Category Archives:Court
New Harris County Pre-Trial Diversion Deadlines
There are new deadlines in the timing of pre-trial diversions. This morning in county court 5 of Harris County I had a client’s application denied for the pre-trial intervention program because she did not submit her application on time. As of recently, you must submit your application within 60 days of your first court appearance. My client submitted her application on day 68.There are new deadlines in the timing of pre-trial diversions. This morning in county court 5 of Harris County I had a client’s application denied for the pre-trial intervention program because she did not submit her application on time. As of recently, you must submit your application within 60 days of your first court appearance. My client submitted her application on day 68.
Applications must be submitted 1 week before court and must include a letter accepting responsibility and explaining why you deserve to be admitted into the pre-trial diversion program instead of getting deferred adjudication. I also require my clients to submit a separate letter of apology. Applications also must include 2 to 3 letters of recommendation from non-family members who are aware of the charge. Additionally, there must be proof that the applicant is in school, employed, or in the process of applying for school. And finally in certain cases additional items such as drug tests (drug cases), and anti-theft classes (theft cases), might be required.
Even though my client is in their early twenties, and a prime candidate for the pre-trial diversion program she was denied based on the fact that she procrastinated and did not get me the items I needed in the first 60 days. While I personally do not agree with this time deadline, as it does not give adequate time to the defense to conduct a full investigation of the case, it seems the DA’s office is pushing the deadline requirement hard at the moment.
It is very important to submit your items to your attorney as soon as possible. I always tell my clients that their part (letters, transcripts, proof of employment, etc) is easy. These are things that can be done in an hour or less. The hard part is getting others to give you letters. People are busy, and very rarely can people stop their everyday lives to do someone else a favor. In my experience I have seen over and over that people struggle getting recommendation letters from their friends, co-workers, teachers, etc. If you are in the unfortunate situation of having to apply for a pre-trial diversion it is essential that you ask for your letters ASAP! That way, if your friends take 3 weeks to give you the letter, you still have plenty of time before the deadline hits.
A pre-trial diversion is always a backup plan, but if you are lucky enough to qualify it’s important to take it seriously. It can result in a dismissal, and a clean record.
New Galveston County Pre-Trial Diversion Program
During a conversation with a good friend of mine, and a great Houston Criminal Defense Attorney, Shelby Burns, I found out there is a new pre-trial diversion program in Galveston County for individuals charged with certain misdemeanor crimes. To be eligible, you must have no prior criminal history except traffic citations. And no felony offenses will be eligible for the program.
During a conversation with a good friend of mine, and a great Houston Criminal Defense Attorney, Shelby Burns, I found out there is a new pre-trial diversion program in Galveston County for individuals charged with certain misdemeanor crimes. To be eligible, you must have no prior criminal history except traffic citations. And no felony offenses will be eligible for the program.
Charges that will be Eligible for the Program
- Possession of Marijuana: Class B & A
- Possession of a dangerous drug
- Possession of a Controlled Substance (misdemeanor)
- Evading Arrest
- Theft Class B & A
- DWLI
- Deadly Conduct
- Criminal Mischief
- Burglary of a Vehicle
- Reckless Driving
- Assault – Bodily Injury
- Assault – Family Member
- Failure to report accident
And other misdemeanors not listed below.
Not Eligible
- Delivery of Drug Paraphernalia
- Anything sexual in nature (public lewdness, prostitution, indecent exposure, etc.)
- Resisting Arrest
- False report to police
- Possession of Marijuana in a Drug Free Zone
Unlawful carrying of a weapon along with another case is not eligible, but Unlawful carrying of a weapon alone is ok. When applying the individual must give a clean UA if the case is a drug offense, proof of restitution or attempted restitution for theft, and must forfeit weapons for gun charge.
Process
Defendant will fill out an application for the program which will be submitted in person to the probation department, then forwarded to the DA’s office. The application must be turned in and filed by 90 days after the case is filed, or announcement #2 docket (which probably means the 2nd time in court).
Assistant district attorneys will decide whether or not to approve the application and then they will be in charge of sending it to the probation department for an interview and final approval. Defendants must contact probation to setup interview for a pre-trial intervention within 3 days of Defendant or Defense Counsel receiving a letter in the mail.
If the application is denied for any reason, defendant cannot appeal this denial. If accepted, the Defendant will sign a contract and swear to a confession in court in order to be allowed to start the program. The Defendant will also have to pay a $200 fee on top of any court costs and probation fees associated with the pre-trial diversion.
The District Attorney’s office will have the final say on if a Defendant is revoked or not for any violation of the contract. If revoked, the precious confession will be entered into evidence and the contract will state that defendant will not object and will plead guilty. If the defendant is successful, the case at issue will be dismissed.
Understanding Alcohol Intoxication
Intoxication is defined the same in either a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Public Intoxication (PI) case in Texas. I had a very interesting situation that came up recently. I had a client who had been arrested for DWI. He was leaving the bar late at night with some friends and while driving home late at night one of his friends got sick. The friend had a little too much to drink and needed to throw up. My client who was driving, pulled over on the highway to let his friend handle his business. Within a couple of minutes an officer pulled in behind them to see if they needed any help. When they smelled alcohol and saw some guy puking they decided to conduct a DWI investigation on my client.
