3 Common Questions About San Antonio DWI

Posted by DWI Lawyer San Antonio on April 6, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The truth is that many innocent people are arrested for suspicion of DWI. Of course, the majority of those arrested are guilty of DWI. However, this ”majority” fact provides absolutely no solace for those arrested for DWI and who are not guilty–especially if one of those persons is you!

I’d like to offer some general information about DWI and answers to 3 frequently asked San Antonio DWI questions:

1. What Is DWI?

DWI is a criminal offense that says a person may not operate a motor vehicle in a public place while ”intoxicated.” The DWI statute does not say ”driving while drunk.”

2. What Does ”Intoxicated” Mean?

A person need not be drunk to be ”intoxicated” but a person who is drunk must be intoxicated. ”Intoxicated” is defined by the DWI statute in two ways. First, a driver is ”intoxicated” when, through the use of an alcoholic beverage, drug, controlled substance, or any combination thereof, her or she has lost the ”normal” use of either ”mental” or ”physical” faculties. Second, a driver is ”intoxicated” when the driver has an alcohol concentration of.08 or more in his or her body.

3. Whose ”Normal Mental and Physical Faculties” Are We Judged by, and ”What Is Normal?”

The ”normal mental and physical faculties” the statute refers to are those of the particular person who was arrested. The term does not refer to the normal faculties of the arresting officer, jurors in a DWI criminal trial, or a fictitious average person. Indeed, the term ”normal” actually refers to a range of measurement of the faculties of the person arrested. For example, ”normal” would not be a particular point on a 12” ruler. Rather, it is better explained as the distance between two particular points on the ruler, e.g. between the 3” and 9” marks.