Five Ways to Stay Out of Trouble in 2018

Five ways to stay out of trouble in the New Year:

Happy New Year!! I hope you have a prosperous, peaceful one. It is no one’s goal to get arrested and charged with a criminal offense in ANY year, and to that effect I am going to give you five ways you can avoid an arrest this year:

1. Do not drive with marijuana in your car:

I do not suggest being a heavy user of marijuana. It is not the best path to prosperity and productivity. However, if you are going to use marijuana in any quantity, keep it at your home, locked away safely. Driving with it is a very bad idea because the scent of marijuana gives a police officer probable cause to search your car and/or prolong the detention long enough to call a K9 to do a sniff-search. If the marijuana is found, you will be charged with possession of marijuana. If you must drive with it, limit the times you do this and only do it when it cannot be avoided. When you drive with it, keep it an air tight container out of view, or even invest in a portable vacuum sealer to seal it up before driving. NEVER SMOKE MARIJUANA IN YOUR CAR.

2. Always have a safe ride home after drinking:

If you are going to drink alcohol away from your home, always, always arrange for a sober (completely sober – not just “not that drunk”) ride home. Take a cab, have a designated driver, take a ride share, or take a means of public transportation. Arrests for DWI are increasing nationwide, and even if you are not truly intoxicated and have only consumed a limited amount of alcohol, it is an arduous undertaking to beat a DWI. It is also expensive.

3. Do not gamble at shoplifting:

You may not get caught every single time if you are a habitual shoplifter. But you will get caught eventually. Shoplifting charges are embarrassing, a pain to dispose of, and will disqualify you from many, many jobs.

4. Do not drink to the point of oblivion in public:

Public intoxication arrests are common. If you get very intoxicated and start causing a scene around a police officer, or if you are intoxicated and cannot seem to find your way home, you will probably get arrested for public intox. APD uses these as a “end the situation” type of arrest – if they don’t know what else to do with you but they have to figure out something because you can’t stay out on the street due to your intoxication – they will take you to jail for Public Intoxication.

5. Do not stay in toxic relationships:

If you are in a toxic, dangerous relationship – GET OUT. Do it as soon as you can safely. Yelling, verbal abuse and emotional abuse will lead to physical abuse and this will lead to intervention by the system. Even if you call the police because you are the one being abused, it is not always the case that the police arrest the right person. Sometimes they mistake defensive injuries as the primary injuries and arrest the person that was the actual victim. If you need resources, call the Domestic Violence Hotline.

I hope that all my clients, my potential clients, and their friends and family can have a peaceful year this year and stay out of the system. It is so time and resource consuming to get arrested over and over again, so be smart and employ these strategies above so you can stay free this year.

Happy New Year from Stefanie Collins Attorney at Law.

Jury Trials: Lessons Learned

I have tried three cases in the past month.  Two of my juries returned a guilty verdict in spite of what I thought was enough to create reasonable doubt in the state’s case. 

I talked to the juries afterward.  It was pretty clear to me from what they said and their body language that they were left with some residual doubt about my client’s guilt – not “unreasonable doubt” like the state says in their closing arguments or a “possible doubt” but a real doubt. 

It was also pretty clear to me that they had expected my client and I to not only introduce doubt into the equation but “prove” our case somehow, despite the court’s instruction that that was not our job.

I say all this to point out two things:

If you are called to jury duty and you are selected to be a juror on a criminal case,  you need to commit yourself to returning a not guilty verdict, IN SPITE OF YOUR EMOTIONS, if the state does not prove its case BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT.  If you are left at the end of the case “not sure what happened” or “could see that he (the Defendant) may not be guilty” (actual words of my jurors this past month – who convicted) you HAVE to acquit the Defendant.  It doesn’t matter if you feel like what happened was wrong, upsetting, or immoral.  Unless the state has proved it to you, you have to put those emotions aside and cannot make the Defendant pay for what happened. 

