Austin DWI Attorney & Lawyer Firm: Dunham & Jones
Document Actions
Austin DWI Lawyers at the law firm of Dunham & Jones handle Driving While Intoxicated and Drunk Driving cases in Austin and throughout Central Texas. Dunham and Jones has Texas Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, former prosecutors and assistant district attorneys ready to help you fight your Texas DWI charge.
Finding a Experienced DWI Lawyer in Austin, Texas
Austin DWI Attorneys handling Driving While Intoxicated (DWI Arrest), Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Boating While Intoxicated (BWI), and Drunk Driving cases in Austin, Georgetown, San Marcos, Bastrop, Travis County, Hays County, Bastrop County and Williamson County Texas. Travis County DWI Lawyer, the Dunham Law Firm.
The law firm of Dunham & Jones is an Austin, Texas criminal defense law firm concentrating in drunk driving cases including Driving While Intoxicated (Austin DWI Attorney), Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and Boating While Intoxicated (BWI). Having a Texas Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist handling your Texas DWI can make the difference of winning your DWI/DUI versus going to jail or doing DWI probation. You will find our criminal defense attorneys to be an excellent source of drunk driving information, Austin DWI educational resources, and qualified Austin DWI Lawyers. To speak with an Austin DWI Attorney about your Texas DWI charge, please call 512-879-1455 to schedule a free consultation.
When selecting Texas DWI legal representation, realize that your DWI lawyer's experience is very important. The way your drunk driving case is handled will have an influence on the outcome and thus your future. Having Texas Board Certified Criminal Law Specialists on your side can mean the difference between obtaining a good result and a bad result. At Dunham & Jones, many of our Austin DWI Attorneys have previously been Assistant District Attorneys, spending years perfecting their legal courtroom skills. We know the procedures of the Texas Criminal Courts and can make that system work for you.
Proven Track Record against Austin Texas DWI Cases
Our criminal defense law firm has accumulated a highly successful record of acquittals, dismissals and reductions in the defense of Texas DWI, drunk driving and alcohol related cases. Each case is different, but note that the attorneys at the law firm of Dunham & Jones always start with the goal of getting your drunk driving case dismissed or reduced to a traffic ticket.
Affordable Texas DWI/DUI Pay Plans and Low Fees
Our representation fees for DWI in Austin or surrounding areas are fair and competitive, especially for our specialized Texas Board Certified attorneys. In most cases, we charge a low flat rate and often do not require any money down. The initial consultation is free. When you factor in our DWI experience and proven results handling Austin DWI cases, Dunham & Jones is a good choice for those who want the highest quality of legal representation at a fair and reasonable cost.
Serious Consequences for Driving Drunk in Austin Texas
An Austin DWI, DUI or BWI charge has serious consequences. You may lose your Texas Driver's License, experience a substantial increase in car insurance rates, pay large fines and court costs, suffer a Texas Driver's License surcharge ranging from $3,000 to $6,000, and possibly face Texas jail time.
Don't leave your future to chance. Select an Austin DWI lawyer who will fight your Texas DWI case for you. At the law firm of Dunham & Jones we will work for dismissal or reduction of your Travis County DWI. If we are successful, you may even be able to have your Texas DWI arrest record and fingerprints torn up! Don't let this Austin DWI arrest affect your job or your future; call us immediately to discuss how we can handle your Austin DWI case.
A Word of Warning about your Texas Driver's License
You have only 15 days from the date of arrest to request a hearing on your driver's license. If you fail to request a hearing, your license may be suspended and you face the probability of paying huge fines for several years. It is important that you hire legal representation for this hearing to challenge the license suspension. Having legal representation for this license hearing provides an opportunity for your attorney to question the arresting officer. Putting the officer on the stand helps to establish his or her position, which can be very beneficial to your case.
Texas Driver's License Surcharge (Fines)
Since 2003, the Texas Department of Public Safety has been authorized to levy a surcharge on driver's licenses suspended for alcohol related arrests. This charge can range from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 per year for three years. Depending on your case, you could be facing a $6,000.00 fee just to keep your license. Now you know why it is so important to fight your license suspension.
Call the Austin DWI Lawyers at Dunham & Jones immediately to discuss ways we can help keep your driver's license and try to dismiss or reduce your Austin DWI charge.
The law firm of Dunham & Jones handles the following types of Texas drunk driving cases:
Driving While Intoxicated - DWI
Driving Under the Influence - DUI
Driving While Intoxicated with Child Under 15
Boating While Intoxicated - BWI
Drivers License Hearings
Administrative License Revocation - ALR
DWI suspensions and hearings from Drunk Driving
Other Texas DWI and Criminal Defense matters
New Texas DWI Law Effective September 1, 2009
Senate Bill 328 became a new Texas Law on September 1, 2009 allowing police officers to take blood samples from suspected DWI drivers without a signed search warrant if any of the following is true:
1. The driver was involved in a wreck that caused injuries to others;
2. The driver has a child younger than 15-years-old in the car;
3. If the driver has any previous DWI convictions;
Austin Police Department's Highway Enforcement Unit has said they will go to the hospital and then do the paperwork for the blood draw at the hospital.
