Asked 7/8/2016 – Austin, TX

I had an interlock violation (.010,.007) reading recently and my PO said I had to complete a TAIP assessment suggested by my home state, which I did. I am set to meet with my PO in a week and I am off probation 8/25. I did not drink alcohol for that reading and I know I used mouthwash leaving the gym the morning in question.

I have a strong feeling that the TAIP assessment office will come back with a relapse prevention recommendation (6-8 weeks). How can I fight this since I am so close to getting off probation?

FYI, Travis County is only monitoring my case from another state.

Answer

How do you “fight” what you describe? You contest any allegation by getting you attorney, entering a plea of not guilty or not true, then appearing before a Judge and having a trial and/or contested hearing. If your probation was transferred from another State, any hearing would be held in that State in front of the court of original jurisdiction. You specific problem will be: judges have heard it all before. “It was my mouthwash. It was from my gum. It was from my breath mint. It was from some food cooked in wine that I didn’t know about”. Every probationer is instructed to not use any alcohol product. Any violation is just that, a violation. You were ordered not to put any alcohol in your body, No distinction is made under the circumstances of how it happened. Talk with your attorney.