If you are a Defendant, you need to be aware of the risk you are taking by having a jury trial.  Sometimes there really is no downside (there wasn’t in any of my cases this month), but sometimes there is.  You may be risking decades more in prison.  You may be turning down a deferred adjudication.  These are real risks.  And your jury may not be convinced. Your jury may doubt your guilt.  AND THEY MAY CONVICT ANYWAY.  You can never be sure what a jury is going to do.

Lastly, this may be controversial but I cannot help but notice, that both of my “guilty” clients were people of color and my not guilty one was white.  It is not out of the question that this played into the jurors decisions. 

Just some things to think about.  Please, if you are called for jury duty and feel like you cannot be fair – and cannot acquit if the evidence does not prove the case beyond all reasonable doubt – tell the attorneys who question you.  If you can be fair, if you can hold the state to its burden, and can acquit if the case calls for it – don’t think up an excuse to get off.  We need you to make this system work and stop bad prosecutions.

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What is deferred adjudication?

What is a deferred adjudication?

Deferred adjudication is a common way of resolving criminal cases in Texas, but it is often misunderstood. I will attempt to correct some common misconceptions.

What it is:

A deferred adjudication in many counties must be offered by the state in plea negotiations – that is just the county custom -- but it is possible for a judge to place you on deferred adjudication as well.

In a case in which someone has been offered deferred adjudication, the defendant will plead guilty to the allegations in exchange for the finding of guilt to be “deferred” by the court for a period of time. It is a guilty plea -- it is not a dismissal of the case. The court will find that there is enough evidence to substantiate the defendant’s guilt but if the court goes along with the state’s recommendation of deferred adjudication or on his own volition decides to, the conviction will not be entered.

You waive your constitutional rights when entering into a deferred adjudication. You waive your right to a trial, a right to appeal, and a right to remain silent, and these rights cannot be restored. You cannot be on deferred for a year and then decide you want a trial --- that ship has sailed and you cannot change your mind.

If there is strong evidence of guilt, a deferred can be a good resolution, but if it is a weak case, you may want to go ahead and press for a trial. A deferred adjudication is a serious undertaking. Why? Because when a conviction is deferred, you are placed on a tough probation. You must abide by all the standard terms of probation, such a drug and alcohol monitoring, meeting with a probation officer, performing community service, and classes and counseling. It is not fun, and it is not easy.

If you do not do well on this deferred probation, you will be subject to a “motion to adjudicate guilt” outlining why you no longer deserve to have a deferred and why a conviction should be entered. This motion causes a warrant to issue, but you are entitled to a bond amount being set by a judge. Most judges are very slow to give personal bonds on a probation case, so you are looking at having to bond out with a bail bonds man.

If you plead true to these allegations in the motion to adjudicate, you may be continued on a deferred, but you also may be convicted and placed on a “straight” probation OR you may be placed in the penitentiary.

NOTE: Deferred adjudications that are done successfully are NOT automatically sealed. Many times, you are eligible for the case to be sealed, but it is not done the minute you are released. You must petition for it and get a court order in a separate styled case. Once it is sealed, law enforcement and the state’s prosecutors will still be able to see that you were placed on deferred.

ALSO NOTE: Deferred adjudication is a conviction for immigration purposes. The government only cares that you pled guilty – not that the conviction was deferred. They care about your admission – not what the court did after that.

LAST NOTE: There are some criminal offenses in which deferred adjudication is not an option. The most common instance of this is DWI – the state CANNOT offer a deferred in a DWI and the judge CANNOT extend that to those charged with DWI. It is not possible.

Deferreds are not an easy undertaking. It is advisable to only accept one if there is substantial evidence of your guilt and the risks of trial are too high. If you are an immigrant with potential consequences of a conviction, you will not benefit from deferred. If you are not ready to abstain from drugs and alcohol, deferred is not going to work. I talk to a lot of people who “wish” they had never taken a deferred and tell me “the case was weak” but they pled to get it over with or get out of jail. Don’t be one of those people.

