Can a violent crime charge be beaten in Texas?
Often, yes. These cases turn on three questions: what actually happened, who started it, and what the State can prove. Texas law justifies force, and sometimes deadly force, when you reasonably believed it was immediately necessary to protect yourself or someone else. Add conflicting witness accounts, missing video, and charges filed at the highest level the facts might support, and there is usually more room to fight than the arrest paperwork suggests.
The State's case is built in the first days. So is yours.
Assault and homicide cases take shape fast. Detectives interview witnesses while memories are fresh, collect phone and surveillance video, photograph injuries, and write the report prosecutors will lean on for months. If nobody is gathering evidence for your side during that same window, the only version of events in the file is the one against you.
That is why the hours after an arrest matter so much. If you or a family member was just taken in, start with our guide to the first 48 hours after a Dallas arrest. And because violent charges often come with high bonds and strict conditions, our plain-English walkthrough of bail bonds in Dallas County explains how release works and what to expect at magistration.
Violent crime charges we defend
- Assault under Tex. Penal Code §22.01, from offensive contact to assault causing bodily injury
- Assault family violence, including impeding-breath allegations and repeat-offense enhancements
- Aggravated assault under Tex. Penal Code §22.02, involving serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon
- Deadly conduct, including firearm discharge allegations
- Robbery and aggravated robbery
- Manslaughter under Tex. Penal Code §19.04 and criminally negligent homicide
- Murder under Tex. Penal Code §19.02
Some accusations pair a violent count with a sexual allegation. Those cases carry registry exposure and their own rules of evidence, and we handle them through our sexual offenses defense practice.
Tell us what happened as soon as possible.
Sometimes the best evidence can disappear if you wait to retain a lawyer. Free, confidential, and you get a straight answer about where you stand.
Self-defense in Texas: what Chapter 9 actually says
Texas justification law lives in Tex. Penal Code ch. 9, and it is broader than most people expect. You may use force against another person when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself against that person's use or attempted use of unlawful force. The same protection extends to defending a third person, including a family member, when you reasonably believe they would be justified in defending themselves.
Force versus deadly force
Ordinary force answers ordinary force. Deadly force is justified only when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect against another's use or attempted use of deadly force, or to prevent certain violent felonies such as murder, aggravated robbery, or sexual assault. Reasonableness is judged from your position in the moment, not from a calm courtroom months later.
The castle doctrine, in plain words
If someone unlawfully and with force enters or tries to enter your occupied home, vehicle, or workplace, Texas law presumes your belief that force was necessary is reasonable. You do not have to wait to find out what the intruder intends.
No duty to retreat
If you had a right to be where you were, were not committing a crime, and did not provoke the other person, Texas does not require you to back away before defending yourself. A jury cannot be asked to hold your decision to stand your ground against you.
One caution: self-defense is won with evidence, not with a statement to detectives. Once self-defense is properly raised, the State must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But an unprepared interview at the station is how good self-defense cases get damaged. Talk to a lawyer first.
Family violence cases: when the complaining witness wants to drop it
Many Dallas assault cases begin with a 911 call that one or both people regret by morning. Families are often surprised to learn that an affidavit of non-prosecution does not automatically end the case. In Texas, the State presses charges, not the complaining witness. Prosecutors in Dallas County routinely move forward without the alleged victim's cooperation, sometimes using the 911 recording and bodycam footage in place of live testimony. An affidavit can still help, but as one piece of a strategy, not an off switch.
Bond conditions are the other trap. A magistrate's no-contact order or an emergency protective order can bar you from your own home and from any contact with your spouse or partner. Violating those conditions is a new offense and grounds to revoke your bond, even if the protected person invites the contact. The safe path is to ask the court to modify the conditions, which we can request early in the case.
A family violence finding also carries consequences that outlast the sentence: it ends your right to possess a firearm under federal law, and it turns a future allegation into a felony. Fighting the finding itself is often as important as fighting the punishment.
Penalties by charge level
| Charge | Level | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Assault causing bodily injury | Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year county jail, up to $4,000 fine |
| Assault family violence, prior conviction or impeding breath | 3rd-degree felony | 2 to 10 years prison, up to $10,000 fine |
| Aggravated assault | 2nd-degree felony | 2 to 20 years prison, up to $10,000 fine |
| Robbery | 2nd-degree felony | 2 to 20 years prison, up to $10,000 fine |
| Manslaughter | 2nd-degree felony | 2 to 20 years prison, up to $10,000 fine |
| Aggravated robbery | 1st-degree felony | 5 to 99 years or life, up to $10,000 fine |
| Murder | 1st-degree felony | 5 to 99 years or life, up to $10,000 fine |
A deadly weapon finding restricts parole eligibility. A family violence finding affects firearm rights and future charges. Felony convictions touch employment, housing, licenses, and immigration status. Where the case lands inside these ranges, or whether it stays a felony at all, is what the defense work decides.
Why people hire Peter Barrett for violent crime charges
- 31 years of Texas criminal trial work, including more than 150 jury trials
- Focuses his practice on criminal defense, in Texas state courts and federal court
- Past President of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (2005)
- Your case stays with Peter personally, from the first call through trial
- Bilingual practice. Hablamos Español.
- Free, confidential case review before you spend anything
Evidence has a shelf life
Surveillance systems at bars, apartments, gas stations, and stores typically overwrite their footage within a few weeks, sometimes within days. 911 audio and bodycam video require timely requests, and witnesses scatter. The single most useful thing you can do after a violent crime arrest is get a defense investigation started before that evidence disappears.
Violent crime questions, answered
Will my assault case be dropped if the other person does not want to press charges?
Not automatically. In Texas, the State presses charges, not the complaining witness. An affidavit of non-prosecution is one factor prosecutors weigh, but Dallas County routinely moves forward without the alleged victim's cooperation. The affidavit can help as part of a larger defense strategy, but on its own it does not end the case.
What counts as self-defense in Texas?
Under Tex. Penal Code ch. 9, you may use force when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself against someone else's unlawful force. Deadly force is justified only against deadly force or certain violent felonies. If you had a right to be there, were not committing a crime, and did not provoke the encounter, you had no duty to retreat.
What is the difference between assault and aggravated assault?
Assault under Tex. Penal Code §22.01 covers causing bodily injury, threatening imminent bodily injury, or offensive contact, and is usually a misdemeanor. Aggravated assault under Tex. Penal Code §22.02 adds serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon and is a felony.
Can I go home if my bond says no contact with my spouse?
Not until a court changes the order. Violating a no-contact condition or protective order is a new offense and grounds for bond revocation, even if the protected person invites the contact. Ask the court to modify the conditions instead. We can file that request early in the case.
Should I tell police it was self-defense?
Not without a lawyer. Self-defense is decided on details: who advanced, what was said, what you reasonably believed in that moment. An unprepared statement locks you into one version before you have seen any evidence. Say you are remaining silent, ask for a lawyer, and let your attorney raise self-defense the right way.