Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

We hired a private attorney for my son. My son was arrested for Burglary of Habitation, Agg robbery, Agg Assault causing serious bodily harm... After reviewing the statement by the witness who says in "1" statement she opened the door when she saw my son and two of his friends who was also friends of hers. In another statement she said she opened the door not knowing who was out there while her boyfriend was in the bedroom. Now once my son and his friends are in the home a fight broke out in "1" of the girls statement she said the boyfriend was in the bedroom and came out and my son and one of the friend jumped the boyfriend while the 3rd friend held her to the ground. Now the boyfriend was beat up and was bleeding from the back. The police was called and the boyfriend did not want to press charges and stated he did not know he was bleeding. In the boyfriend statement he said he did not know who stabbed him or that if he was stabbed. He did however, said that he knew my son was there because of his height....not mentioning that my son was one of the boys that had beat him up.. Now as I said I hired a private attorney after having a court appointed for 5 months. Over a period of the 5 months around the 6th month one of the friends was arrested who stayed in jail for 3 months and was offered a deal of plea guilty to Agg Assault causing seriously bodily harm 3 years probation deferred adjudification community service and 1200 fine.. He had a court appointed attorney. THE 2ND FRIEND was arrested on the 7th month while my son is STILL in jail 30 days later he was offered the same deal!!!! Now my question is now that they are offering my son the same deal I feel as thou his PRIVATE ATTORNEY should have countered with the given evidence and if anything if not dismissed because of the no evidence, the courts has not been able to get intouch with the victim or witness, the 3 conflicting statements. My son case should be dismissed or better yet a misdemeanor criminal trespass.. Our attorney said the final offer is 3rd degree felony attempted burglary.. Oh did I mention there was nothing mentioned that anything was stolen or even a threat of a robbery. When reading the statements it looks as thou the witness was saying she was the victim instead of the boyfriend. And there was no weapons no medical report as far as we know the boyfriend could had fallen on something..PLEASE TELL ME WHAT CAN I POSSIBLY DO?? It just doesn't seem like we are being appropriately represented. Why should my son get the same punishment if our attorney has this kind of information??!!! PLEASE HELP


Asked on 5/09/11, 9:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sharita Blacknall The Law Offices of Sharita Blacknall, PC

I cannot give you advise regarding your son's case in this type of setting. However, I can provide you with some general information for educational purposes only.

When a prosecutor will not give a criminal defense attorney a dismissal or a plea agreement that is acceptable to the defendant, the criminal defense attorney's remedy is to set the case for trial in most instances. Once the case has been set for trial, a pre-trial hearing can be requested. If there are legal grounds for exclusion of certain evidence, some of these issues can be addressed during pre-trial with the filing of pre-trial motions.

It is important to understand that negotiation with a prosecutor is an art and not a science. There are many things that come into play. Some of the factors include: the type of verdicts for the particular crime in the jurisdiction that the case is in, the personality and skill level of both the prosecutor and the criminal defense attorney involved, the agreement of the alleged victim to whatever the prosecutor and the criminal defense attorney are attempting to agree to, the facts of the case, and the history of the defendant compared to that of the other co-defendants.

Whenever a person is dissatisfied with the representation of an attorney, the person should discuss their concerns with the attorney in question in order to give that attorney an opportunity to correct the issues. If it is determined that the two can no longer work together then other counsel can be sought if the Court will allow a substitution. Sometimes if it is too late in the game the Judge will not allow a substitution.

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Answered on 5/10/11, 10:48 am


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