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When I was first brought to the station, I was put in a holding cell. I didn’t know what would happen next. Since that day was hot, I only had jeans and a t-shirt on and was so cold in that little box. All my belongings were taken from me. I wasn’t sure how long I was in there, but I’m guessing an hour or so later, an officer came in and handed me my cell phone along with a pen and paper. He gave me strict instructions that I was not to call or text anyone. I could only use the phone to get two numbers. I also caught the time, it was around 11:30pm. I had my one sister’s number memorized and the other one I wrote down was my cousin in Chicago. I have two sisters, but one of them worries a lot and I was afraid she’d be on the next flight over. So I called my sister, who lives in California. No answer. Ugh. Then I called my cousin, no answer. WTF. I tried my sister again, she answered. Thank goodness. I guess the operator tells the person on the other end where this call is from. The first thing I told her is that I’m fine and everything is ok. But I was in jail. I told her I’d be calling her tomorrow hopefully with bail instructions. I was only given a couple of minutes so we hung up. Then I was taken to the bathroom and asked to strip down to everything  but my underwear, while a female office watched. Weirdly I wasn’t even embarrassed at the time. Guess all the shame had already been in the open. I put on my black and ivory colored jailor outfit. I had to pee so I just sat on the toilet and did my business while she continued to watch. Great. Then I was escorted downstairs and given a plastic foldable mattress and a blanket that looked like an old used rug. Now they put me in another room which had 4 private jail cells inside it. All of those were empty. I had a roommate this time. She was awake and laying on her thin ass vinyl mattress. It was around 12:30am at this time. There was a steel toilet at the end of this little room and a small tv mounted on the wall. It was cold and depressing in there. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. Time moved so slowly. And I had no way of knowing what time it was. I would get up, pace the room, then lay back down. The other girl didn’t get up much, except to use the toilet once. I was flipping the channels on the TV. It was just low enough for me to reach the manual buttons. They don’t leave a remote or anything that could be used as a weapon. I found the guide channel and holy moly. It had the time on it. It was 1:35am. That’s it?? I watched a little tv with barely any volume, trying to be respectful of my new roommate. She said she didn’t mind it. The next few hours just repeated. Lay down, get up, check the time, pace the room, rinse, repeat. At some point an officer came in with 2 black coffees and what looked like breakfast. It was a gross looking honeybun which I avoided like the plague. I had a sip of the coffee, which was lukewarm. No thanks. Soon the other girl was released and I was by myself for about an hour. That hour, I would do jumping jacks, get my steps in, stretch, watch tv, anything to kill time. There were camera in the cell, who knows if anyone was watching. I didn’t care. Then the door opened and another girl was brought in. She was my new roommate for the rest of the day. She had panic attacks and was freaking out. This was her third DWI. And she had already spent time in jail before. No wonder she was going nuts. Around 1pm, I was take to see the judge, who was behind a window. He read me my charges and told me I would have a Class B misdemeanor. At the time, I just said ok, not having a clue what that meant. My bond was set at $1000. Ok. Then back to the room. About an hour later, we were allowed a phone call to arrange bond. I called my sister and she didn’t have a clue on what to do. I told her figure it out, google it and get our other sister involved if needed. She’s good at getting shit done. And I only had one friend in Dallas who I could call, but I wasn’t sure if she was in town. Luckily my sister had her number and I told her to call her, call the bondsman, do whatever it takes. Get me out of here. To my surprise, my friend was not out of town and had been spending several hours running around from the city jail to the county office, to the bank, etc., to get me out of jail. An officer had me sign a form at some point that’s how’s I knew. I thought ok, any time now, I’m going to be out. It wasn’t until almost 7pm, after several agonizing hours, I was finally free. I changed back into my clothes, got my stuff, went outside where my friend, my lifesaver, was waiting to pick me up. She drove me to the impound lot, since my car had been towed. Finally, even though it was just the beginning, it was over.  I felt liberated, free, alive and pissed at the whole situation. Not at anyone in particular, but just the events of the last 24 hours.

