Facing charges? Hire a Houston intoxication manslaughter lawyer — and fast.

If you’re searching for a Houston intoxication manslaughter attorney, odds are, you are about to have to make some tough decisions very quickly. Because as you read this, a prosecutor is already working with law enforcement to build their case against you or your loved one.

That means you’re going to need an experienced and aggressive board-certified DWI attorney who has trial-tested experience handling intoxication manslaughter cases in Texas. Mark Thiessen is one of only a handful of Houston lawyers who can truly, legally, call himself a DWI specialist. He is also the only lawyer in the country who is triple board-certified in the following categories:

• Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• DUI Defense by the National College for DUI Defense as approved through the American Bar Association
• DUI Law by the DUI Defense Lawyers Association
• Board Certified Advocate Criminal Trial Law by the NBTA Foundation

If you have been charged with intoxication manslaughter in Texas, remember: one of your best defenses is to get an experienced attorney (one with a proven track record) working on your case and preserving important evidence ASAP. Call (713) 864-9000 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with our team. We’re here for you 24/7.

“If you do not hire Mark Thiessen to represent you in your DWI case, then you will be making a huge mistake that could personally and professionally follow you around for the rest of your life.”

Greg, DWI Client
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What other intoxication manslaughter lawyers in Houston won’t tell you

Very few of the Houston DWI lawyers who pop up in searches have successfully tried intoxication manslaughter cases. That’s because it takes a special kind of defense attorney to actually WIN a case in the District Court. To be blunt, you’d be hard-pressed to find another lawyer in Houston who has won these types of cases in court, let alone a lawyer who has multiple victories like Mark Thiessen of Thiessen Law Firm. 

While intoxication manslaughter cases do not occur often, we are the go-to firm for these serious cases and have won intoxication manslaughter cases just like yours. Here are some recent victories from our intoxication manslaughter team in Houston:

• Not Guilty, Quadruple Intoxication Manslaughter
• Not Guilty, Intoxication Manslaughter
• Dismissed, Intoxication Manslaughter
• Not Guilty, Intoxication Manslaughter

The fact of the matter is that not every local attorney knows how to beat a DWI, much less a Houston intoxication manslaughter charge. Don’t be fooled by loud billboards or glossy commercials. We’ve actually won cases.

Understanding intoxication manslaughter laws in Texas

Let’s get real about what you’re facing. Under Texas Penal Code § 49.08, intoxication manslaughter occurs when someone operates a motor vehicle while intoxicated and, because of that intoxication, causes the death of another person. But don’t be fooled — prosecutors don’t need to prove you were “drunk” in the traditional sense.

In Texas, you can be convicted of intoxication manslaughter if the prosecution convinces a jury of ANY of these three situations AND that your condition directly caused someone’s death:

1. You lost the “normal use” of your mental faculties due to alcohol or drugs (including prescription medications).
2. You lost the “normal use” of your physical faculties due to alcohol or drugs.
3. Your blood alcohol concentration was 0.08% or higher.

Here’s what makes intoxication manslaughter different from regular manslaughter or vehicular manslaughter: the prosecution doesn’t need to prove you were reckless or negligent beyond your alleged intoxication. Once they convince a jury you were “intoxicated” (by their questionable standards), the tragedy of someone’s death is automatically blamed on you.
This is why having a Houston DWI lawyer like Mark Thiessen is the difference maker. We know how to attack the prosecution’s case at its core by challenging their definition of “intoxication” and questioning the scientific validity of their evidence.

What is the punishment for drunk driving and killing someone in Texas?

Make no mistake — Texas comes down hard on intoxication manslaughter cases. The prosecution will be gunning for maximum penalties, and if you don’t have a battle-tested intoxication manslaughter law firm fighting for you, you’ll be facing a legal nightmare that will destroy your life.

