What does Intoxication mean in Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas Driving While Intoxicated
Have you or a loved one been arrested or charged with driving while intoxicated in Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas? Are you interested in Texas DWI laws? Are you unsure what standard the police use to determine whether or not you are intoxicated? If so, keep reading.
In Texas, in order for police to arrest you, or for a jury to convict you, they must have sufficient proof (the amount differs between arrest and conviction) that you were intoxicated when you operated your motor vehicle.
But what does Intoxication mean for driving while intoxicated law in Texas?
There are actually three parts to the legal definition of Intoxication in Texas criminal law:
1. Loss of the normal use of a person's mental faculties, or
2. Loss of the normal use of a person's physical faculties, or
3. Having a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.08 or more
Let's look at the first two for a moment. Here faculties really just mean abilities. Note also that the driving while intoxicated laws, and the Texas law applicable to other intoxication related offenses, says that a judge or jury must compare the person accused of being intoxicated to the average non-intoxicated person.
So the first two definitions mean you are intoxicated when you have lost the normal use of your mental or physical abilities as compared to the average non-intoxicated person. That's a pretty subjective definition. It calls for a Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas, police officer, judge, or jury, depending on the stage of your DWI case, to form an opinion.
That's one reason you need a skilled Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas DWI defense lawyer representing you in court. A DWI defense attorney can present arguments to convince the judge or jury that the facts in your case don't show you met the first two definitions of intoxication and that, therefore, you were not intoxicated.
But wait. Don't forget that third definition of intoxication in driving while intoxicated and alcohol related cases. The number 0.08 refers to the amount of alcohol present in a sample, typically taken by the police officer after your arrest, of your breath, blood, or urine. The State has crime labs where they analyze the samples and return a number called the Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC.
If your BAC is over 0.08 the law says you are intoxicated. Since this is usually the most contested part and the biggest issue of a DWI trial, this law often means a judge or jury can find you guilty of driving while intoxicated if your BAC is 0.08 or more, even if you walked fine, talked fine, and showed no other physical symptoms.
There are ways to fight a Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas, driving while intoxicated case, even where an analysis showed your BAC was over 0.08. But doing so requires a skilled DWI defense attorney, who knows the best ways to challenge that analysis and ask the judge to suppress it.
In Texas, in order for police to arrest you, or for a jury to convict you, they must have sufficient proof (the amount differs between arrest and conviction) that you were intoxicated when you operated your motor vehicle.
But what does Intoxication mean for driving while intoxicated law in Texas?
There are actually three parts to the legal definition of Intoxication in Texas criminal law:
1. Loss of the normal use of a person's mental faculties, or
2. Loss of the normal use of a person's physical faculties, or
3. Having a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.08 or more
Let's look at the first two for a moment. Here faculties really just mean abilities. Note also that the driving while intoxicated laws, and the Texas law applicable to other intoxication related offenses, says that a judge or jury must compare the person accused of being intoxicated to the average non-intoxicated person.
So the first two definitions mean you are intoxicated when you have lost the normal use of your mental or physical abilities as compared to the average non-intoxicated person. That's a pretty subjective definition. It calls for a Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas, police officer, judge, or jury, depending on the stage of your DWI case, to form an opinion.
That's one reason you need a skilled Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas DWI defense lawyer representing you in court. A DWI defense attorney can present arguments to convince the judge or jury that the facts in your case don't show you met the first two definitions of intoxication and that, therefore, you were not intoxicated.
But wait. Don't forget that third definition of intoxication in driving while intoxicated and alcohol related cases. The number 0.08 refers to the amount of alcohol present in a sample, typically taken by the police officer after your arrest, of your breath, blood, or urine. The State has crime labs where they analyze the samples and return a number called the Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC.
If your BAC is over 0.08 the law says you are intoxicated. Since this is usually the most contested part and the biggest issue of a DWI trial, this law often means a judge or jury can find you guilty of driving while intoxicated if your BAC is 0.08 or more, even if you walked fine, talked fine, and showed no other physical symptoms.
There are ways to fight a Williamson County, Austin, or central Texas, driving while intoxicated case, even where an analysis showed your BAC was over 0.08. But doing so requires a skilled DWI defense attorney, who knows the best ways to challenge that analysis and ask the judge to suppress it.
Source...