Waring, TX DWI Law Firms & Lawyers

Your friend needs to consult a criminal defense attorney. Of course they can not charge your friend for a DUI if you were the one driving at the time. It seems rather strange that your friend was charged. There has to be more to the story.

A jury can convict you if the State can prove you were intoxicated by "reason of the introduction of alcohol or drugs or any combination thereof." So, the short answer is yes, they can get you for the synthetic. There are issues with synthetic in terms of associating it with the illegal drugs enumerated in the H&S Code, though. Beyond the classification issue, there might be an issue with respect to the toxicological effects smoking synthetic would have on you 4 hours after smoking, if they even have evidence to prove that. The DRE exam may be a red herring; or it may be reduced to that. The DRE protocol is supposed to allow the cops to determine which "drug class" your alleged intoxication may stem from. I don't believe synthetic is among the drugs that are included in the DRE protocol. Synthetic isn't MJ; so I wouldn't allow them to testify that the signs and symptoms observed with respect to an MJ investigation are the same as those that should be observed when a person has smoked an entirely different-non-natural, substance. So, there are a lot of issues that can be explored in your defense. If it's your 3rd, you probably already know you're looking at 2-10 years in prison. And, it sounds like this one could be beatable. Hire a good lawyer well-versed in DWI.

Things are getting a bit confusing. I would suggest that you engage an attorney for both charges as quickly as possible. Are welcome to call my offices with all of the details and for an appointment.