They went through the normal standard field sobriety tests (Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, One Leg Stand, Walk and Turn) and determined that my client was intoxicated. He was arrested for DWI and taken to the station. At the station they asked him to submit to a breath test to which my client agreed. He took the test and blew a .04, well below the legal limit in Texas.
Now if you have any common sense, this just doesn’t seem right. At the end of the day the definition of intoxication is the same for both DWI and PI. What happened next was interesting. Officers usually get people to take breath tests by saying, “If you blow under the legal limit you are free to go”. Well in this case I think the officers were either embarrassed or upset, so they decided to charge him with Public Intoxication.
Per the Texas Penal Code, Intoxicated means:
(A) not having the normal use of mental or physical faculties by reason of the introduction of alcohol, a controlled substance, a drug, a dangerous drug, a combination of two or more of those substances, or any other substance into the body; or
(B) having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.
So you are intoxicated in Texas if you lose your physical faculties, lose your mental faculties, or if your alcohol concentration is .08 or more. My client was not intoxicated by law in Texas, but somehow the officers thought it was ok to charge him with a “small” misdemeanor because it wasn’t that “serious”.
Lucky the prosecutor understood the law and dismissed this case after the first hearing. It’s sad that my client had to waste time and money, but justice prevailed.
What NOT to do in Court
As a Criminal Defense Attorney in Houston I often get asked, “What can I do to screw myself up in court?” There are multiple things that you can do to call negative attention to yourself in court. In this blog I am going to talk about a few of the things you can do wrong. And yes, these things do happen….frequently.As a Criminal Defense Attorney in Houston I often get asked, “What can I do to screw myself up in court?” There are multiple things that you can do to call negative attention to yourself in court. In this blog I am going to talk about a few of the things you can do wrong. And yes, these things do happen….frequently.
- Not Dressing Appropriately. You would not believe how many times I have had clients show up in shorts. Shorts are not appropriate for court. Neither is wearing your pants below your butt. If you walk into any court you will usually hear a bailiff giving a speech telling someone to pick up their pants and tuck in their shirt. Its court, not the club. Dress nice or you run the risk of being singled out.
- Being Late. People are late every single day, in every single court. It’s nothing new, and the judges get sick of it. You will usually get one free pass, but the second time you run the risk of getting your bond revoked. If that happens you could possibly be taken into custody and be forced to post another bond. Your bond company will not be happy with you either. And don’t say, “I had a flat tire”, or “my car broke down”….even if it’s true, just trust me.
- Your Phone Rings, You Fall Asleep, You Talk To Much, PDA! These are pretty much self-explanatory. If your phone rings everyone stares at you. If you fall asleep the bailiff wakes you up, you get scared, and everyone laughs. If you talk, they tell you to shut up or to sit in the jury box, if you are kissing on your significant other, they will call you out and kick your “sweetie” outside. All of these things do the one thing you do not want…call attention to you. Just lay low in court and be quite. There will be plenty of time for all of that once you leave court.
- Do Drugs On Bond. This usually comes into play for the people who break the rules above. If you run into a judge in a bad mood, you run the risk of being sent for a drug test. If that drug test is positive you could wind up locked up once again. You shouldn’t be doing drugs in the first place, but you especially shouldn’t be using when there is a chance that you could be sent for a drug test by a criminal judge.
Jail Phone Calls Are Recorded!!
Just a tip to anyone who might ever be in jail, or have a family member or friend in jail…don’t say anything you on the phone that you would not want the prosecutor handing your case to hear. Being a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney I have come across many individuals who did not know that all jail phone calls are recorded. And that’s because there is an automated voice on the phone that tells you the call is being recorded.Just a tip to anyone who might ever be in jail, or have a family member or friend in jail…don’t say anything you on the phone that you would not want the prosecutor handing your case to hear. Being a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney I have come across many individuals who did not know that all jail phone calls are recorded. And that’s because there is an automated voice on the phone that tells you the call is being recorded.
A perfect example is a case I heard about where the defendant swore up and down to his attorney that he was innocent. It got to the point where the attorney was convinced as well that he was telling the truth. The case dragged on for over a year until the point where it was time to take a plea deal or set it for trial. The prosecutor called the day before court and said there was some interesting jail phone calls, and that the defense attorney might want to listen to them.
Well surprise, surprise…on these phone calls, the defendant admitted guilt several times and was still running his “business” and giving directions to his people on the outside. The defense attorney got a copy, let his client listen to the calls, and they took a plea deal the next day.
The first thing this defendant did wrong was lie to his attorney. If your attorney does not know the truth, then it is extremely hard to defend the case. The second thing he did wrong was talk about private business on the jail lines. This was an extreme example, but it can come into play with even the smallest of criminal cases. You could say something that is completely innocent about your case and your words may be used against you. A lot of times words are taken out of context and things sound worse than they really are. Nothing is worse than being innocent and arrested for something you didn’t do. The last thing you want to do in this situation is say anything that might call your innocence into question.
So to sum it all up, DON’T TALK ABOUT YOUR CASE ON THE JAIL PHONES! Your family can come visit you, so can your Houston Criminal Defense Attorney. And it’s really none of your friends business! There is a proper time to discuss your case, and over the phone is not one of them. I would be willing to bet that almost every Criminal Lawyer in Houston has a story that is similar to the one above. So if you are ever in the horrible spot of being in jail, or having a loved one in jail, limit your phone conversations to anything other than your criminal case.