How to Get Your DWI Charges and Penalties Reduced in Texas

If you were arrested or charged with an impaired driving offense in Texas, you need to know how to get your DWI charges and penalties reduced. The prosecutor is unlikely to lower the severity of the charges or penalties just because you ask them to.

A Houston DWI attorney can negotiate with the prosecutor, gather evidence to build a strong defense, file motions to get evidence suppressed, ask the judge for a dismissal if evidence is suppressed, and defend you when the case goes to trial. 

What a DWI reduction usually looks like in Harris County

Harris County prosecutors don’t reduce DWIs to reckless driving or obstruction. When a Houston DWI gets better short of a dismissal, it usually happens in one of two ways.

Dropping the 0.15 allegation. A breath or blood result of 0.15 or more makes a first DWI a Class A misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine (Penal Code § 49.04(d)). If we can attack that number through the lab work, the instrument’s maintenance records or the timing of the test, the State may agree to drop the 0.15 allegation. That puts the case back to a Class B, with a 180-day cap and a $2,000 fine, and it keeps deferred adjudication on the table.

Deferred adjudication. On a first DWI under 0.15, with no commercial license, a judge can place you on deferred instead of convicting you (Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.102(b)(1)). Finish it and there’s no conviction, and after a waiting period you may be able to seal the record with an order of nondisclosure (Gov’t Code § 411.0726). It still counts as a prior if you’re ever arrested for DWI again (Penal Code § 49.09(g)), so it isn’t free. Our page on DWI probation walks through the tradeoffs.

Both of those come from leverage, and leverage comes from the evidence. Call (713) 664-4000 before you take any offer.

Reasons to Ask for a Charge or Penalty Reduction

Your lawyer might ask that the charges get reduced, for example, from a felony to a misdemeanor, if there is any weakness in the prosecution’s case. If there is a possibility of a not guilty verdict, the prosecutor might prefer to negotiate a plea deal.

For example:

• There is a question about whether the officer had probable cause or reasonable suspicion to pull you over. If the traffic stop was not legal, then the evidence obtained can get thrown out, leaving the prosecution with a weak case.
• There might be issues about whether the breathalyzer equipment was accurate, whether it had been calibrated recently, or whether the personnel performing the breath test had proper training and certification.
• You might have a medical condition that prevents you from getting enough air to provide a proper breath sample.
• If you have a medical condition or are on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, you might have a false positive reading on a breath test.
• The technician could have mixed up your blood sample with someone else’s test tube.
• You might not have been the driver.

These are just a few of the arguments your DWI attorney could assert on your behalf. The State carries the burden of proof, but each of these arguments still needs evidence behind it, and finding it is our job.

Motion to Suppress Evidence

Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 38.23 states that evidence should not be admitted for use in trial against the accused in a criminal trial if the officer or another person violated the law when they obtained the evidence. The evidence will be kept out of the trial if its acquisition was in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or the state of Texas.

The defense lawyer can file a motion to suppress before the trial starts. If the judge grants the motion, the prosecutor might make a motion to dismiss the charges because the remaining admissible evidence does not support a guilty verdict. 

Reduction of Penalties

Sometimes, it is possible to win a reduction of the penalties in a Texas DWI case. The defendant received a conviction, but the defense attorney wants to, for example, try to keep their client out of jail. Here are some reasons to request a penalty reduction:

• It is a first offense.
• Prior offenses were many years ago.
• The defendant has a clean record other than the current charges.
• The offender shows true remorse for their actions.
• The defendant is unlikely to reoffend.
• The offender is the sole or primary breadwinner for the family, and they will be destitute if the defendant goes to jail.
• There was no accident, or if there was an accident, there were no severe injuries.
• There are alternative sentencing programs available.

In these situations, the prosecutor might agree to recommend standard probation, deferred adjudication, or an alternative sentencing program.

Usual Penalties for a DWI in Texas

If you are unsure about whether you want to try to get a reduction in your Texas DWI charges or sentence, you might not realize how harsh the penalties can be for a DWI conviction. The Texas Department of Transportation explains the penalties for a DWI:

First Offense

If this is your first intoxication driving conviction, you could lose your license for as long as a year and have to spend between three and 180 days in jail. The judge can assess a fine of up to $2,000.

Second Offense

Your fine can be as high as $4,000 for a second DWI conviction. You could face jail time between a month and a year. Your driver’s license could get suspended for as long as two years.

Third Offense

A third DWI conviction could land you in prison for between two and 10 years. You could lose your driver’s license for no more than two years and have to pay a fine of up to $10,000.

State law also adds a traffic fine of $3,000, $4,500, or $6,000 on top of the sentence under Transportation Code § 709.001, unless the court finds you indigent. 

Should you take a plea bargain on a DWI?

A plea bargain means you plead guilty or no contest in exchange for a lesser charge or a lighter sentence. On a lot of first-offense DWIs there’s nothing worth trading for, and trial makes more sense. On a felony DWI, getting it knocked down to a misdemeanor can be worth a lot.

Where you’re charged matters. Harris County doesn’t reduce DWIs to reckless driving. Fort Bend and Brazoria prosecutors sometimes will. And a probated DWI sentence is still a conviction, so it counts as a prior if you’re ever arrested again.

We don’t push plea deals to clear a calendar. If the State’s case has holes, we’d rather make them prove it in front of a jury. If the evidence is bad and the offer saves you real jail time or a felony record, we’ll tell you that too, and you make the call. Call (713) 664-4000 and we’ll tell you which kind of case you have.

See How a Texas DWI Lawyer Could Help You Get Your Charges Reduced

You can get a DWI in Texas for an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or at any level if the State can show alcohol or drugs took away the normal use of your mental or physical faculties. 

With so much at stake, as well as the possibility of losing your job and having the social stigma of a criminal record, your first call should be to Blass Law. We will work hard to win your case.