Deferred Disposition and Why that Ticket is Still Haunting You

“I thought I paid that”:  Differed Disposition and Why that Ticket Is Still Haunting You

                I handle lots of Class C misdemeanors.  The most common Class C misdemeanors are traffic tickets (moving violations): things like speeding, running a red light, etc. 

                A very common way of resolving a Class C is deferred disposition.  This is when the Defendant enters a plea of no contest but the finding of guilt is “deferred” for a period of time, often 90 or 180 days, and conditions are placed on the Defendant that must be completed by the time the deferral ends.

                The most common conditions are “no new tickets/convictions”, driver’s safety course, and payment of a special expense fee (and sometimes court costs).  This means that within the period of deferral the Defendant has to do the things asked of him/her. 

                I get a lot of calls from people who say “I thought I took care of this, but I got a letter/phone call, etc. Why?”  Most often it is because s/he entered a deferred disposition but did not abide by the conditions and complete the deferral. 

                How you can mess up a deferral:

·         “No new tickets/convictions”:  Ifyou get a new ticket or a new conviction, depending on the jurisdiction, the deferral will not be successfully completed.  Sometimes, you have to submit an affidavit swearing that you have not had any new convictions. 

·         “Special Expense Fee”:  You will always have to pay a fee (it is not technically a fine) for a deferral.  If you do not pay by the deadline, you will not successfully complete the deferral.

·         “Drivers Safety”:  If you have been told to complete a class, such as driver’s safety course, you have to do it during the deferral period AND submit proof of completion.  If you do not do it, you will not successfully complete the deferral.

If you have entered into a deferral and have not successfully completed it, typically you will be set for a “show cause” hearing in which you will be most likely (depending on the jurisdiction) be given a chance to explain why you did not complete the deferral and sometimes you will be given a short amount of time to complete and submit proof.   If you do not attend the show cause hearing, at that time, a finding of guilt will be entered and you will be convicted of the Class C. The notice for the show cause will be sent to the address the court has and usually will not be forwarded.   If you do attend the show cause and are not given more time, a conviction will be entered.  If you are given more time, and still don’t complete the deferral, a conviction will be entered.

If you get a conviction entered after you do not complete a deferral, typically a heavier fine will be assessed.  Some jurisdictions will max the fine assessed.  At that point, typically a warrant will issue as well and will not be withdrawn until you pay the fine.  If you are convicted of an offense that carries a license suspension or surcharge, or both, you will be assessed that as well.  If it is a moving violation, points will be added to your driver’s license.  The conviction will be placed on your driving record and will likely be reported to your insurance.

It is very important you understand the conditions placed on you when you enter into a deferral.  Ask questions and get it clarified by the court staff.  Calendar ALL deadlines and abide by them.  If something comes up and you cannot make a deadline, ask for an extension in writing.  It is easier to get an extension prior to the deadline than asking for time at the show cause – lots of courts are not very forgiving at the show cause.

If you are struggling with tickets that seem to keep popping up, give me a call today. 

Warrant Round Up is Here!

Some of you may have gotten “warrant round up” notices in the past several weeks. Texas’ Warrant Round Up started February 15, 2017 and it will last several weeks. 

Over three hundred agencies participate in Warrant Round Up.  Austin Municipal Court and many of the justice courts (JPs) in Travis County participate.  If you have a warrant that is not in one of these jurisdictions, you can still be arrested for your warrant during this time, but it will just be coincidental instead of part of the coordinated effort these other jurisdicitions are undertaking.

Warrant Round Up focuses mostly on Class C misdemeanor warrants.  Class C misdemeanors are the lowest level misdemeanors in Texas law and they are punishable by fine only, usually up to $500. 

However, there are some instances in which you can be taken to jail for a Class C misdemeanor.  I will deal with two here.   

