Williamson County Alcohol Charge Lawyer

Alcohol crimes can seem minor, but they can have a dramatic impact on your future. Defend yourself with help from a Williamson County alcohol charge lawyer.

An alcohol charge is a serious thing, even if it does not involve using a motor vehicle or illegal drugs. While usually a much lesser charge, non-DWI alcohol charges can still change the way you live your life, the way you work, and cost immense sums of money over the long run.

If you or a loved one find yourselves in a situation like this, you need to speak with a Williamson County alcohol charge lawyer from Hines & Holub about how to avoid the worst of the penalties.

Types of Alcohol Charges

Besides driving, boating, or flying while intoxicated, there are several ways to get into legal trouble with alcoholic beverages:

• • Public intoxication is being intoxicated enough to endanger you or another person while in public, including in bars and other licensed alcohol vendors. This is a class C misdemeanor.

• • Open container or possession of an alcoholic beverage while in a motor vehicle both apply to any unsealed container holding alcohol in the passenger area of the vehicle. This is also a class C misdemeanor.

• • Assembling amusement park rides while intoxicated is a class B misdemeanor.

• • There are a variety of laws regarding minors (under age twenty-one) and alcohol, including minor in possession (MIP), minor purchasing or attempting to purchase alcohol, minor consuming alcohol, minor misrepresenting his or her age, selling to a minor, and purchasing or furnishing alcohol for or to a minor. Most of these are class C misdemeanors.

Sometimes minors are charged under "constructive possession," meaning that a minor had ready access to the alcohol, even if he or she was not drinking at all. A minor could be collecting cans for recycling or doing something as absurd as using one as a spittoon and still get charged with possession.

Penalties in Court and in Life

Penalties will sometimes differ between adults and minors, but most include some jail time, fines, and community service. For a strict class C misdemeanor, it should only be a fine of up to $500.

However, if convicted, you will have to admit to having committed a crime anytime you apply for a job, loan, or housing. You will lose opportunities everywhere you turn because of a criminal record based on something as harmless as an alcohol charge. Your Williamson County alcohol charge lawyer can help you fight these charges, preventing you from suffering the worst of the punishments.

Defenses Against Alcohol Crimes

There are many ways that we can defend you and help you save your reputation, finances, freedom, and future. Each type of alcohol charge has something that we can work against, and many have several. If you served alcohol to a minor but he or she had a fake ID, then you shouldn't be held accountable. Your Williamson County alcohol charge lawyer will do both of the following:

• • Verify that the officer had reason to arrest you

• • Introduce reasonable doubt that you actually posed a danger or were intoxicated

Many of the MIP-type charges are based on an officer's subjective judgment and can therefore be flawed or flat-out wrong:

• • Officer mistakes the liquid in your cup for alcohol

• • Getting pressured, coerced, or even forced to drink-sometimes to excess

• • Involuntary intoxication differs from coercion in that you may not be aware that you were drugged

The fact that you may not have known what you were doing after being forced to drink or take a drug could mitigate your punishment and the charges against you. It might even be enough to get everything dismissed.

Contact a Wilco Alcohol Charge Lawyer

If you or a loved one has gotten into legal trouble involving alcohol, you need to defend yourself to avoid a lifetime of problems. Speaking with a Williamson county alcohol charge lawyer from Hines & Holub should be your first step in this fight. Call us at 512-473-8745 or fill out the form below to schedule a free and confidential consultation.