The Texas Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) law is objective and subjective. What I mean by this statement is that a person can be deemed intoxicated if they are either over a .08 blood alcohol concentration or they have lost the “normal use of their mental or physical faculties. If the person has a blood alcohol concentration of over a .08, that is objective. What I mean by objective is that intoxication is determined by observed facts, rather than opinions, feelings, thoughts. On the other hand when dealing with the loss of the “normal use of a person’s mental or physical faculties” this is subjective. What I mean by subjective is that the determination of whether someone is intoxicated is made through opinions, rather than tangible objective criteria. For instance, if a city of Austin police officer says that a suspect has “slurred speech.” Whether someone has slurred speech is subjective, meaning it is the opinion of the officer that the suspect has slurred speech.

1. While a suspect’s speech could be slurred to the point that it is not ambiguous as to the “slur” in a lot of situations reasonable minds could differ as to whether a person’s speech is in fact slurred.

2. Let’s just say for arguments purposes a suspects speech is slurred to the point that it is unambiguous. There are multiple reasons why a person may have slurred speech: 1) the person could have suffered from a stroke; 2) the person may speak English as a second language, 3) the person could have a dry mouth.

The point is the Texas Driving While Intoxicated Statute defines “intoxication” in both a subjective and objective manner. Therefore, a person may pass the breath/blood test and still fail the subjective test or vise verse. Furthermore, the subjective portion of the Texas Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Statute states they have lost the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body. Basically, alcohol is not necessary to fail the subjective portion of the definition of intoxication. A person may be intoxicated even if they have consumed no alcohol.

Austin Texas DWI Lawyer

Clifford Swayze

Attorney at Law

512 E. 11th St. Ste. 202
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: 512-335-5245