Tag Archives: DWI Attorney in Houston
The Importance of Requesting an ALR Hearing
As a Houston DWI Attorney, the biggest (and one of the most costly) mistakes I see is individuals waiting too long to hire an attorney. The problem is, when you are charged with DWI in the state of Texas you have 15 days to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing. If you do not do this within the first 15 days, then your license is automatically suspended for a set number of days depending on certain factors.As a Houston DWI Attorney, the biggest (and one of the most costly) mistakes I see is individuals waiting too long to hire an attorney. The problem is, when you are charged with DWI in the state of Texas you have 15 days to request an Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearing. If you do not do this within the first 15 days, then your license is automatically suspended for a set number of days depending on certain factors.
A Houston DWI Attorney can fax the Texas Department of Public Safety and request a live hearing for you. It is almost always better to have a live hearing as your attorney can subpoena the arresting officer to be there. Many times the officer does not show up and you win your license case automatically. A “win” in an ALR hearing simply means that DPS will not suspend your license.
If you procrastinate in hiring an attorney you MUST call DPS and request the hearing yourself. Once you hire an attorney, the attorney can call DPS and take the case over. The number to call to request the hearing is very simple to find. When you were arrested you should have received a paper called a “Temporary Driving Permit”, on the bottom of this page in the fine print will be the instructions and the number you must call.
If you lose your hearing, or never request it, you will have your license suspended and you will have to get an occupational license. You will also have to pay a reinstatement fee in order to get your license back at the end of the suspension period. Not acting quickly when you are charged with DWI ends up costing you more in the long run! So if you or someone you know are in the unfortunate position of being accused of DWI, contact a DWI Lawyer in Houston as soon as possible. Your license and your checkbook will thank you later.
10 things not to do on the road with alcohol in your system!
Every DWI Lawyer in Houston can tell you stories about clients that just set themselves up to get stopped. If you are reading this it might be too late, but you can pass it on to your friends. If you are driving and have had anything to drink at all (even if you are legally sober!) do not be dumb on the road!Every DWI Lawyer in Houston can tell you stories about clients that just set themselves up to get stopped. If you are reading this it might be too late, but you can pass it on to your friends. If you are driving and have had anything to drink at all (even if you are legally sober!) do not be dumb on the road!
As a Houston DWI Attorney I have a lot of potential cases come through my office, and I hear a bunch of stories about traffic stops and why the police pulled them over. I have also seen hundreds of DWI videos, and one common thing is that many of the initial traffic stops resulted from stupidity!
So here is a list of some things you shouldn’t do after drinking:
- Don’t “peel out” at a traffic light! I don’t care if you never got over the posted speed limit, and I don’t care how hot the girl in the next lane was, you are going to get pulled over!
- Don’t weave your steering wheel to the beat of the music!
- Don’t let your best friend stand up with his torso hanging out of the sunroof.
- Don’t tap your breaks over and over to try to make your vehicle “jump” to a beat
- Don’t drive with one leg hanging out of the window…
- Don’t drive naked
- Don’t road rage…who cares if the car in front of you just cut you off.
- Don’t forget to put on those license plates that showed up in the mail…
- Don’t flick a cigarette out the window with HPD right behind you…(sigh)
- Don’t forget to use your blinker…really…is it THAT HARD?
Again, it might be too late for you. But if you are feeling down and want a quick pick me up, ask the DWI Lawyer in Houston that you hired to tell you some stories. This job certainly can be entertaining…
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!
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