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December 2023, Richardson, TX I had just left the bar that Friday evening,  only 2 miles from home. I was stopped at a red light when a song I really like came on and I blasted the volume, which was normal for me. I was not having a great day and music has a way of making me feel better. It was unusually hot day on this day, almost 80 degrees. I was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. In December! For a girl who grew up in the Midwest, this was awesome. After work, I had a happy hour date who took me to a bar that had waitresses dressed in skimpy little outfits. I mean this place made Hooters look like a church. So I had one drink with him while anxiously waiting til he finished his so I could get the heck out of there. It was only about 5:30pm when we got done and I didn’t want to go home so I went to my local bar that I frequented sometimes. I had two drinks there, tequila and water, the same I had with my crappy date. So around 7:30pm, after having a few laughs with the some of the regulars, I decided that unless I wanted to leave my car in the parking lot, I should stop drinking and head home. So I paid my tab and left. When that light turned green, with the music blasting, I was kind of in the zone and just floored it. Only a few seconds later I saw the flashing lights, turned the volume down and heard the sirens. Shit. What the heck did I do? Going 60 mph on what I thought was a 50 zone, but it was 45. I pulled over in a parking lot right away and rolled my window. The officer asked if I had been drinking. He smelled alcohol on my breath. Damn tequila. I didn’t want to lie and said yes, “ I had 3 drinks over the past 3 hours”.  I know myself, that’s not a lot for me. But I hadn’t eaten since lunch, which was around 1pm. That didn’t help. He asked me to step out of the vehicle and had me do a couple of sobriety tests. I walked the line, one foot over the other. Then he had me follow a pen in his hand. I thought I had done pretty well on both. He even told me I did ok. But he said something in my eyes made him suspect I was over the limit. He asked if I wanted to do a breathalyzer or a blood test. I opted for a blood test. I figured I just left the bar and surely I’d blow past the legal .08 limit. What I didn’t know was that I would be arrested, under the suspicion alone. So he put handcuffs on me and had me sit in the back of his police car. I felt like such a criminal. I cooperated at every step and didn’t get mad at him at all. It was my fault. No one elses. I just wish he had given me a warning or something, since I’ve never been in trouble with the law. I even teared up and got emotional and told him I was having a lousy day and that my date sucked. He tried to sympathize, even told me he understands as he himself is divorced. We rode to the hospital where we waited over an hour as it was a busy night. The officer was a regular guy, he was kind. We chatted about random stuff - sports, covid, being new to Texas. I had just moved to Dallas 6 months prior and he moved from NYC couple of years ago. I was hoping maybe after he got to know me, he’d let me go. He didn’t. It was probably too late at that point. He did take the cuffs off me. By the end of it all, my blood was drawn and we went to the local Richardson jail. This was not county jail, but at the time, it made no difference to me. I was put in a holding cell. In jail. Freezing my ass off.

