and then I proceeded to ask on the way to his car "What am I being charged with" all he said was "DWI", then I was put in the Car.

The Officer did not ask me to perform a Breathalyzer test. I know the Walk the Line test can be disqualified because of my weight(at least I have read that is possible).

I plan on fighting this case, but wanted to see if anyone had any input on the situation. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Scribs76]

Yeah i heard the poeple in Texas are real conservative. Call the cops for everything.Lets face it ya cant get away with nothing these days and everyones out to get ya.Must have been a freeadvice user who called .Good Luck!!

 

[Scribs76]

oh forgot to mention i was convicted of a dwi 2nd with no breathilizer,blood or feild sobriety test for evidence against me. They still found a way to convict me because of the cops all mighty testimony. I had a jusry too.They must have just thought i was young and stupid so they thought i was guilty.Poeple thrive on others mishaps.Just the way life is.Once again good luck.

 

[CavemanLawyer]

The NHTSA manual states that if the subject is 65 or older or 50 or more pounds overweight that the one leg stand portion of the test should not be given. Weight does not apply to the walk and turn, at least not in the manual. This may be why they only had you do the walk and turn. Did they really not do the HGN (look into eyes?) If they didn't request a breath or blood test then obviously they don't have that evidence against you and they cannot argue that you refused...but are you sure they didn't request breath? Do you remember having to sign some DIC forms? Did they take your driver's license? If they didn't request breath/blood at all then none of this stuff could have happened.

Just get an attorney and let him/her parse through all of this.

 

[sknc2009]

cavemanlawyer,

can i get the link for the NHTSA manual which states that one leg stand should not be given for 65 above or 50 pounds overweight? I'm fighting a DWI, i failed the one leg stand and i could use this manual to beat that evidence. I appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

[CavemanLawyer]

The NHTSA manual is actually a copyrighted book and is not published online anywhere as far as I know. You have to purchase it and there are plenty of online stores that sell it. Here is one:
Publications

Many defense attorneys have copies or you may be able to find one at a local law library. The manual is updated every couple of years so it is important to use the manual that was in effect at the time the offense was committed.

If you do online searches you will find various excerpts, mostly from the officer/student training manuals as opposed to the official regulation manual.

Here is a sample portion of a training manual. Look on page 105.
http://breathtest.wsp.wa.gov/SupportDocs\DRE_Forms\Manuals\DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Student Manual 2004 Edition.pdf

The procedures in the NHTSA are based on two primary sources, one is recognized standards for officer safety and the other is a multitude of scientific studies on field sobriety tests and their correlation to blood alcohol concentration. Basically, the studies showed that people 65 or older and people 50 lbs or more overweight had trouble with the FSTS even when sober...so the manual essentially states that this must be taken into consideration when scoring the results of the one leg stand. Here is the exact language from the manual...

The original research indicates that certain individuals over 65 years of age, back, leg or middle ear problems, or people who are overweight by 50 or more pounds had difficulty performing this test.