DWI & DUI Defense in Dallas
A DWI arrest in Texas starts two separate cases at the same time: the criminal charge and a civil fight for your driver’s license. Miss the second one and you can lose your license before you ever see a courtroom. As a former prosecutor, Ray Hindieh knows how the State builds a DWI case — and how to take it apart.
Two cases start with one arrest
The criminal DWI case decides whether you are convicted. The separate Administrative License Revocation (ALR) case decides whether the State suspends your license. They run on different tracks with different deadlines, and both need attention from day one — which is exactly what most people don’t realize until it is too late.
The 15-day ALR deadline
You have only 15 days from the date of arrest to request an ALR hearing. Miss it and your license suspension takes effect automatically. Request it in time and we can contest the suspension, keep you driving, and use the hearing to question the arresting officer under oath — often locking in testimony we can use later in the criminal case.
Challenging the stop and the testing
A DWI case is only as strong as the evidence behind it. We examine whether the traffic stop was lawful, whether the field sobriety tests were administered correctly, and whether the breath or blood sample was collected, stored and analyzed properly. Bad stops, improper testing and warrantless blood draws can all be challenged — and can sink the State’s case.
First-time, repeat and felony DWI
A first DWI is a misdemeanor but still carries license suspension, surcharges, insurance consequences and a permanent record. A second raises the stakes; a third, or a DWI with a child passenger or a serious accident, becomes a felony with years of prison exposure. The strategy changes with the level of charge, and so does the urgency.
How we defend your DWI
We move immediately on the ALR hearing, obtain and scrutinize the offense report, dashcam and bodycam video, and the testing records, and pursue suppression, reduction or dismissal wherever the facts allow. Where trial is the right call, we are ready to try the case. Where a negotiated resolution protects your record and your license, we pursue that from a position of strength.