DWI Involving a Vehicle Crash in Texas | Houston Attorney

A crash can turn an ordinary DWI into a felony in an instant. With only property damage, a DWI is generally still a misdemeanor — but a crash causing serious injury becomes intoxication assault, and a crash causing death becomes intoxication manslaughter. Yet a crash does not prove intoxication, and it often opens up powerful defenses around causation. This is exactly the kind of case our attorneys handled on the Vehicular Crimes Team.

If you or a loved one is facing a DWI involving a crash in Houston, Harris County, or Galveston, Brian Foley and Luis Baez can help.

How a Crash Changes the Charge

Crash result	Likely Charge	Punishment
Property damage only	DWI (misdemeanor)	Class B or A DWI range
Serious bodily injury	Intoxication Assault (3rd-degree felony)	2 – 10 years prison
Death	Intoxication Manslaughter (2nd-degree felony)	2 – 20 years prison

Leaving the scene of an injury crash can add a separate failure to stop and render aid charge, and a vehicle can be found to be a deadly weapon, affecting parole.

How These Cases Are Defended

Causation. The State must prove your driving caused the injury or death. In multi-vehicle crashes, or where another driver, road conditions, or a mechanical failure contributed, accident reconstruction can break that link and drop a felony to a misdemeanor.
Challenging intoxication. A crash is not proof of impairment. We attack the stop, the field sobriety testing, and the blood or breath evidence.
Timing. The State must show you were intoxicated while driving, not only later; retrograde-extrapolation assumptions are often flawed.
Preserving evidence. We move fast to secure scene data, vehicle "black box" data, and video before it disappears.
The 15-day license deadline. We protect your license and lock in officer testimony early.

Collateral Consequences

Depending on the injuries, a DWI crash can mean anything from a misdemeanor to a decades-long felony, plus license consequences, a possible deadly-weapon finding, and significant civil liability. Because causation is so often contestable, an experienced, reconstruction-savvy defense can change the entire trajectory of the case.

Related Charges

Why HCDA

Brian Foley is Board Certified in Criminal Law, and both he and Luis Baez are former prosecutors who served on the Vehicular Crimes Team and worked DWI crash cases from the scene forward. If you or a loved one is facing a DWI crash case in Houston, Harris County, or Galveston, contact Houston Criminal Defense Attorneys PLLC for a free, confidential consultation. Call or text (713) 703-1718.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a crash change a DWI case in Texas?

A crash raises the stakes and the charge. A DWI with only property damage is still typically a misdemeanor DWI, but if the crash causes serious bodily injury it becomes intoxication assault (a third-degree felony), and if it causes death it becomes intoxication manslaughter (a second-degree felony). The injuries — and whether your driving caused them — determine the exposure.

Does a crash make it easier for the State to prove DWI?

Not necessarily. A crash does not prove intoxication, and it can actually create defenses — the accident may have been caused by another driver, road conditions, or a mechanical issue rather than impairment. The State still must prove you were intoxicated and, for a felony, that your driving caused the injury or death.

Can the accident be blamed on someone else?

Yes, and causation is often the central battleground. In multi-vehicle crashes, or where road design, weather, or another driver contributed, accident reconstruction frequently shows that intoxication did not cause the outcome. Defeating causation can drop a felony to a misdemeanor DWI.

What should I do after a DWI crash?

Get any needed medical care, avoid discussing fault or how much you drank, and contact an attorney immediately. Two clocks start right away: the 15-day deadline to protect your driver's license, and the loss of time-sensitive evidence like scene measurements, vehicle data, and video. Early defense involvement matters enormously in crash cases.

Why is Vehicular Crimes experience important in a DWI crash case?

DWI crash cases turn on crash investigation, accident reconstruction, and blood evidence — exactly what the Vehicular Crimes Team handles. Brian Foley and Luis Baez worked these cases as prosecutors from the scene forward, so they know how the investigation is built and where it can be challenged.