Should I Refuse A Breath Or Blood Test When Under Arrest For DWI In Texas?
Yes, absolutely, 100%. No question about it, always refuse. If you refuse, then they can’t force you to take a breath test, of course. They can’t force you to breathe into the machine sufficiently to have a result on the breath test. But they may get a warrant for your blood, so they may get a search warrant to draw your blood.
To get that, they have to submit an affidavit to a magistrate that gets reviewed for whether or not it states probable cause within the four corners of that affidavit. Frequently, these affidavits are insufficient. They don’t state probable cause with sufficient detail or facts to support probable cause within that affidavit. Quite often, there are lots of mistakes in these affidavits.
A little secret here, these officers do a lot of cutting and pasting. They have some previous ones stored in their laptop and then they quickly print out a new one, changing just a few words here and there and their chock-full of mistakes. They don’t change everything they should have. They don’t make that affidavit particular to the particular case that they have where they’re seeking that search warrant for the blood.
So, those search warrants can often be attacked. We can have judges rule that the search warrant was illegally issued. It wasn’t based on probable cause in that affidavit. Therefore, the results can’t be used against a person in court. So, always refuse a breath or blood test.
Summary
In Texas, it is advisable to refuse breath or blood tests if arrested for DWI. Law enforcement cannot compel you to take these examinations without a warrant for a blood sample.
Most of the time, the affidavits for these warrants lack sufficient detail to establish probable cause. This deficiency can lead to errors due to lack of preparation. These procedural mistakes can make the warrants legally challenged and potentially invalid. Consequently, this could prevent the test results from being used in court.
The Medlin Law Firm - Dallas
2550 Pacific Ave #866
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 888-4810
https://www.medlinfirm.com/locations/dallas/
