How will refusing to give a breath of blood test affect me at trial?
If you are charged with DWI in Texas and refuse to give a breath or a blood test it could have certain consequences at trial. Under Texas law, if you refuse a request from an officer to provide a breath or blood specimen then the State may inform the jury, during trial, that you refused to take a test. The jury then can decide how to evaluate the fact that you refused to take a test.
As you might expect, the State will argue that you did not take a test because you knew you would fail. Then, the State will ask the jury to hold the fact that you refused a test against you during their deliberations.
Generally speaking juries very rarely will find a person guilty of DWI simply because they refused to take a breath or a blood test. There are many arguments that can be made to rebut the State's contention that you refused to take a test because you thought you would fail. For instance, the law does not require a person to submit to a blood or breath test. You may refuse one for any reason. Also, many people refuse to take a breath test because they do not trust a government machine, cannot retest the machine or have been told never to take a breath test.
The two most common ways to rebut the State's argument about a refusal is to point out to the jury that EVEN IF YOU PASSED a breath test you would have been charged with DWI anyway. For an explanation click here. Finally, the state can get a warrant for you blood if you refuse a breath test. Therefore, if the State wanted they could have provided a sample for the jury. Since police rarely follow up on warrant threats this is usually a good argument for the defense to make to the jury.
Follow the link below for a recap on Texas Law concerning a refusal to give a breath or blood specimen.
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