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2011 DWI and Criminal Law Legislative Update

By July 26, 2011July 31st, 2011No Comments

The 2011 Texas Legislature recently adjourned its regular session.  Here are some of the changes it made affecting DWI arrests:

  1. DWI.  HB 1199 ups DWI from a Class B Misdemeanor to a Class A Misdemeanor if the suspect has a BAC of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis is performed.
  2. DWI.  HB 1199 also provides that an intoxication assault resulting in the infliction of a traumatic brain injury that leaves the victim in a persistent vegetative state amounts to a second degree felony.
  3. DWI.  SB 1787 requires the following statutory warning to be given to persons arrested for DWI:

If a person refuses to submit to taking a specimen, an officer may apply for a warrant authorizing specimens to be taken.

Regarding the last, the individual should understand that law enforcement already has the power to apply for a warrant at any time and for almost anything.  This includes No-Refusal Weekends, Ash Wednesday, breath, or blood.  (In theory, the warrant will not be granted unless sufficient probable cause exists.)  In short, this language appears to be the State’s attempt to intimidate individuals.  It should not change the calculus in determining whether you are going to offer or refuse a breath specimen.

This following does not relate to DWI offenses, but I thought you might find it interesting:

  1. New Offense.  HB 1043 makes cockfighting illegal, from spectating to owning or training to investing.  How I’m going to spend my Saturday nights now, I don’t know.
  2. New Offense. SB 331 makes illegal the possession, manufacture, or delivery of synthetic marijuana, also known as “K2.”

 

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