A DWI is one of the few crimes where the State's evidence is created during the arrest itself — by the driver. Brian Foley, who served on the Vehicular Crimes Team, explains in this video how much of a DWI case is simply the driver cooperating.
The questions
"Where are you coming from?" "Have you had anything to drink tonight?" "How many?" "When was your last drink?" "On a scale of one to ten, how intoxicated are you?" Every answer is an admission the State would otherwise have to prove. You are not required to answer any of them. "I'd prefer not to answer questions, officer" is enough.
The tests
The field sobriety tests — eye test, walk-and-turn, one-leg stand — are voluntary. So is the portable breath test on the roadside. They are not "cooperation"; they are evidence collection, scored by the person who has already decided to investigate you. Declining them is lawful and cannot be used as evidence of guilt at trial. Say: "I decline the field sobriety tests."
What you cannot decline without consequence
After arrest, the officer will request a breath or blood specimen under the implied consent law. You can refuse — but refusal triggers a 180-day license suspension (longer with priors) and, in Galveston County, a search warrant for your blood in most cases. Whether to refuse is a judgment call that depends on the facts; the point is that it is the only part of the encounter where silence has a cost.
What the State is left with
A driver who declined the questions, declined the tests, and was polite throughout leaves the State with the reason for the stop, the officer's observations, and whatever the blood shows hours later. Those cases are far more defensible than the ones with a recorded admission of "four or five beers" and a wobbling walk-and-turn.
And then the clock starts
Whether you refused or provided a specimen, you have 15 days to request an ALR hearing to save your license. Call or text (409) 877-4909 — our Galveston DWI attorneys handle that deadline first.