An Unlawful Stop Could Result In Your DWI Charges Getting Dropped
Many drivers don’t understand those police officers can’t just stop someone because they want to do it, they must have reasonable suspicion or probable cause first. What this means is they can’t just pull you over to see if you’re drunk, you have to be driving in a way that makes them believe you are.
In many states, including Texas, reasonable suspicion can be witnessed and reported to the police by concerned citizens, which means the officer doesn’t have to witness for himself the reason for the reasonable suspicion.
Reasonable Suspicion Examples:
- Swerving or driving erratically
- Driving over the speed limit
- Breaking traffic laws
- Driving recklessly
- Driving significantly under the speed limit
- Driving in the dark with headlights off
- Near Collisions
If a driver hasn’t committed any of these driving errors, it may be an unlawful stop. Police officers have a duty to protect the rights of drivers in Texas, and a driver in Texas has the right to not be pulled over just because a police officer wants to pull them over.
Driving in the area of an event that may encourage drinking, like a sporting event or a bar, doesn’t qualify as a probable cause either. For example, you can’t be stopped in the vicinity of a college football game just because there could be people driving drunk in the area. If this happens to you in the state of Texas, you should get in touch with a DWI defense lawyer in Houston as soon as possible who can possibly get the charges dropped.
Even if you refused to consent to a breathalyzer or blood test to test your blood alcohol content (BAC), and even if you fail these tests, if the stop was unlawful you have a good chance of having the case thrown out.
If you’ve been stopped and charged with DWI, call now or get in touch with Butler Law Firm to discuss the circumstances of the stop to find out if the stop was a lawful one, and to learn more about what your next step should be.