Author Archives: Eric Benavides
Mandatory Blood Draws
I have mentioned before that you are allowed to (and should!) refuse a breath test if you are arrested for suspicion of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). At point you think, “Great, I followed the no blow rule and now I just need a good Houston DWI Attorney.” I have mentioned before that you are allowed to (and should!) refuse a breath test if you are arrested for suspicion of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). At point you think, “Great, I followed the no blow rule and now I just need a good Houston DWI Attorney.” Unfortunately, in many counties (including Harris) certain weekends are considered non-refusal weekend. If this happens then law enforcement will get a magistrate to sign a search warrant for your person after you refuse a breath test. They will use this search warrant to draw blood from you and use against you in the prosecution of your case.
Harris county does this much more than surrounding counties as money has been granted to the county to have non-refusal weekend every weekend for a period of three years. This recently started, so this should continue for the foreseeable future.
But don’t worry, a blood test is not an automatic conviction! Get yourself a DWI Lawyer in Houston that can identify the issues and help you work through your DWI. These particular types of cases tend to drag on more than others. The main reason is they usually ship the blood to labs outside of Houston to be evaluated. It is not uncommon to have a case where you are almost near the point of having to set the case for trial simply because the blood results have not come back.
A good Houston DWI Attorney can work with you and the state to fairly evaluate the entire case and come up with an adequate resolution or prepare for trial. Even if you know that there might be blood drawn, it is still in your best interest to refuse a breath test because there have been situations where people either slip through the cracks or the agency is just too lazy to get a search warrant. Again, don’t give the state any free evidence…make them take it.
Should You Take A Breath Test?
A question I get asked all too often as a Houston DWI Attorney is “should I take a breath test if I am stopped and have been drinking”. The simple answer is, no!A question I get asked all too often as a Houston DWI Attorney is “should I take a breath test if I am stopped and have been drinking”. The simple answer is, no!
Giving a breath test in a DWI case is essentially giving the officer, and the district attorney’s office more evidence to use against you if you happen to fail the test. If you do not think you are going to pass, then there is no reason to take the test at all. I am confident that any DWI Lawyer in Houston would give you the same advice.
Many people are asked to do sobriety tests, and even if they do wonderful the officers still “take them down to jail for further evaluation”. So basically, you do everything that the officer asks you to do and all is gets you is arrested! Why would you continue to cooperate with law enforcement when you are only seeing negative results? It does not make any sense.
On top of that, your case is much more likely to get dismissed if you do not take the breath test (assuming you do not get blood drawn). The district attorney’s office is usually very reluctant to dismiss a case if there is a breath test above .08 (but will dismiss cases time to time). If you do not take the test, and do good on the standard field sobriety tests (or refuse those too!), there is much less evidence for a prosecutor to use against you. They feel much better letting cases like this go as opposed to cases where some machine is telling them (and potentially jurors) that you were drunk on the night in question.
So to sum it all up, unless you have had absolutely nothing to drink just do not take a breath test! You put yourself, and your Houston DWI Attorney, in a much better situation if you just refuse!
In Person Consultations
Finding a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney is not hard. Chances are, if you need one, you are going to be contacted by many. What is tough is finding a Criminal Lawyer in Houston that you can trust. I have been a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney since the first day I was licensed in the State of Texas. In my blog I hope to have an avenue to share my thoughts, and hopefully give advice to those needing the assistance of a good criminal lawyer in Houston.Finding a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney is not hard. Chances are, if you need one, you are going to be contacted by many. What is tough is finding a Criminal Lawyer in Houston that you can trust. I have been a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney since the first day I was licensed in the State of Texas. In my blog I hope to have an avenue to share my thoughts, and hopefully give advice to those needing the assistance of a good criminal lawyer in Houston.
The first thing I advise anyone who asks me about hiring an attorney is to make sure you personally meet with every attorney that you are interested in hiring. All too often (my law firm being no exception), individuals just hire an attorney over the phone. I just think it makes more sense to go in and have a face to face consultation. Most consultations are free, so there is little excuse for not making time for such an important decision. There are three main reasons I believe consultations are better in person:
- You have the opportunity to see the person who is going to represent you. The last thing you want is to walk into court not knowing who the heck your lawyer is. Meeting an attorney in person prevents the awkward moment in court where your lawyer has to say your name because he has no clue what you look like. You also might not want to hire an attorney if he doesn’t present himself professionally. Meeting him before will give you an idea of how the person carries himself from one day to the next.
- You get to see the environment where your attorney works daily. A lawyer’s office can tell you a lot about how he is going to handle your case. Is his office a mess? Are there piles of trash in the corner? Does he even have a physical office? Does he seem organized? These are all things that are impossible to determine over the phone.