I.                    Failure to Appear:  “Open” Tickets

If you receive a Class C ticket, and you fail to appear and it remains open, meaning no action has been taken since the issuance of the citation, in most jurisdictions a warrant will issue.  In some courts, you may also be charged with a subsequent Class C offense of Failure to Appear. You will have a warrant on that new Failure to Appear as well.  You can be taken to jail on these “open ticket” warrants.  What happens when you are arrested for these kinds of warrants depends on the jurisdiction.  For an Austin Municipal Court ticket, you may be given the option of pleading guilty at magistration at the jail and agreeing to pay the ticket, or you may be given a court date if you plead not guilty and told to appear in Austin Municipal Court. For Travis County tickets, you may be taken to the court of jurisdiction, which may happen the next business day depending on what time of day you get arrested.

If you have Class C tickets that are “open”, there are several options on how to dispose of those and get the warrants cleared.  Some are better than others.  Here are some of them:

1)      You can always plead no contest and agree to pay.  In Austin Municipal Court, you can go to the courthouse or satellite stations and do this without having to fear being arrested.  There are drawbacks to this option of which you should be aware.  Simply telling a court staffer you want to plead guilty and pay the ticket waives any chance you have at negotiating the fine down with a court prosecutor.  You will pay the full amount plus some extra court costs for letting it go to warrant.  Secondly, depending on the charge, there may be collateral consequences for pleading no contest.  Pleading no contest to driving while license invalid, no drivers license, or failure to maintain financial responsibility where you already have one conviction could trigger a license suspension and will cause surcharges on your license to be assessed. If you did not have an eligible driver’s license at the time you got a moving violation, and you pay it, this could trigger a DPS departmental suspension of your license because you are admitting by paying the ticket and pleading no contest that you were driving without a license. 

2)      You can post bond with the court and put your case back on the docket.  This will allow you to speak with the prosecutors at a court date and negotiate to pay less and potentially keep it off your record, avoiding any collateral consequences that could come with a conviction. This may be an expensive undertaking as bond in some courts can be double the fine.

3)      You can hire an attorney to designate on your cases and put them back on the docket.  Usually this is done by sending a letter to the court in which the attorney says s/he’s going to be responsible for the case.  Sometimes, the attorney has to post an attorney surety bond with the court.  Once this happens, the warrant will be rescinded, and the attorney will appear in court for you, speak with the prosecutor in that court, and get a deal worked out for you.  Many times this deal will allow you to keep a conviction for the Class C off your record and will be cheaper to resolve than just simply paying the ticket. I am available to do this work across the state of Texas.

II.                 Commitment Warrants – Satisfying the Judgment

If you receive a Class C ticket and there has been a judgment -- ie, you have pled no contest or been convicted at trial – you have to pay or otherwise satisfy that judgment. If you do not, a “commitment” will issue.  This is a kind of warrant.  At that point the ticket is no longer “open”.  It is in “commitment” status.  That means you cannot change your mind under most circumstances and change what you agreed to pay or even that you agreed to pay.  Its done; you simply have to fulfill your obligation as agreed.

If you’ve already pled on your citation and have agreed to pay, but you cannot, you can sometimes go back to the court and ask to be put on a payment plan for an amount you can pay per month.  Often times this agreement will be enough for the court to rescind the warrant.  In extreme circumstances, you can ask the court to find you indigent and allow you to do community service at a non profit, non religious, non political charitable organization.  If you are asking for a court to find you indigent, it is important to bring documentation to support your claim you are indigent.  Tax returns, pay stubs, or proof that you receive government assistance can help prove to the court that you are indigent. You can also get jail credit applied to these tickets if you have been to jail while these warrants were active – even if it is was not holding you or you were not arrested on these warrants specifically.  How much credit a day in jail will give you depends on the court.

It is easier by far to take care of warrants prior to hearing the knock on your door.  At that point, your only option will be to pay the ticket or go to jail for several hours or even a few days depending on the jurisdiction.  Don’t wait for that to happen. If you would like to speak with me regarding your Class C warrants, I am happy to do a free phone consultation to run down what your options are. 