In Texas, intoxication manslaughter is classified as a second-degree felony, the same level of offense as sexual assault or aggravated robbery, and the penalties are brutal:

• 2 – 20 years in jail 
• A fine of up to $10,000
• A minimum of 240 hours of community service, with a possibility of 800 more
• Felony record for LIFE

And here’s what they don’t tell you: If you’re convicted, you could also face civil lawsuits from the victim’s family that could leave you financially ruined for generations. Here’s how the penalties for intoxication manslaughter in Texas compare to other DWI charges:

Offense	Charge	Jail time	License suspension	Fines
DWI first offense	Class B misdemeanor	3 days – 180 days	90 days – 1 year	Up to $2,000
DWI first offense with a BAC greater than .15	Class A misdemeanor	30 days – 1 year	180 days – 2 years	Up to ​​$4,000
DWI second offense	Class A misdemeanor	30 days – 1 year	180 days – 2 years	Up to ​​$4,000
DWI third offense	Third-degree felony	2 – 10 years	180 days – 2 years	Up to $10,000
DWI w/ a child passenger	State jail felony	180 days – 2 years	Up to 180 days	Up to $10,000
Intoxication assault	Third-degree felony	2 – 10 years	180 days – 2 years	Up to $10,000
Intoxication manslaughter	Second-degree felony	2 – 20 years	180 days – 2 years	Up to $10,000

Did you notice that intoxication manslaughter is the most serious DWI charge you can face in Texas? This is why having Mark Thiessen — a DWI specialist with a proven track record of WINNING intoxication manslaughter cases — is essential. Unlike other attorneys who will pressure you to take a plea deal, we know how to fight these cases and win.

How do we win intoxication manslaughter cases in Texas?

To convict you of intoxication manslaughter, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you caused a death due to reckless, intoxicated driving. There are two main ways to hinder the prosecution from proving this: 

1. Disprove that you were intoxicated beyond a reasonable doubt
2. Disprove that the accident was caused because of said intoxication beyond a reasonable doubt

Your defense lawyer may also pursue the defense that your rights were violated during the stop, and that the evidence against you was illegally obtained — no matter what, we have options. Here are the possible defenses we could use when defending intoxication manslaughter cases in Texas:

1. Disproving intoxication

As we mentioned, prosecutors need to prove you were legally intoxicated at the time of the accident, and their evidence is often wrong. Texas law defines intoxication as losing “normal use” of mental or physical faculties due to substances, or having a BAC of 0.08% or higher. But here’s what they don’t tell you: all methods for determining intoxication are deeply flawed. 

• Breath and blood tests: Breath tests are notoriously unreliable, and blood tests can be compromised by bad lab work and human error. As a uniquely qualified ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, Mark Thiesen possesses the necessary scientific knowledge to effectively challenge any bad evidence of intoxication in an intoxication manslaughter case.
• Field sobriety tests: Field sobriety tests are known to be highly questionable and subjective and have documented accuracy issues. Completely sober people have failed FSTs. Depending on the circumstances of your case, your defense lawyer may challenge that the test was properly administered.

Mark Thiessen has earned a reputation in Texas for his unique knowledge of the fallibilities of breath tests, blood tests, and field sobriety tests. If there were any issues with how these tests were administered or handled in your case, Thiessen Law Firm has the experience needed to identify those issues and present them convincingly in court. 

2. Challenging the cause of the accident

Just because an accident resulted in tragedy doesn’t mean your alleged intoxication caused it. Our defense team partners with the nation’s leading accident reconstruction experts to expose the real causes, such as: 

• Dangerous road conditions that would have caused the crash regardless of sobriety
• Vehicle mechanical failures beyond your control
• Actions of other drivers that truly led to the collision
• Weather conditions
• Visibility issues

The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that your alleged intoxication directly caused the accident, not just that an accident occurred and you had alcohol in your system. This critical causation element is often their weakest point, and we attack it relentlessly. 

Many “intoxication” manslaughter cases actually involve perfectly normal driving reactions to abnormal road situations, giving us grounds to prove that anyone would have taken the same evasive actions whether they had been drinking or not.

3. Fighting illegal stops and rights violations

Most intoxication manslaughter investigations are riddled with constitutional violations that can make the prosecution’s evidence inadmissible. Police officers, eager to make an arrest in a fatal accident, often cut corners and violate your fundamental rights during a traffic stop in the process — particularly your Fourth Amendment rights (unreasonable search and seizures) and Fifth Amendment rights (Miranda rights, aka, your “right to remain silent”).