Welcome to Texas I moved to Dallas, Texas in April 2023 and in Dec 2023, I got a DWI in Collin County. I had just left a bar after a couple of drinks and was only 2 miles from home when I got pulled over for speeding. The officer smelled alcohol on my breath, asked me to step out the car and the rest as they say is history. That evening... I had about 3 drinks over the course of 3 hours. I know me, I can handle a lot more. I’ll admit there are times I shouldn’t have been behind the wheel, but this wasn’t one of them.  But I did speed, that was dumb of me esp in that moment. My arrest was about 8pm, I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, around 1pm. The officer did a couple of tests like walking the line and follow the pen. I thought I did ok. But apparently he saw something in my eyes that gave him cause to believe I was under the influence. He asked if I wanted to do a breathalyzer or a blood test. I opted for the blood test. I had heard about breathalyzers not being so accurate. So then I was handcuffed with my hands behind my back and put in the back seat of the police car. Now I felt like a criminal. After getting the blood test at a nearby hospital, we went to the city jail and I was put in a holding cell, where it was really cold. About an hour later, which by now was around midnight, I was allowed two phone calls. Then I was asked to undress and put on this gray and black jailor outfit. They took me to a different cell, gave me a plastic little mattress, a blanket that looked like a thin piece of rug and locked the door behind me. It was so cold, I was shivering. I had a cell mate who was sleeping, or looked like she was. Time went by sooooo slowly in there. The next day I went front of a judge where the my charges were read. Class B Felony. And a $1000 bond. This was my first offense and first arrest. I had to get a friend to post my bond, else I’d have to get a bail bondsmen.  I was not allowed to post bail myself which was very frustrating. Within the next few days I spoke to a few attorneys and hired one. As expected about a month later, I was informed that my license was suspended for 90 days. I could get an occupational license to go back/forth to work and groceries and things like that. For the amount this would cost and the required Intralock in my car, which would’ve been around $900, I decided, screw it. I’ll just not drive. So I got to know the trains and buses in Dallas and used Uber and Lyft when necessary. I work from home mostly so when I did have to go into the office, I just ubered or took the 2 hour train route a couple of times. In the end, after the 3 months were up, I kind of broke even. What happened next After a couple of hearings, and about months into the process, my lawyer negotiated a plea on my behalf and I went in front of the judge and we all agreed to the terms. One year probation, court costs, some community service, a couple of educational classes and an Interlock in my car. And the biggest thing, no drinking. Not drinking and driving. But no drinking. Because there would be random drug tests. And alcohol is considered a drug. As someone who really enjoys drinking, this was the worst thing for me. It doesn’t make sense to me. I get not driving under the influence, but whats wrong w/ a glass of wine at home. To wrap it up I read stories of some people finding ways to sneak it in or try to outsmart the random drug tests. I don’t wanna risk it and just won’t drink for a while. Who knows, it could be for the best. When this first happened, I was nervous, embarrassed, regretful, scared for the impact this would have on my life, and wasn’t sure what to do. I went on reddit and read a lot of people’s experiences, specifically in Texas and even in the same county. I didn't find too many videos or blogs about this. Also as a woman, I figured maybe there aren’t as many or they are even more embarrassed and almost ashamed. At first I was too. Its been 6 months and now, as much as I regret it, and am very thankful no one got hurt, I’ve accepted it. We all make mistakes. This certainly was a big one. But its done now. I just started my probation period and also won’t drink for a while. I’m taking this as a personal challenge to not drink and take better care of myself and in the process, turn something negative into positive. And I’ll continue to write on my blog about some details, of my night in jail, things to ask when looking for an attorney, or how the court dates went, and also my journey of not drinking. If you happen to find yourself in this unfortunate situation, it’s not the end of the world, esp if it’s your first offense and no one got hurt. As with everything in life, we live and we learn. Reach out if you have questions or check out other blogs I'll be posting and feel free to share your experience.