Theft of Property: the truth on shoplifting

Theft of Property (ie “Shoplifiting”):  Some Issues to Keep in Mind

I defend many, many people accused of theft of property, what we casually call “shoplifting”.

I see some common themes in these cases that I will try to address here.

You are really gambling when you attempt to shoplift out of a big store.  Walmart, Target, HEB, and department stores all take loss prevention very seriously and spend a great deal of money on technology and staff to try to stop shoplifting.  They may not get you every single time but they might and if you make a habit out of it you will get caught. 

There are security cameras all over the big stores.  They may be being monitored from somewhere else in the store.  There are people in the aisles in plain clothes that work for the stores that are watching people.  Unfortunately, if you are a person of color they are probably watching you with more suspicion.  It is not fair, but you need to be aware of it. 

If they see you conceal items, they aren’t going to stop you at first.  You may get some confidence and feel like no one knows.  However, the reason they aren’t doing anything to you is because it is not illegal to conceal items in the store.  You haven’t broken the law yet so there’s no reason for them to stop you or get your attention.  It is not illegal until you walk past “all points of sale” and attempt to leave with the concealed items.  That’s when you’ve broken the law and if they know you have items that you have not payed for, loss prevention officers will make an attempt to detain you.

Yes, it is legal for them to detain you.  They can detain you to prevent the theft of items even if they aren’t peace officers.  Any private citizen can use force in Texas to stop a theft of property. They can use force to detain you.  Do not fight them.  Do not use force to try to get past them.  If you do, you can be charged with assault, or worse, robbery.  It’s not worth it.

They will detain you until the police arrive.  All the big chains always pursue charges against you for theft.  Some of the little ones may let you go if they recover the property but they don’t have to do so.  And yes, even if they get the property back you can still be charged with theft if you attempted to leave the store with the items. 

If the items are under $100 when they ring them up at the register, they will charge you with a Class C misdemeanor theft, write you a ticket with a court date – that you should not blow off – and let you go.  If it’s above $100 but below $500, it’s a Class B misdemeanor.  The police have the option of arresting you and taking you to jail, but the officer may also write you a Class B cite and release.  This is not a Class C ticket.  This is a citation to return to court to bond out on a personal bond on a Class B misdemeanor with a court date in County Court.  Do not blow this off or you will also be charged with a Class A misdemeanor of Failure to Appear/Bail Jumping.  If you get charged with both the theft and the FTA, when you get arrested you will have to bond out on both and it complicates the entire process and costs you more money. 

Shoplifting is a bad idea.  This is a crime of poverty but it’s not usual to see people stealing food and necessary items.  Sunglasses seem to be a very commonly shoplifted item, along with makeup, underwear, and other small items.  DVDs and small electronics are also common and can run in value up to a resulting Class A misdemeanor or state jail felony charge.

Be very careful:  a theft, even in the Class B range, with three or more convictions prior to the date of arrest can result in you being indicted on a state jail felony theft.  The punishment range on a state jail felony is six months up to two years in the state jail.

Call me today if you are charged with theft of property. 

What is a 12.45?

Article 12.45:  What is a 12.45 and what does it mean to you?

Texas Penal Code 12.45 reads:

“Sec. 12.45.  ADMISSION OF UNADJUDICATED OFFENSE.  (a)  A person may, with the consent of the attorney for the state, admit during the sentencing hearing his guilt of one or more unadjudicated offenses and request the court to take each into account in determining sentence for the offense or offenses of which he stands adjudged guilty.

(b)  Before a court may take into account an admitted offense over which exclusive venue lies in another county or district, the court must obtain permission from the prosecuting attorney with jurisdiction over the offense.

(c)  If a court lawfully takes into account an admitted offense, prosecution is barred for that offense.”

What does this mean? 

In practice, what this means is that if you have multiple pending charges, one or more of these could be “12.45’d” into one offense to which you actually plead guilty and are sentenced. This would mean that you would not be punished for the offenses that are “12.45’d” and those charges would essentially be discharged. They would remain unadjudicated and you would never again be prosecuted for them.

