Third Offense DWI Penalties in Texas
DWI or driving while intoxicated is punishable by law under the traffic laws of Texas. DWI is defined as operating or driving a vehicle while one’s blood, urine or breath alcohol level is in excess of the standard safe limit of 0.08%. In the event that an officer of the law in Texas arrests a motorist on suspicion that that individual has been abusing alcohol, a test is administered and if these suspicions are confirmed, the individual is arrested and taken into custody. For more detailed advice on how to act if you are pulled over, contact a DWI Lawyer in Houston.
There are various penalties proffered against a DWI offender. These depend on one’s prior DWI offense record. There are DWI 1st offence penalties, DWI 2nd offense penalties and DWI 3rd offense penalties (also known as a third degree felony charge). These penalties vary in degree and type. The latter carries some rather grave repercussions some of which are outlined below:
• A fine of no more than 10,000 dollars;
• Incarceration in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice state penitentiary for between 2 years and 10 years;
• Deep lung device requirement as a condition for any provisional or occupational licenses after conviction;
• Mandatory community service of between 160 hours and 600 hours;
• Suspension of one’s driver’s license for a period not less than 180 days and not exceeding 2 years;
• Further to this, the jury and judge may consider the defendant as having a serious problem with alcohol and order some form of rehabilitation treatment. This may be in the form of a Substance Abuse Felony Probation program;
Getting a third degree felony charge is a tricky situation to find one in and must be approached with utmost care and caution. The best way forward in such an instance is to retain the best legal representation one can get in this field.
The second thing is whereas your lawyer may have this strategy or other, contrition and accepting ones state of alcohol dependency will go a long way towards not only alleviating the DWI 3rd offense penalties looming but also in enabling one break that dependency.