One of the first things I did after my arrest was hire an attorney to help me with the process. If you know someone who's been through this, a recommendation could be a good option, but for most people, the first place you'll look is the internet. I googled "DWI attorney Collin County" for lawyers near me. There were so many results. I ended up going to the google maps app on my phone because it also shows reviews for these attorneys. I contacted about five attorneys and in the end, they all sounded experienced, had good reviews, had similar experiences with DWI cases and worked in my county. Only one was kind of arrogant and I didn't care for that personality so he was out. Now it was about cost, so I went with one of the lowest costs. Hiring an attorney is not cheap. The range I was given was from $3500-$7000. And they almost did the same things. I hired the one that cost $3500, paying $500/month installments. It did not include a $400 charge for applying for an ODL, which is an occupational drivers license you can get for 90 days while your licesnse is suspended. This is optional which allows you to drive to/from work and other necessary destinations like grocery or your kids' school, etc. I opted not to do this due to the cost, which was over $1000 with everything. I ended up getting a different attorney than I expected. They worked in the same office and the case was assigned to someone else, apparently this is common. I didn't like that at first, because I made a decsion partly based on my comfort level speaking to the original guy. But oh well, the whole office did have good reviews and we were already in the process. I only spoke to this new attorney over the phone once and she and I emailed back and forth a few times. She charged a flat fee so I didn't get billed each time there was an email or a phone call from me, which I've heard some lawyers do. I didn't meet this lady in person until the first day of court, which was about 2 months after the paperwork was filed. After that, she represented me in a couple of court dates, which I was not required to attend. Then I met her again on the day all parties came to a settlement where she and I got in front of the judge and finalized the terms. That was it, she and I were done. I never heard from or spoke to her again. From my experience, here are some questions to ask an attorney if you know you are guilty and the goal is to get the least amount of probation and punishment possible. I didn't go to trial so that's not my epxerience. Here are some key questions: How many DWI or DUI cases have you worked on? Will you be handling my case or someone else in your office? What are some things I can do to reduce the fines and probation terms? What's the process? What is the first step and last step in this case? What's the estimated timeline of the entire court process? What are some of the possible outcomes of the case? Can probation period be reduced later? (in some cases it can) Do you need payment in full or is installments ok?

There were serveral court appearances overalll. But I only needed to be there at the first and the last one apparently. Technically on the first one, I showed up, but never saw the inside of the courtroom. It was however the first time I met my attorney face to face, after having mutliple phone conversations. I showed up at my first hearing, checked in and waited outside the courtroom along with many other nervous and anxious "criminals". My appointment was for 8:30am. My attorney found me a little after 9am and told me that she talked to the prosecutor and they had an initial offer. I was a a little taken aback. I thought this was just an arraignment or preliminary meeting in front of the judge. Anyways, she was excited there was an offer already and assured me she'd fight for some better terms. Ok, fine. Now what? The next appearance was scheduled for about a month later. I didn't have to appear but during that time I needed to make sure I took care of the Substance Abuse Evaluation and maybe one DWI education training course, to show initiative that I was serious about rehabilitating. Which I was, but I needed to show it on paper. This way my attorney can show the prosecutor in good faith, that I was learning my experience. So I did my part and completed whatever was suggested. Next month came and went, nothing really happened. Next court date was set again for another month, and this went on for about 4 months. Finally there a plea deal and my lawyer thought it was a good one and I should consider it. I don't know what's good or bad. No jailtime? Ok that's good. Beyond that, community service, ac ouple of classes, court costs, and an interlock device in my car, which seemed unavoidable. Even at my BAC, which was .12 I thought that part was harsh but she said it was standard. I had heard that .15 and above, it was standard but ok. Fine. Who am I to argue with a professional. So it was set, my court date in May 2024 was where I would finalize everything. At this date, I actually got inside the courtroom and in front of the judge for the first time. He read the terms of my plea and asked if I agreed. I did. Sure, i guess. Just get this over with, I thought. So that's it. After about 5 minutes inside the courtroom, I said goodbye to my attorney, then went to another area to pay the court costs and another area to get my probation officer appointment scheduled. Then left. Gotta love the system.

My sentence was one year probation, court costs, interlock device in my car for the duration of probation, no drinking (at all). Also I have monthly visits with my probation officer with possible durg test at that time or any time they choose. I also have a deferred judgement so after a year I have the option to request for this to be removed from my record. At the time of this writing, it's been seven months and I've submitted a petition for early release of my probation and/or removal of the interlock device. That thing has been a pain. I understand why I have it, but it's embarrasing and annoying and it reminds me of this mistake every time I get in my car. Since my judgement is deferred, I can apply for early release, otherwise Texas does not give early release. Fingers crossed.