dwi lawyer el paso: the truth about intoxication levels

8/7/2019 DWI Lawyer El Paso: The Truth about Intoxication Levels

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El Paso DWI and DUI Help Guide

The Truth aboutIntoxication Levels

The Truth aboutIntoxication Levels



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� When you have been arrested for a DWI in El Paso you need a

competent Criminal Defense Attorney that can fight for your rights.

� They must have intimate knowledge of intoxication levels and how they

relate to DWI law.

IMPORTANT

IMPORTANT




� DWI is a criminal offense that says a person may not operate a motor vehicle

in a public place while ''intoxicated.'' The DWI statute does not say ''driving

while drunk.''

1. What Is DWI?

1. What Is DWI?




� A person need not be drunk to be ''intoxicated'' but a person who is drunk

must be intoxicated. ''Intoxicated'' is defined by the DWI statute in two ways.

First, a driver is ''intoxicated'' when, through the use of an alcoholic beverage,

drug, controlled substance, or any combination thereof, her or she has lost

the ''normal'' use of either ''mental'' or ''physical'' faculties. Second, a driver is

''intoxicated'' when the driver has an alcohol concentration of.08 or more in

his or her body.

2. What Does ''Intoxicated'' Mean?

2. What Does ''Intoxicated'' Mean?




� The ''normal mental and physical faculties'' the statute refers to are those of theparticular person who was arrested. The term does not refer to the normal

faculties of the arresting officer, jurors in a DWI criminal trial, or a fictitiousaverage person. Indeed, the term ''normal'' actually refers to a range of measurement of the faculties of the person arrested. For example, ''normal''would not be a particular point on a 12'' ruler. Rather, it is better explained as thedistance between two particular points on the ruler, e.g. between the 3'' and 9''marks. person need not be drunk to be ''intoxicated'' but a person who is drunk

must be intoxicated. ''Intoxicated'' is defined by the DWI statute in two ways.First, a driver is ''intoxicated'' when, through the use of an alcoholic beverage,drug, controlled substance, or any combination thereof, her or she has lost the''normal'' use of either ''mental'' or ''physical'' faculties. Second, a driver is''intoxicated'' when the driver has an alcohol concentration of.08 or more in his or her body.

3. Whose ''Normal Mental and PhysicalFaculties'' Are We Judged by, and ''What IsNormal?'' What exactly does this mean?

3. Whose ''Normal Mental and PhysicalFaculties'' Are We Judged by, and ''What IsNormal?'' What exactly does this mean?




''Alcohol concentration'' is defined by statute as:

a. the number of grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood;

b. the number of grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath; or,

c. the number of grams of alcohol per 67 milliliters of urine.

If you have been drinking it's next to impossible to determine if you have aconcentration of .08 or more. In addition amounts of alcohol in theconcentrations defined above are not equal and can result in a person being

innocent in one concentration but guilty in another. Under the statutorydefinition of intoxication, it is also possible for a person to be innocent of being intoxicated because there is no loss of his/her normal mental or physical faculties, but still is considered guilty of being intoxicated per a .08concentration.

4. What Is .08 alcohol concentration?

4. What Is .08 alcohol concentration?




� The law provides that is a crime of DWI when a person operates a vehicle,

and at that time as an alcohol concentration of .08 or more in his/her body. It

is not a crime per se to have a .08 alcohol concentration in the body before or

after one has driven. It depends on the time the test was made to make sure

that such an alcohol concentration may be relevant to determining if the

person had a .08 or more alcohol concentration when they were driving the

vehicle.

4. What Is .08 alcohol concentration?4. What Is .08 alcohol concentration?




� The timing of the test in question may present a challenge for both the

prosecution and the defense team representing the persons charged with

driving while intoxicated. A .08 alcohol concentration tests is hardly ever done at the time or immediately following driving. Is not uncommon that the

alcohol concentration test to be completed 45 minutes to one hour and 15

minutes after driving. In this scenario the delayed testing will cause

uncertainty: as it is next to impossible to determine if the person was over the

legal alcohol concentration limit at the time of driving.




For more useful advice on how to protect

yourself when facing DWI charges in EL Paso, Texas:

www.dwielpaso.com

You can get your FREE DWI | DUI Guide eBook here.

dwi lawyer el paso: the truth about intoxication levels

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