Jed Silverman, Attorney at Law
713.226.8800 (24 Hours)
DUI / DWI DEFENSE
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801 Congress Street, Suite 200 Houston, Texas 77002 |
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Telephone:
713-226-8800 |
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Your Drivers License
Your driver's license
is subject to suspension if you refuse to submit to a breath
or blood test
when requested by an officer following an arrest for DWI or
a DWI related offense.
Request a Hearing |
Your license is not automatically suspended. You have
a right to request a hearing and, in the event you fail
to request a hearing, your license will be suspended.
Always request the Administrative License Revocation
(ALR) hearing. Your lawyer should do this for you, as
well as request the discovery of any and all documents
the Department of Public Safety (DPS) prosecutors will
rely on in attempting to suspend your license.
To preserve your right to drive in Texas, you must
request a hearing within 15 days of the date you were
served with a Notice of Suspension. In most cases this
is the day of your arrest. If you timely requested a
hearing to contest your license suspension, you will
be able to continue to drive until an Administrative
Law Judge rules against you and suspends your driver's
license. If you lose the hearing, your driver's license
will be suspended and you cannot drive unless you obtain
an essential needs (occupational) driver's license.
You can request either an in-person hearing or a telephonic
hearing.
In many cases it is advisable to request an in-person
hearing and issue a request for a subpoena for the arresting
officer's presence in court. Additionally, requests
for subpoenas can be filed for other officers involved
in the case. This can give you a preview of your DWI
trial, a rarity in criminal cases. At other times, it
may be more prudent to request a telephonic hearing
and forego the appearance of the officers in the ALR
court. This is a very important decision and one that
should certainly be discussed with your lawyer. These
hearings are very technical and victory, more times
than not, hinges on your lawyer's ability to identify
and present a technical mistake made by the officer
or by the DPS prosecutor.
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If Your License is Suspended |
In the event your license is suspended, you may be
eligible to receive an essential needs (occupational)
driver's license. This can be obtained by filing a petition
in civil court. It is much like filing a civil lawsuit
seeking to have a court make a ruling. Once the petition
is filed, the case is put on a civil docket and a court
date is set. You will accompany your lawyer to civil
court and testify as certain statutory elements, which
must be shown in order to secure the license. The judge
will set the hours you may drive during each day. The
total number of hours the judge may allow you to drive
during each day is 12, but more often than not, the
judge limits the hours to the hours necessary for getting
to and from work, school, grocery store, etcetera.
Once the judge signs the order, you may drive with
a certified copy of the written order for a period of
30 days. In the meantime, your lawyer should send a
copy of the order along with an SR-22 form your insurance
carrier to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), in
Austin. DPS will thereafter issue an Essential Needs
(or occupational) License and mail it to you. Once the
period of suspension expires you cannot get your actual
driver's license back until you pay a reinstatement
fee. Once this is paid, DPS will mail you your license.
Most good lawyers will mail everything to DPS at the
same time. That way, DPS will automatically mail your
actual driver's license back to you when the suspension
period ends.
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Jed Silverman
801 Congress Street, Suite 200
Houston, Texas 77002 |
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Telephone:
713-226-8800
Fax: 713-222-7424
Email: Jed@216.197.127.63
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