Congratulations! Your Texas DWI Charge Has Been Upgraded!

When the Texas legislature was in session earlier this year I was concerned that they would pass too many DWI laws that would further impede the rights of Texas citizens. Anyone arrested for drunk driving can attest to the confusion surronding their charges. At the end of this sesssion two laws were enacted. The one that will affect the most people charged with drunk driving in Texas will be in misdemeanor DWI cases where the driver has a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 "at the time of taking the test" where the maximum penalty was increased to one year in jail instead of six months. Curiously, the legislature sneaked in the "at the time of testing" language. I guess that they forgot that the law is "driving while intoxicated." The other change deals with intoxication assault cases in which the victim is left in a vegetative state, where the maximum penalty would become 20 years in prison instead of 10.