As a Houston Domestic Violence Attorney, I know that assault cases are one of the most common types of cases filed. In 2017 alone, there were thousands of assault-family member cases filed. More people are arrested for assault than for DWI. Initially, many people think that is surprising, but it is not.
Why? Because as a Houston Domestic Violence Attorney I can tell you that many times people are falsely accused of assault. I have had many cases where individuals get into a fight, and then call the police on a loved one saying they were assaulted. Or other cases where someone calls the police only to have someone removed from their house. These calls where the goal is simply for the police to de-escalate the situation often turn into an arrest. The problem is, most of the time when the police are called, someone is going to jail.
Is this fair? No, it is not. And when this happens I, as a Houston Domestic Violence Attorney, fight the case until the end. No one should be arrested because someone was angry. And no one should be arrested because the police think that someone “needs to go to jail”. That is not the way the criminal justice system is supposed to work.
Every case is very different, and I defend each case differently based on the facts of the case. But I do everything in my power to make sure that an individual comes out with a dismissal, and with the case off their record.
Many attorneys just tell individuals to take a deferred adjudication probation and the case will be dismissed. This is not the entire truth. In fact, a deferred adjudication can be horrible for people charged with Assault of a family member. First, you can lose certain gun rights. Second, you can never seal your record, so the arrest and the fact that you pled guilty will be visible forever (which defeats the purpose of the dismissal). And third, you get an affirmative finding of family violence placed against you which means that if anyone ever accuses you of domestic violence in the future the case will automatically be a felony where you are looking at potential prison time.
I always fight these cases as hard as I can for my clients. The goal is dismissal, followed by expunction. These are not “just misdemeanors”, they are very serious and can haunt you for the rest of your life. If you find yourself in need of a Houston Domestic Violence Attorney give me a call at 713-222-2828 and we will talk about your particular situation.
Eric Benavides is a Houston Criminal Defense Attorney. He is the founder of Benavides Law Group. He is a graduate of the prestigious Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Trial College and is a proven trial lawyer. He has been named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star and has been recognized as one of the best criminal lawyers in Houston by Houstonia and H-Texas magazines.
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