DWI Defense Lawyer in Dallas

Challenging the Prosecution & Faulty Police Tactics

It is important to realize that if you have been arrested for a DWI in Texas that you are still innocent until proven guilty. With a knowledgeable and aggressive Dallas DWI attorney by your side, you can combat these charges and protect yourself from unfair accusations. At Knight Law Office, our legal team knows what to look for when investigating DWI/DUI cases.

Attorney Knight is considered to be one of the most respected trial lawyers in all of Dallas County. With former experience as a prosecutor, he knows what how to combat the tactics that the other side of the courtroom may try to use. Consequences for drunk driving can be exponential, leaving you without a license and costing you tens of thousands of dollars.

Field Sobriety Test Defenses

Approved as a method for testing intoxication by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, field sobriety tests come in many different forms.

However, there are three that are most commonly used:

• Walk-and-turn: These tests typically gauge a person's ability to walk in a straight line, listen and obey instructions and maintain their balance. Unfortunately, if a person struggles with vertigo or is dealing with side effects from a medication that makes them dizzy, they may easily lose their balance. At the same time, weather conditions, the person's age and weight can also affect this test.
• Horizontal gaze nystagmus: This merely is a test that gauges the steadiness of a person's gaze, while a police officer has them track a light or a pen with their eyes. If their eyes are jerking around a lot, then this is supposed to be a sign that the person is intoxicated. If a person is tired, nervous or has eye issues, then these results could easily be skewed, leaving an innocent person looking guilty.
• One-leg stand: This test is administered by having the individual stand on one leg while counting in groups of a thousand. Again, if the weather is bad, the ground is uneven or the person deals with certain health issues, this could produce results that make the person look guilty.

Breath Test Defenses

When a police officer uses a breathalyzer device, it must be properly cleaned and calibrated in order to provide proper results. If there is even a small error with the device, it could push someone's BAC level up by .01% or more, which could make someone look guilty when they are not. In addition, there is a specific way in which these devices must be used by law enforcement. The officer must have the proper training before performing this type of test.

Lastly, if the person being tested just burped or vomited prior to breathing into the device, they could have a higher read, since the alcohol was just brought up out of their stomach into their throat and mouth. Something as simple as this could drastically affect the person's future if they end up being convicted.