DWI BLOOD TESTING
DWI Blood Testing
Our Houston DWI Attorneys Know How to Challenge Blood Test Results
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The legal standard for intoxication in Texas is a .08 blood alcohol level (BAC), which can be measured by breath or blood. To find it in blood, it is measured against 100 milliliters of your blood. A blood test is the last thing you want to happen as it’s harder to fight in court. Both blood and breath tests have their fair share of flaws, but contesting a blood test requires a little more footwork. The difference between hiring a successful DWI-focused lawyer-scientist is that he knows how to attack the insufficiencies and flaws of the crime labs that test your blood sample.
If you have failed a blood test after a DWI arrest in the Houston area, Denuna Law Firm is here to help. These cases are difficult to win, but they are not impossible. Attorney Chris Denuna has won countless blood test trials, from 0.06 up to a 0.29 blood alcohol level. He has also won cases involving blood tests with serious accidents and fatalities involved.
Find out how we can fight your blood test results. Call 713.257.8889 or click the button below to arrange a free consultation.
Do I Have to Give the Police a Blood Sample?
It is your constitutional right to refuse a blood test. HOWEVER, if you can you should avoid getting to this point because Texas can suspend your license and use your refusal as evidence in future prosecutions against you. And, in many jurisdictions, they will get a warrant for your blood 24/7.
Blood Alcohol Testing Procedures
Before having to refuse or consent to a blood test, you will normally have the option to take a breath test and/or a standard field sobriety test first. If you refuse to take all of these, they will take you to the police station and read you your rights regarding the blood-alcohol tests. Then here’s what you do:
Ask them what happens if you refuse the breath test again.
Most officers will answer that if you refuse the breath, they will take your blood instead.
After they’ve said this, take the breath test over the blood test!
In most scenarios, officers cannot take your blood until you refuse a breath test. If you fail either test, you may lose your driving privileges: 90 days for a first offense and one year with suspicion or conviction of alcohol-related charges within the preceding 10 years.
Why take a breath test over a blood test?
If you refuse the breath test, they can use that refusal as evidence of your guilt.
When they take your blood, they will always take two vials; the State will argue the second is for the Defense to test if they don’t trust the result.
They can test your blood for drugs and medication, which they can’t do with a breath test.
Many jurisdictions won’t allow you into dismissal programs if you refuse a breath test.
Juries tend to trust blood results more than breath results.
You have 15 days to save your License.
If you've been arrested for a DWI in the state of Texas, you are facing two cases against you. The first one is the criminal case by the state of Texas, and the other is by the Texas Department of Public Safety to suspend your license.
When You Have to Give Them Blood
Texas has recently implemented no refusal weekends, which aren’t just limited to holiday weekends. During no-refusal time periods, the Texas Supreme Court allows police officers to draw blood without your consent, based only on probable cause.
If you resist, they really will strap you down to a chair using as many officers as they deem necessary until they have gotten your blood. If this happens, don’t fight. At that moment, there is no way around it and you don’t want to risk suffering bodily harm from the police – or an assault charge if they feel you fought back too hard. Afterward, you should contact a qualified DWI lawyer as soon as possible to rectify the situation.
Few Lawyers Can Help if You Fail a Blood Test
The truth of the matter is that less than 1% of lawyers are skilled enough to win a DWI case if you’ve failed a blood test. It’s one reason lawyers recommend that you avoid blood tests entirely.
At best, blood tests are an approximation of your BAC with an “acceptable” error range of error, but even so, a comprehensive understanding of the number of scientific fields is required to effectively argue a blood test case in court. Any given DWI case may require courtroom back-and-forth involving anatomy, physiology, toxicology, chemistry, medicine, chemical testing, computer science, biology and even physics.
Contact Denuna Law Firm Today
Technical expertise and aggressive defense counsel are a must in the face of a DWI blood test. Denuna Law Firm has the talent and dedication you need to fight back against a “failed” blood test and has consistently won cases and obtained successful results for serious accidents and fatalities involved. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.