An assault family violence conviction in Texas follows you. It can cost you an apartment, a job, and your right to own a firearm. In a divorce or custody case, it becomes a weapon the other side uses against you. For non-citizens, it can trigger immigration consequences that are harder to undo than the charge itself. And if you receive deferred adjudication — not even a conviction — any future assault family violence charge can be filed as a felony, and you lose the ability to seal any criminal record through a non-disclosure order. Ever.
That’s what was on the line in this case.
What Happened
My client was a young man who had been out late one evening. It was a long night. On the way home, he passed out in the passenger seat.
When they got back to the house, the woman who had been with him tried to wake him up. He came to confused and disoriented — he didn’t know where he was, and in that fog, he became worried about his child. He got out of the car and started yelling, running around the outside of the house looking for the child — who was inside, fine.
A neighbor heard the commotion and called 911. The caller reported a man and woman yelling at each other, chasing each other around the street, and said the man had taken a “wild swing” at the woman.
When police arrived, the responding officer wrote in his report that he had observed my client lunge and swing with a closed fist and strike the woman with his arm and torso. My client was arrested for assault family violence.
Then the officers interviewed the complaining witness. She told them clearly: he was drunk, confused, and scared about his child. He had not struck her. He had not made any physical contact with her.
How the Case Unfolded
From the moment the charge was filed, it was clear the State intended to push hard for a conviction. The prosecutors fought me on evidence access at every turn. Motions went back and forth for months.
As both sides prepared for trial, the State’s plan was to put the complaining witness on the stand — presumably hoping she’d say something different under oath than she’d told the police. I got ahead of that. I secured a sworn statement from her: she did not want to testify against my client, and if the State compelled her to take the stand, she would testify that he had not struck her or made any physical contact with her at any point.
Without their key witness, the State was left with a neighbor who had seen only a fragment of the incident and an officer’s report that had real problems. I laid out those weaknesses clearly.
The prosecutors dismissed the charge.
The Result
No conviction. No probation. No fines. No community service. My client walked out of the courthouse that day a free man. And because the charge was dismissed, he was eligible for an expunction — meaning he could petition to have the arrest cleared from his record entirely.
Note: Each case is unique. The outcome of any criminal case depends on its specific facts and circumstances.
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I defend clients throughout Collin County, including:
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