A DWI in your own car can put your Texas CDL and driving job at risk. Learn what to check before accepting a plea or relying on a work license.
Texas DWI arrests carry immediate court dates and license suspensions. Find out how to handle the legal process and protect your rights.
A Texas DWI accident without injuries can still carry serious consequences. Learn about charges, crash evidence, and record-sealing issues in Collin County.
Can prescribed medication lead to a Texas DWI? Learn how impairment is evaluated, why a positive drug test is not the whole case, and how a lawyer can help.
Arrested for DWI while sleeping in a parked car in Texas? Learn what prosecutors must prove and which facts matter. Get help in Frisco and Collin County.
Learn how a Texas DWI arrest can trigger a separate license case, when ALR deadlines apply, and what Frisco drivers can do next.
A DWI blood result needs careful review. Learn what collection records, lab procedures and timing can reveal in a Texas DWI blood case.
Can You Beat a DWI If You Failed the Field Sobriety Tests? The police report says you failed every field sobriety test. Six clues on your eyes. Eight clues on the walk and turn. Four clues on the one leg stand. Sounds terrible, right? Here’s the problem: you don’t get convicted because an officer writes the word “failed” in a police report. So what are those field sobriety tests actually looking for? And how can a case that looks terrible on paper look very different when you watch the video? There Are Three Standardized Tests The three standardized field sobriety tests commonly used in a Texas DWI investigation are the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, or HGN, the Walk and Turn, and the One Leg Stand. On HGN, the officer is looking for specific eye movement clues. On the Walk and Turn, the officer watches things like whether you maintain the instructional stance, start too early, miss heel to toe, step off the line, use your arms for balance, turn incorrectly, stop, or take the wrong number of steps. On the One Leg Stand, the officer is looking for things like swaying, using your arms for balance, hopping, or putting the foot down. The officer takes those observations and uses them as part of the probable cause decision to arrest you. But the phrase “failed the field sobriety tests” often hides a lot of important detail. These are not school tests. You don’t get a 70 and pass or a 60 and fail. The officer is looking for standardized clues that the government associates with possible intoxication. That is a much more precise way to think about them. The Video Is Often More Important Than the Report Here’s the first thing I want in one of these cases: the video. Because the report might say, “Subject exhibited six out of eight clues on the Walk and Turn.” What does that actually look like? Did the person nearly fall over? Or did they miss heel to toe by two inches on two steps? Did they wander into traffic? Or did they turn differently than the officer instructed? Did they use their arms because they had no balance? Or did an officer count a small arm movement as a clue while the person otherwise walked nine steps down and nine steps back without a problem? Those distinctions matter to jurors. The officer knows the scoring system. The jury sees a human being standing on the side of the road at midnight with flashing lights, traffic, wind, stress, and an officer staring at them. Those are two very different perspectives. Standardization Matters The next question is: were the tests administered correctly? These are called standardized field sobriety tests for a reason. The instructions matter. The demonstrations matter. The position of the stimulus in the HGN test matters. The timing matters. The surface matters. The opportunity to understand the instructions matters. If an officer changes the test, rushes the instructions, gives confusing directions, or administers it under conditions that make reliable performance more difficult, that is something I want to know. That doesn’t automatically throw the entire case out. But if the State is going to stand in front of a jury and say, “These tests show intoxication,” then I want to know whether the officer actually used the standardized procedure the tests were built around. Physical Conditions Matter Now let’s talk about the human being taking the test. Do you have a knee injury? Back problems? An ankle that has been surgically repaired? Balance issues? Vision problems? Were you wearing boots, heels, sandals, or some kind of footwear that made the test more difficult? Were you standing on a sloped shoulder next to a highway? Was it cold? Was it raining? Were cars flying past you at 60 miles an hour? Were you exhausted? Those things do not automatically explain away every clue. But they can matter. And this is where I dislike blanket statements like, “He failed because he was drunk.” Maybe. Or maybe a particular clue has another reasonable explanation. The defense doesn’t have to pretend the test never happened. We need to explain what the evidence actually means. HGN Is Different From the Walking Tests HGN deserves its own category because it is harder for a jury to independently evaluate. On the Walk and Turn, the jury can watch you walk. On the One Leg Stand, the jury can watch whether you put your foot down. With HGN, the officer is looking at subtle eye movement that usually is not captured clearly enough on ordinary bodycam for a juror to