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Texas Attorney Dan Krieger represents people charged with Driving While Intoxicated during the Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearings on their case. It is imperative that persons charged with Driving While Intoxicated contact their attorney immediately after the arrest. You have 15 days to request an adminstrative hearing on the driver’s license suspension. If you fail to request a hearing, your right to contest the revocation/suspension is waived.  In alcohol-related cases, the police typically give you a piece of paper titled Temporary Drivers License (it’s also known as the DIC 25).

Once a hearing is requested, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decides the following issues:

Breath Test Refusal
(Suspension for not less than 90 days)

  1. Was there reasonable suspicion or probable cause for the officer to stop or arrest the driver?
  2. Was there probable cause for the officer to believe the driver was intoxicated?
  3. Was the driver offered the opportunity to provide a specimen of breath or blood?
  4. Did the driver refuse to provide a specimen?

Breath Test Failure
(Suspension for not less than 60 days)

  1. Was there reasonable or probable cause for the officer to stop and or arrest the driver?
  2. Was there probable cause for the officer to believe the driver was intoxicated?
  3. While driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in a public place, did the driver have an alcoholic concentration of 0.08 or greater.

The ALR hearing is civil in nature and the government only has to prove these issues by a preponderance of the evidence (a much lower standard than the beyond a reasonable doubt required in a criminal case). There are several areas in the administrative hearing that merit a hearing on the matter and a vigorous cross-examination of the officer making the stop and others involved in the process. The goal at these hearings is to show there was not reasonable suspicion to stop the driver, to show there was not reason to reasonably believe the driver was intoxicated, or to show the arresting police agency failed to properly provide the requisite warnings prior to requesting a breath or blood test.

The ALR hearing is far different from the actual trial in the case, but can frequently be as important as the trial itself.  The testimony at the ALR hearing is sworn testimony and frequently establishes errors in the stop itself, the adminstration of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, or in the driver’s arrest. Schedule an appointment with Attorney Dan Krieger to discuss your case. (281) 601-1436.