You are not pleading guilty to the offenses that are “12.45’d”.  You are pleading guilty and are being punished for one of your other charges but these are basically being folded into the charge to which you are pleading.

Some issues with 12.45:

The state has to recommend a 12.45 in your case.  The judge cannot do it on his/her own.  A defense attorney cannot ask a judge for a 12.45.  It absolutely requires the state’s recommendation and approval.

A 12.45 disposition on a case is not a dismissal.  Your record will not reflect a dismissal.  You will not be able to tell employers that the case was dismissed.  Your record will reflect that these are unadjudicated.

This means that you are not eligible for an expunction of a 12.45 disposition case.  Because the charge will remain unadjudicated, and not dismissed, it does not fall within the parameters of cases that can be expunged. 

One great thing about a 12.45 is that the case cannot be used for enhancement purposes.  If a DWI is “12.45’d” your next DWI will not be enhanced with the DWI that is “12.45’d” for example.

Lastly, a case cannot be “12.45’d” into a case in which you are getting deferred adjudication.  You can only 12.45 a case into a final conviction.

If you have multiple charges, a 12.45 of some of the charges may be possible.  Call me today for a consultation on how a 12.45 might be best in your case.  

Why you should go to court on Class C misdemeanors

Why you should always keep your court dates:  a series in three parts 

The consequences of failing to appear on Class C misdemeanors

It is common in my work to come across clients who have outstanding warrants on Class C misdemeanors.  Class C misdemeanors are the lowest level of misdemeanors in Texas; they are punishable by fine only and not jail.  They include minor criminal offenses like Public Intoxication and Possession of Drug Paraphrenalia and all traffic offenses like speeding and failure to yeild right of way.

When you receive a citation or “ticket” for a Class C misdemeanor, you will get a court date on that citation for when you should either appear or contact the court and ask for options on how to resolve the case.  If you wish to speak with a prosecutor about the case, which is a better option often times than simply pleading no contest and paying the fine, as I have explained elsewhere, you will get another court date on which to appear. 

If you do not appear or make arrangements with the court to reolve the matter, there will be consequences that can adversely affect your life. 

First, you will be charged with a second Class C misdmeanor of “Failure to Appear”.  This is a negative consequence as it will be yet another citation you will have to resolve with the court.  It may cost you more money as you may have to pay an additional fine. 

Second, warrants will be issued for your arrest.  If you ever have an encounter with law enforcement in that jurisdiction, you may be arrested on these warrants even though they are Class C misdemeanors.  You may spend some time in jail on these charges even though they are not punishable by jail time.  You may eventually be released with a court date or you may be ordered to “sit out” the fines if you plead guilty at magistration.

Now, these are the most obvious of the consequences.  There are more that are far more obscure and less publicized and may surprise you. 

If these tickets – both the original citation and the failure to appear – are entered in the OMNI database, you will be refused the ability to renew your driver’s license and register your vehicle, which could lead to more criminal citations like DWLI and expired registration.  You will have to resolve these citations before you are allowed to renew your driver’s license and registation.

Resolving these citations may be more difficult if they get “old”.   Fees, such as collection fees, may drive up what you owe.  You will also be charged warrant and OMNI fees -- $50 warrant fee and $30 OMNI fee per ticket for a total of $80 – that must be paid when the tickets are resolved.  You will often not be allowed to negotiate the fines and fees if the tickets are “old” and are in the OMNI database and/or are in collections.  You will not be allowed a deferral.  You will have to pay the amounts in full.  The only way around this is to hire an attorney to post bonds and get these cases back on the docket, which will cost you money.

It may seem like it is the best solution to just ignore your citations.  You may feel like you don’t have the money to take care of them or the time.  However, avoidance of the citations will lead to the situation getting much worse.  If you cannot afford to pay a citation, you can perhaps ask for community service in leiu of payment.  Don’t just put your head in the sand and expect the ctiations to go away – they won’t. 