independently score it. So the officer’s training and administration become particularly important. Did the officer properly check for equal pupil size and equal tracking? Was the stimulus positioned and moved appropriately? Did the officer hold it long enough where the protocol calls for it? Were there environmental or medical issues worth investigating? Again, I’m not saying HGN is fake. I’m saying that if the State’s strongest evidence is something only the officer claims to have seen, the defense should examine how that conclusion was reached. Bad Field Sobriety Tests Do Not Equal Automatic Conviction This is the most important point. Texas defines intoxication in two general ways: not having the normal use of your mental or physical faculties because of alcohol, drugs, or another substance, or having an alcohol concentration of .08 or more. Field sobriety tests are evidence that may support the first theory. They are not the legal definition by themselves. So I want the entire picture. How was the driving? Did you respond normally to the officer? Could you find your license and insurance? Did you understand questions? Were you able to communicate clearly? What does your speech sound like on video? Did you get out of the vehicle normally? What do the breath or blood results show, if there are any? Did you refuse a specimen? The case is the whole movie, not three minutes of roadside exercises. How I Would Attack a Field Sobriety Case If a client comes in and the report says they failed the tests, here’s the process. First, I watch the entire bodycam from before the tests start. I don’t just watch the officer’s highlight reel. Second, I compare the officer’s written clues to the video. If the report says “could not maintain balance,” I want to see exactly what that means. Third, I look at the instructions. Were they clear? Were they standardized? Did the officer demonstrate what they wanted? Fourth, I look at the environment and the client’s physical condition. Fifth, I compare those tests to everything else. If somebody supposedly cannot stand on one leg for 30 seconds but then walks normally, speaks normally, handles their property normally, and appears coordinated through the rest of an hour long video, that contrast matters. And finally, I decide whether the field sobriety evidence is something we can attack in negotiation or something a jury needs to see for themselves. Can You Beat a DWI If You Failed the Field Sobriety Tests? Absolutely possible. But not because the tests “don’t count.” They count. The questions are: Were they administered correctly? Were the clues scored fairly? Do physical or environmental factors explain part of the performance? What does the video actually show? And when we look at everything together, can the State prove intoxication beyond a reasonable doubt? That’s the real question. What Should You Do Next? If you were arrested for DWI in Collin County and the officer says you failed the field sobriety tests, don’t plead guilty based on the police report. Get the video. I’m Steve Sears with The Sears Law Firm in Frisco, Texas. If you want me to go through the evidence and tell you what I actually see, reach out to my office and we’ll take a look.
Understanding the statutory waiting periods in Texas is essential to timing your petition correctly. Learn more here about when you can clear your record.
What Happens If You Blow Over .15 on a Breath Test in Texas? You blew a .16, a .18, maybe a .20 on a breath test in Texas, and now you think the case is over. It’s not. But .15 is not just another number in a DWI case. In Texas, crossing that line changes the legal classification of the offense, it can change what happens on probation, and it can change the way a prosecutor looks at the case. So what exactly does a .15 or higher breath result change? What does it not change? And what are the three things I would immediately look at before I ever told a client to panic about the number? .15 Changes the Level of the Charge First, .15 changes the punishment range. A normal first offense DWI in Texas is generally a Class B misdemeanor. But if an analysis of your blood, breath, or urine shows an alcohol concentration of .15 or more at the time the analysis is performed, Texas law elevates the DWI to a Class A misdemeanor. That matters. A Class B misdemeanor carries up to 180 days in county jail and up to a $2,000 fine. A Class A misdemeanor carries up to one year in county jail and up to a $4,000 fine. Now, does that mean a first time DWI client with a .16 is going to spend a year in jail? No. Maximum punishment and likely outcome are two completely different concepts. But the State now has a higher level misdemeanor, more punishment available, and usually more leverage in negotiation. So when someone tells me, “It’s only a first DWI,” my next question is: What was the test result? Because a .15 allegation changes the case. The Statute Has a Detail Most People Miss Second, here’s a technical point that actually matters. The .15 enhancement is written around the concentration shown when the specimen is analyzed. It is not written as, “The State must prove your BAC was .15 at the exact second you were driving” for that enhancement. That is different from the basic DWI question. To convict you of DWI, the State still has to prove that you were intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. Those are two related questions, but they are not identical. So imagine this: You’re stopped