- Your lawyer can get a better feel for you, and for your case, in person. Sometimes it’s about what’s best for the lawyer too. It is hard to read people over the phone. Many times an individual’s physical traits or demeanor can help an attorney decide what the defense of a case is. It’s always best for your lawyer to know as much about you as possible prior to getting to court.
Overall it is a win/win for a client/attorney when the consultation is in person. I know it’s tough to miss days from work, but many attorneys (myself included) are available on weekends and evenings to meet. Picking a Criminal Lawyer in Houston is an extremely important decision, and you owe it to yourself (and your record!) to inform yourself to the best of your abilities prior to signing an attorney/client contract. If you are facing a criminal charge and have any questions or would like to set up a free consultation , please feel free to contact me at 713-222-2828.
An Introduction From a Criminal Lawyer in Houston
My name is Eric J. Benavides, and I am a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney. I am a founding partner of Benavides & Serrano, PLLC. I decided to start a blog mostly to give myself an avenue to talk about current events, the law, and things that interest me in general. I don’t expect many individuals who are searching for a criminal lawyer in Houston to read this blog, but hey, maybe you will! This is just a brief introduction of why I do what I do…My name is Eric J. Benavides, and I am a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney. I am a founding partner of Benavides & Serrano, PLLC. I decided to start a blog mostly to give myself an avenue to talk about current events, the law, and things that interest me in general. I don’t expect many individuals who are searching for a criminal lawyer in Houston to read this blog, but hey, maybe you will! This is just a brief introduction of why I do what I do…
My mother has a framed drawing in her room that I did when I was 4 years old. It says “I want to be a Lawyer”, and has a stick figure sitting at a poorly drawn desk. You see, being a lawyer is the only thing I have ever wanted to do. I can’t exactly tell you why I always wanted to be a lawyer, but I think it stems from wanting to help people. I think that is a common trait of the good lawyers in our business. It’s not about the money, because if it was, I sure wouldn’t be a Houston criminal defense attorney. It’s about the people, and the lives you can change.
Fresh out of law school I started working at a respectable criminal defense firm in downtown Houston. I knew I wanted to help people, but I’ll never forget the feeling of walking out of court with my first dismissal. My client gave me a hug and told me I saved her job. And I’ll definitely never forget the first time I heard “Not Guilty” after arguing to the best of my ability for a wrongly accused client. It’s a rush, and a sense of accomplishment. It makes you feel like you are making a difference in the world, even if it only matters to one person (your client!).
The feeling of helping others is what keeps me going every day. Even though not everyone gets their case dismissed, it’s always the goal to get them the best possible outcome. And I promised myself long ago that I would never allow a client to plead guilty unless I truly believed the deal he was getting was fair.
If you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of needing a criminal lawyer in Houston feel free to contact me at 713-222-2828. I can’t promise you an outcome, but I promise you that I will always tell the truth, and that I will work to the best of my capabilities.
The first blog post of a DWI Lawyer in Houston
Hello, my name is Eric Benavides, and I am a Houston DWI Attorney. I am one of two attorneys who started the law firm Benavides & Serrano, PLLC. I decided to start a DWI blog because more people get arrested for DWI than anything else. I hope to provide insight and advice to individuals facing (and those who may face) a DWI.Hello, my name is Eric Benavides, and I am a Houston DWI Attorney. I am one of two attorneys who started the law firm Benavides & Serrano, PLLC. I decided to start a DWI blog because more people get arrested for DWI than anything else. I hope to provide insight and advice to individuals facing (and those who may face) a DWI.
I intend to use this blog for many things. I plan to use it to talk about DWI cases, to talk about general info in the news regarding DWI, and about general things that amuse me about these types of cases. Hopefully no one reading this will ever need a DWI lawyer in Houston, but if you are going to be arrested, the chances are it’s going to be for drinking and driving.
The great thing about being a DWI attorney is all the interesting people you run into. The fact of the matter is most people drink socially, and that doesn’t exclude doctors, engineers, and even lawyers. I have represented individuals accused of DWI who are true habitual criminals, all the way to individuals who have post-graduate degrees and a clean record. Being a DWI attorney is a field of work where you get to mingle with every part of society, and personally I enjoy that aspect of the job.
DWI doesn’t discriminate. Anyone could be arrested just for admitting that they had a drink at dinner, even if they aren’t legally intoxicated. It is not illegal to drink and drive in Texas! This is one thing I don’t believe all officers understand, and one of the things I love most about being a Houston DWI Attorney is all of the innocent people that I get to help!
If you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of needing a DWI lawyer in Houston feel free to contact me at 713-222-2828. I can’t promise you that you will win your case, but I promise you that I will always be up front with you, and that I will work to get you the best possible outcome.
Eric Benavides