If you are struggling with outstanding warrants on Class C violations, OMNI holds, and the like, I am here to help.  I can usually save clients money and time, and get them out of the morass of unpaid tickets.  But what is even better is to take care of ctiations in a timely manner so you don’t need someone like me to fix it after it’s become an unsolvable problem.

Why Its Important to Go To Court on Class A and Class B misdemeanors

Why it is important to go to court on your court dates:  part two --- Class A and B misdemeanors

In this article I am going to run down what happens if you miss a court date on a Class A or Class B misdemeanor.  I will talk about Travis County specifically and then in general terms about possibilities throughout the state of Texas.

None of the consequences of missing a court date on a Class A or Class B misdemeanor are good and they should be avoided at all costs.  If you are facing emergency circumstances, you should contact your lawyer if you have one or the court you are supposed to report to if you do not have a lawyer and explain the circumstances.  Simply not showing up will result in things that can lead to you spending more time in jail than necessary.

Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear:  If you have been charged with a Class B or Class A misdemeanor and miss a court date, you could very well be charged with an additional Class A misdemeanor of Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear.  The court staff has to go through a procedure to ensure you are indeed not present in order to charge you with this, but regardless of whether or not you are technically guilty, being charged with this will complicate your life.  You will have a warrant out on the new charge of Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear and probably on the underlying original charge as well, and you are risking arrest on both.  If you are arrested on both charges, even in Travis County it will be very unlikely you will get a personal bond.  You will have to use a bail bondsman to post a surety bond on both cases, which costs you much more money than just bonding out on the original charge. 

Being charged with Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear is not likely in Travis County except in one instance.  This is only charged when you are given a cite and release – explained in other articles, this is when you are given a citation on a Class B or Class A misdemeanor instead of going to jail and given a court date to report in a Justice of the Peace court – and you do not show up.  In this instance, the County Attorney will file a Bail Jumping and Failure to Appear charge and you will be expected to post bond on this and the original charge in order to bond out if arrested. 

Bond Forfeiture: If you are out on bond for a Class A or Class B misdemeanor – either personal or surety bond – and you fail to appear for court, your posted bond will be “forfeited”.  This means you no longer have a good bond.  A warrant will be issued for your arrest. 

In Travis County, the County Attorney will file a civil suit against you if you are out on personal bond for the full amount of the bond set when you were originally magistrated.  You may get a default judgment against you if you do not file an answer to this civil suit.  It may go to collections or be placed on your credit report.  It is easy to settle these suits for much less than the full amount but you will still have to pay something.  You may not be able to get the warrant withdrawn and get back on the court’s docket in good standing with a good bond if there is a civil suit.  It is up to the court.  Some will expect you to settle the civil suit first. If you are out on surety bond, the civil suit will be filed against your bail bondsman and in turn, your bail bondsman will seek to get the money they pay to settle it from you. 

If you have a bond forfeiture and are arrested on the warrant that was issued, a new and higher bond will be set and you will not be eligible for personal bond.  No judge except the no one presiding over your case will be inclined to release you except in rare circumstances – so if you are arrested on a weekend you will be there until Monday when the judges come back.  You will have to hire an attorney except in rare circumstances to ask the judge to do a bond forfeiture set aside, reinstate your bond, release you on the reinstated bond, and put you back on the docket with another court date. 

In some places around Texas, both a new Bail Jumping/Failure to Appear charge will be filed and a bond forfeiture will be entered.  It is very complicated to sort this out and you may not have a method of being released except posting a new surety bond. 

The moral of the story is:  don’t miss court and if you do, tell the court your circumstances – which have to be an emergency – prior to not showing up.  Don’t just throw your hands up and hope for the best.  You will not like what happens.

If you have a bond forfeiture or warrants out on an original charge and Bail Jumping/Failure to Appear – call me today.  I’m happy to help.