Possible 3rd DWI

A

Aces_Full

500+ Posts
My father-in-law is in jail today. Knowing the kind of drinking problem he has, it's probably a DWI, which would be his 3rd. What is the law in Texas regarding a 3rd conviction for DWI? Is it an automatic jail sentence? If so, how long?

He really screwed up this time. He had just started a new job, a dream job for him, and is making very good money. He can probably kiss all that goodbye. My poor pregnant wife is stressing pretty hard over all of this, mainly for her mother.
 
Yep. If it's his 3rd, he's pretty well ******. You don't get much leeway when it's a felony DWI. The judges look at it as though you already had two chances to straighten up on your own, now you get to live in jail so the State can insure you go through your AA and alcohol counseling etc.

I'm sorry for your wife and mother in law. I hope they can find a way to deal with this. Your father in law, however, needs to have his *** kicked in a big way.
 
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there is no "deferred" for DWI's. however, I have many clients with 3rd's that i work a deal to have it prosecuted as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. deals like that depend on many various factors.
 
Assuming a conviction, it's highly unlikely he'll be going to prison if its a first felony DWI, but he will do a few days conditional time in county jail (which his backtime might eat up).
 
I am sorry for you wife and mother-in-law too. They may be able to look at this as a blessing in disquise though. If he does get some jail time or even if he doesn't, maybe he will decide to get sober and stay sober. Maybe this will be the tipping point of pain that gets him to seek help. It is also a blessing he has been caught before he became involved in an auto accident that may have killed one or more people that would have incurred several years of jail time.

I would recommend they attend Alanon meetings to help recognize how they may be rescuing him or enabling him to continue his bad behavior.
 
Yeah, I would think Alanon would be great for their (my wife and her 2 sister's) mother. As much as she hates his drinking, she won't set any kind of consequences for him to stop. I think she's either scared of being alone, or not being able to financially support herself. She could possibly lose their house.

I looked up his records online. He record reads as such:

DRIVING-UNDER INFLU LIQ-DW 03/20/1990
DRIVING-RECKLESS 06/01/1990
DWI/2ND 07/27/2000

And almost certainly another DWI this week. He has a serious drinking problem. He passes out inside his truck in their driveway regularly. He did this the night before his latest arrest. My sis-in-law took the keys out of the ignition and left him a note regarding what he is doing to their fam and himself.

What sucks is he recently got his dream job, doing something he absolutely loves (involves sports), and is making very good money with lots of extras. And they said he was going to clean up...that didn't last long. He's been on the job less than 6 months.
 
3rd DWI's are third degree felonies. However, it has been a couple of years since I worked as a prosecutor, so I don't recall if the two previous DWI's have to have occurred in the last ten years, or if only the most recent DWI. Also, if the prior DWI's occurred in other counties from where the current DWI occurred, the arresting agency may not be aware of the other two.
 
County? If it's wilco, he may get the max jail time, unless he's a cop or elected official.

The one thing for certain is this is going to an expensive lesson.
 
aces, seems like he's been lucky. The first two are ten years apart, that one from 90 may be off his record. Keep in mind, I am not a lawyer. He's also lucky he hasn't gotten into more trouble.
 
If it's here in Travis, Williamson or Hays County I would be happy to help. At the very least he can swing by the office and I'll give him a consultation. If he's in jail here in Austin I can get him out. I wouldn't hit the panic button just because he was arrested for a DWI 3rd. Sure it's not ideal situation but we don't know the facts. A cop who pulls you over and smells alcohol and then runs your license and sees you have 2 prior DWis is probably going to be leaning heavily to arrest before you even do a Field Sobriety Test.

I can tell right now, it plays pretty big in his favor that his 2 priors were from 10 and 20 years ago.

Don't listen to all the "he's going to prison" talk. Get yourself a good attorney and these things can be defended to great success and great results by those of us who know what we're doing and know how to try them. Give me a buzz if I can be of assistance
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Get a good lawyer - ASAP.

And don't go the nickel-dime route. You get what you pay for w lawyers (as you do in most everything).

Good luck.
 
The "10 year rule" has been gone for quite awhile now. Prior DWI's can now be used to enhance regardless of age.

Look, folks, the man is not going to prison up-front, but it does look like a felony, judging from the information up-thread.

As to whether this turns out "good," that will depend on: (1) can his lawyer turn it into a misdemeanor?, and (2) if not, is the man willing to make life adjustments while he is on probation?

What I love is the sanctimonious readers who probably drink more than this guy but just haven't gotten caught. Yet.

Drink on, brothers.
 
Got some more information about what happened today. Come to find out he's been drinking on the job pretty much the entire time he's been working there (approx. 6 months). And by drinking, I mean getting hammered. He got pulled over on his way home from work when the cop saw him take a big swig from his beer can. He's not the brightest alky. His bond was $10,000.

Part of me hopes he does have to go to jail for a while so he can clean up and maybe it will scare him straight. I don't think there's any way he quits drinking on his own at this point. He just can't do it. They do have a lawyer, not sure who it is, or how good. I know there are those holier than thou on this thread that say he should just quit. I don't think he's capable. But I also don't understand why he just can't go to work, come home at 4, and then start putting them back. Pass out, go to work, and repeat? I guess he can't even make it till 4 o'clock.

Oh, and this is happening in east tx. Thanks for the offered assistance.
 
My two cents worth from way back in my Wilco days.

The timing of his two priors is not going to affect the classification of the felony UNLESS there is not a clear record of an informed waiver of counsel if he pled pro se. This was a problem with older DWI misdemeanor convictions.

I would venture an outside observation that the majority of felony DWI cases involve hardcore alcoholics. AA attendance would not be enough, you almost need inpatient/rehab treatment. Even probation will involve some jail time as a condition. In addition to a good lawyer, it sounds like you could use a good probation department with the personnel and resources to monitor your father-in-law. Prison really is not the first step here, unless your father-in-law hurt someone else.

It also sounds like your wife's family need to get together and plan a serious intervention, unless your father-in-law is in serious denial.

My sympathy for your situation. Alcoholism really affects the entire family.
 
When I sat on a Caldwell County grand jury about 6 years or so ago, we had a guy who'd picked up his 11th.

11 DWIs and he was still not getting it. Needless to say, we chose to indict.
 
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your choice to indict him shouldn't have anything to do with his priors (except needing them proved up to enhance to a felony).
 
scott,
I wasn't clear about that, but we chose to indict based on

1) the cop's dashboard video, in which he had a hard time standing upright, let alone walking a line, etc. There was NO question the guy was all ****** up.
2) the recommendation of the DA
3) the guy's driving history
 
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