Quick answer: The same three-layer script used statewide: driving cues (weaving, wide turns, speed variance), window observations (odor, eyes, speech, ‘how much have you had?’), then voluntary field sobriety tests. Each layer justifies the next in the report — and each layer can be challenged against the video.
Our attorneys are former police officers; we know the report template because we’ve written it. The traffic violation is the legal hook; the DWI case is built at the window. Odor of intoxicants, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, admission of drinking — the phrases repeat across thousands of reports, which is precisely their weakness under cross-examination when the video tells a calmer story.
Field sobriety tests convert observations into ‘clues’ with scientific packaging — but the standardized tests have documented error rates under ideal conditions, and roadside conditions in San Antonio at 1am are not ideal. The defense job is simple to state and technical to do: hold the report to the video, frame by frame.
Related questions
Do I have to do the eye test or walk the line?
No — field sobriety tests are voluntary in Texas, and declining them carries no automatic license penalty (unlike post-arrest chemical tests).
The report says I ‘failed’ the tests — is that provable?
The tests are subjectively scored by the arresting officer. Video review regularly contradicts scored ‘clues,’ and the tests’ own validation studies limit what they prove. Failing roadside gymnastics is not proof of intoxication.
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General legal information for Texas, not legal advice about your specific case. Last reviewed July 2026.