We investigate whether police had legitimate probable cause to stop you, if officers properly advised you of your Miranda rights, whether blood was drawn without proper warrants or consent, and if officers followed proper protocol throughout their investigation. One significant constitutional violation can bring down the prosecution’s entire case, and our Houston intoxication manslaughter attorneys know exactly where to find them in your case file.

4. Exposing flawed field sobriety tests

Field sobriety tests are designed to make you look guilty, even when you’re completely sober. This is because these subjective, unscientific roadside exercises are heavily biased against you and almost always administered incorrectly. 

Our attorneys have specialized training in field sobriety testing protocols and know that these tests are fundamentally flawed assessment tools. We can methodically deconstruct the officer’s administration of these tests, exposing errors in instructions, improper testing conditions, and subjective interpretation that rendered the results meaningless.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s own studies acknowledge substantial error rates in field sobriety tests, even under ideal conditions — and accident scenes are never ideal. We expose tests administered on uneven ground or in poor lighting, officers who gave improper instructions, medical conditions or injuries that affected your performance, tests conducted in adverse weather conditions, and even nervous behavior misinterpreted as intoxication.

5. Challenging the definition of “intoxication”

Texas law defines intoxication as not having “normal use” of mental or physical faculties, but this definition sets a vague and subjective standard. What’s “normal” for you isn’t what’s “normal” for anyone else, and the prosecution doesn’t get to decide your baseline. We attack this fundamental flaw by establishing your unique “normal” through witness testimony and expert analysis, proving that your behavior was consistent with your normal patterns, not impairment.

The burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you weren’t “normal.” This becomes nearly impossible when we show your typical behavior patterns, medical conditions that mimic intoxication, or the effects of trauma after an accident. When prosecutors can’t define what “normal” means for you specifically, their entire case collapses — and we make sure of it.

Houston intoxication manslaughter — FAQs

What is an example of intoxication manslaughter?

A driver leaves a bar after having several drinks, runs a red light with a BAC of 0.11, and crashes into another vehicle, killing the passenger. Another common example is when someone takes prescription medication that impairs their driving ability, then crosses the center line and causes a fatal head-on collision.

What is the average sentence for intoxication manslaughter in Texas?

First-time offenders typically face 5 – 10 years in prison if convicted at trial, though prosecutors always push for the maximum 20 years when a death is involved. Many inexperienced attorneys will pressure clients to accept plea deals in the 8 – 12 year range rather than fight the case, even when the evidence is weak and could be challenged by a skilled defense team.

How much is the bond for intoxicated manslaughter in Texas?

Bond for intoxication manslaughter cases typically ranges from $30,000 to $100,000 per charge, though judges often set it much higher in cases with multiple victims or aggravating factors. The prosecution frequently requests excessive bond amounts to keep you in jail while they build their case, which is why you need an aggressive defense team fighting for reasonable bond conditions immediately.

How do you choose an intoxication manslaughter attorney in Houston?

In short: carefully, yet quickly. When you go in for consultations, make sure to ask the lawyer and yourself: 

• Does this attorney have a proven track record of beating charges of intoxication manslaughter in Houston or Texas? 
• Has this attorney obtained the specialization and expertise necessary to defend such complex charges? 
• Do I feel comfortable putting my future and reputation in the hands of this person?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, walk away. Do not feel pressured about “looking without buying.” It is your future that’s at stake.

To learn more, head to our blog on FAQs about intoxication manslaughter in Texas

Don’t panic. Thiessen Law Firm’s intoxication manslaughter lawyers in Houston can protect your life. 

The moment you’re charged with intoxication manslaughter, the system starts treating you like you’re already guilty. Police officers, prosecutors, the media, even friends and family — suddenly everyone assumes the worst. And you may even believe them.

But here’s the truth: You are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Maverick DWI attorney Mark Thiessen will work hard to hold judges and juries alike to that standard of presumed innocence, making a Not Guilty verdict possible.

Mark is a triple board-certified lawyer, a true DWI specialist, a SuperLawyer, and an accredited Lawyer-Scientist with a proven track record of earning Not Guilty verdicts for intoxication manslaughter cases. He possesses the unique expertise necessary to defend those accused of intoxication manslaughter.

Don’t let the prosecutors building a case against you get the upper hand. You are entitled to aggressive, top-quality representation. Contact Thiessen Law Firm day or night to set up your free initial consultation today: (713) 864-9000.