Texas DWI Laws
Important Statutes About DWI, Ignition Interlock Devices and Drivers License Suspension Periods| 1. | Driving on Roadway Laned for Traffic. Tex. Transp. Code § 545.060. | |
| (a) | An operator on a roadway divided into tow or more clearly marked lanes for traffic: | |
| (1) shall drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane; and | ||
| (2) may not move from the lane unless that movement can be made safely. | ||
| 2. | Conditions requiring motor vehicle ignition interlock. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 17.441. |
|
| (a) | Except as provided by Subsection (b), a magistrate shall require on release that a defendant charged with a subsequent offense under Sections 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, or an offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08 of that code: | |
| (1) have installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant, a device that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make impractical the operation of a motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is detected in the breath of the operator; and | ||
| (2) not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with that device. | ||
| (b) | The magistrate may not require the installation of the device if the magistrate finds that to require the device would not be in the best interest of justice. | |
| 2.1 | Interlock as a condition of community supervision. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ar. 42.12 § 13(i) | |
| ...If it is shown on the trial of the offense that an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed ... the court shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with that device. | ||
| 3. | No Deferred Adjudication for Intoxication Offenses. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 5(d)(1)(a) |
|
| (d) | In all other cases the judge may grant deferred adjudication unless: | |
| (1) the defendant is charged with an offense: | ||
| (A) under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code; ... | ||
| 4. | No Early Release for DWI. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 20(b) | |
| (b) | This section does not apply to a defendant convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code ... | |
| 5. | Jail Time as a Condition of DWI Conviction. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.14, § 13(a)(1) | |
| (a) | A judge granting community supervision to a defendant convicted of an offense under Chapter 49, Penal Code, shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit to: | |
| (1) not less than 72 hours of continuous confinement in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(a); not less than five days of confinement in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(b) or (c); or not less than 30 days of confinement in county jail if the defendant was convicted under Section 49.07; ... |
||
| 6. | Enhanced Offenses and Penalties. Tex. Penal Code § 49.09(a) & (b) |
|
| (a) | Except as provided by Subsection (b), an offense under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065 is a Class A misdemeanor, with a minimum term of confinement of 30 days, if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person has previously been convicted one time of an offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, an offense of operating an aircraft while intoxicated, an offense of operating a watercraft while intoxicated, or an offense of operating or assembling an amusement ride while intoxicated. | |
| (b) | An offense under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065 is a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person has previously been convicted: | |
| (1) one time of an offense under Section 49.08 or an offense under the laws of another state if the offense contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section 49.08; or |
||
| (2) two times of any other offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, operating an aircraft while intoxicated, operating a watercraft while intoxicated, or operating or assembling an amusement ride while intoxicated. |
||
| 7. | Jury May Recommend Tat License not be Suspended. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 13(g) |
|
| (g) | A jury that recommends community supervision for a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, may recommend that any driver's license issued to the defendant under Chapter 521, Transportation Code, not be suspended. This subsection does not apply to a person punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, and subject to Section 49.09(g) of that code. | |
| 8. | Drivers License Suspension Periods for DWI. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 13(k) |
|
| (k) | Notwithstanding Sections 521.344(d)-(l), Transportation Code, if the judge, under Subsection (h) or (j) of this section, permits or requires a defendant punished under Section 49.09, Penal Code, to attend an educational program as a condition of community supervision, or waives the required attendance for such a program, and the defendant has previously been required to attend such a program, or the required attendance at the program had been waived, the judge nonetheless shall order the suspension of the driver's license, permit, or operating privilege of that person for a period determined by the judge according to the following schedule: | |
| (1) not less than 90 days or more than 365 days, if the defendant is convicted under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code; | ||
| (2) not less than 180 days or more than two years, if the defendant is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code; or | ||
| (3) not less than one year or more than two years, if the person is convicted of a second or subsequent offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, committed within five years of the date on which the most recent preceding offense was committed. | ||
| 9. | Suspension of Minor's License Upon DWI Conviction. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 13(n) |
|
| (n) | Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or other law, the judge who places on community supervision a defendant who is younger than 21 years of age and convicted for an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, shall: | |
| (1) order that the defendant's driver's license be suspended for 90 days beginning on the date that the person is placed on community supervision; and | ||
| (2) require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant not operate a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with the device described by Subsection (l) of this section. | ||
| 10. | Credit for ALR Refusal Suspension. Tex. Transp. Code § 521.344 |
|
| (c) | The court shall credit toward the period of suspension a suspension imposed on the person for refusal to give a specimen under Chapter 724 if the refusal followed an arrest for the same offense for which the court is suspending the person's license under this chapter. The court may not extend the credit to a person: | |
| (1) who has been previously convicted of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code; or | ||
| (2) whose period of suspension is governed by Section 521.342(b). | ||
| 11. | Community Service Provisions. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 16(a) |
|
| (a) | A judge shall require as a condition of community supervision, that the defendant work a specified number of hours at community service project or projects for an organization or organizations approved by the judge and designated by the department, unless the judge determines and notes on the order placing the defendant on community supervision that: | |
| (1) the defendant is physically or mentally incapable of participating in the project; | ||
| (2) participating in the project will work a hardship on the defendant or the defendant's dependents; | ||
| (3) the defendant is to be confined in a substance abouse punishment facility as a condition of community supervision; or | ||
| (4) there is other good cause shown. | ||
| 12. | Community Supervision Does Not Have to be for Two Years. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 42.12, § 3(c) |
|
| (c) | The MAXIMUM period of community supervision is two years. |