at 11:30. You’re arrested around midnight. You take an evidentiary breath test later at the station and it reads .16. The prosecutor is going to use that .16 aggressively. But we still care about what happened before the test: your driving, your speech, your balance, your field sobriety tests, the timing, what you drank, when you drank it, and what the video actually shows. A number matters. Context still matters too. A High Number Does Not Make the Machine Infallible Third, a breath test printout is evidence. It is not scripture. When I get a breath case, I want the technical material behind the number. I want to know what instrument was used, whether it was in proper working order, what the maintenance and inspection records show, whether the test was administered under the required protocol, what happened during the observation period before the sample, whether the test sequence showed anything unusual, and whether the bodycam or station video shows something inconsistent with the paper record. I’m not telling you every .18 breath test is wrong. Most challenges are not that simple. What I’m saying is that if the State wants to use a scientific looking number to increase the level of the offense, then the defense should actually examine the science and the procedure behind that number. And sometimes the most important defense isn’t even the machine. Maybe the stop was bad. Maybe the State can’t prove operation. Maybe the officer’s video does not look anything like the police report. Maybe the timing creates a real issue about what the result means in relation to the driving. Don’t let one ugly number make you stop analyzing the rest of the case. .15 Can Matter After Conviction Too Fourth, .15 can change what happens if the case ends in a conviction and community supervision. Texas law generally requires an ignition interlock as a condition of community supervision when the .15 or higher enhancement is established. That means the consequence is not just, “The charge is a Class A instead of a Class B.” It can affect the structure of probation too. And this is why plea negotiations matter. If the State alleges .15 or more, I want to know whether the evidence actually supports that enhancement and whether there is a legitimate path to resolve the case without it. Sometimes the fight is over the entire DWI. Sometimes the fight is over the enhancement. Those are not the same objective, and a good defense strategy needs to know which battle actually improves the client’s life. Your Driver’s License Case Is Separate Fifth, don’t confuse the criminal .15 enhancement with the driver’s license case. Texas has a separate Administrative License Revocation process through DPS. If you provide a breath specimen at .08 or higher, that can trigger an ALR failure suspension. For an adult on a first ALR failure, the suspension period is generally 90 days. The fact that your result is .16 instead of .10 does not, by itself, turn that first ALR failure into some special .15 driver’s license suspension. A refusal is treated differently and can produce a longer ALR suspension. So you can have two cases moving at the same time: the criminal DWI in county court and the administrative license case with DPS. Same arrest. Different proceedings. Different deadlines. Different issues. That distinction matters because people sometimes focus completely on the criminal charge and accidentally lose their driver’s license hearing deadline. What I Would Actually Do With a .15+ Case So if somebody walks into my office with a .15, .18, or .20 breath result, what am I actually doing? Number one: I get the video. I want to see whether the person on camera looks like the number the State is going to put on a screen in front of a jury. Number two: I get the breath test records. If the State is relying on the number, I want the documents behind it. Number three: I attack the timeline. When were you stopped? When was the last drink? When was the test? What was happening during the gap? Number four: I still analyze the stop, detention, arrest, and field sobriety evidence. A high result does not cure an illegal stop. Number five: I figure out what the actual goal should be. Dismissal? Suppression? Getting below the .15 enhancement? Trial? A negotiated resolution that protects the client’s record and career? The strategy depends on the evidence, not just the decimal point. What Really Happens If You Blow Over .15 in Texas? So what really happens if you blow over .15 in Texas? The DWI can be elevated from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor. The number is powerful evidence, but it does not replace the State’s obligation to prove that you were intoxicated while operating the vehicle. The breath test itself should still be investigated. The .15 finding can have additional consequences if you end up on community supervision. And your driver’s license case is separate, and you cannot ignore it while everybody is staring at the breath number. A .15 is a problem. It is not a guilty plea. What Should You Do Next? If you were arrested for DWI in Frisco, McKinney, Plano, or elsewhere in Collin County and your breath result was .15 or higher, don’t assume the number tells you the outcome. I’m Steve Sears with The Sears Law Firm in Frisco, Texas. My job is to get the evidence, figure out what the State can actually prove, and build the strategy around your real case. If you want me to look at it, reach out to my office and we’ll go through it.