Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

I am trying to find out if it is possible to file a Bill of Review in Municipal court in Texas? The clerk of the court mis-addressed a notice of a pretrial hearing (so I never received it)and then, when I didn't show up for it, the Judge found me guilty. I had requested a trial by jury and planned to go to trial on it. Five days after the pretrial,(by chance) I phoned the clerk to ask if there had been any actions in my case and the clerk told me "No" so the time I had for appealing was missed also. I recently visited the court to look through my case file and found a notation by the clerk about my phone call and I also found a copy of the mis-addressed notice.


Asked on 8/02/10, 1:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith Engelke Law Office of S. Keith Engelke

It may be possible. However you are getting into a complex area where simple mistake can ruin your case. I urge you to hire an attorney and discuss this with him or her. There are other options that may be available to resolve the issue. I'm not sure a judge can find a defendant guilty if the defendant is not present.

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Answered on 8/07/10, 2:07 pm


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