By Deandra Grant, J.D., M.S. (Pharmaceutical Science), ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist The question: How accurate is the breathalyzer in Texas? The short answer: Less accurate than the prosecution will tell the jury. Texas uses the Intoxilyzer 9000, an infrared breath testing instrument that produces a single number presented in court as a blood alcohol concentration. That […]
Category Archives: DWI Defense
The question: What is a SCRAM device? The short answer: A SCRAM device is a tamper-resistant ankle bracelet that continuously monitors the wearer’s skin for alcohol consumption. Texas courts order SCRAM monitoring as a condition of bond or probation in many DWI cases, and the device automatically reports any detected drinking — along with tamper […]
On April 20, 2026, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in District of Columbia v. R.W., No. 25-248, reversing the D.C. Court of Appeals and holding that a Metropolitan Police officer had reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment to stop a juvenile identified as R.W. The 7-2 per curiam opinion reinforces a principle […]
Texas has more than 800,000 registered recreational watercraft and some of the most active boating lakes in the country. Lake Texoma, Lewisville Lake, Possum Kingdom, Ray Hubbard, Joe Pool: every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day, all of them are patrolled by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens, county marine units, and in […]
Texas has more than 560,000 registered boats and an estimated 359,000 additional unregistered watercraft operating on its lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. In the first half of 2025, the state recorded a 75 percent increase in boating-related fatalities compared to the same period the year before. Texas Game Wardens made 83 BWI arrests in the […]
A Tarrant County jury recently sentenced DeAujalae Evans, 26, to life in prison after she pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter in the death of Fort Worth Police Sgt. Billy Randolph. Sergeant Randolph was working a crash scene on I-35W in August 2024 when Evans (who reportedly consumed approximately 10 shots of tequila that night) struck […]
Oral fluid drug testing (collecting saliva and testing it for the presence of drugs) is expanding in both criminal justice and workplace settings, and Texas is actively developing its use in roadside DWI investigations. Understanding what oral fluid testing can and cannot show, how it differs from urine and blood testing, and where its reliability […]
Texas Penal Code §49.09 contains two facts that surprise most people who come to us with a prior DWI from another state. First, Texas has no lookback period so a DWI conviction from 30 years ago in another state can still be used to enhance a current Texas charge. Second, the state line provides no […]
A DWI arrest in Texas opens two simultaneous legal proceedings that run on different clocks and have different consequences. The criminal case will take months to resolve. The administrative license revocation (ALR) case can suspend your license in 40 days if you do nothing. The steps you take in the first 15 days after your […]
When a minor is stopped for alcohol and driving in Texas, two separate statutes may apply and which one applies determines the offense level, the available penalties, and whether deferred adjudication is even on the table. Most coverage of this topic treats them as the same charge. They are not and confusing them can lead […]