Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

My question is if i will need a defense attorney or if i should just get a court appointed attorney. I have a Class B Theft charge on my hands. A defense attorney will run me $750 to fight my case. Although, im at the point where im about to turn myself in and pay a cash bond, so I can just get booked and get released. Ive already made a voluntary statement saying what I stole, and why I stole it. The statement was taken to a judge and a warrant is now out for my arrest. Will it be necessary to hire a lawyer for $750 or should I just let them give me one? I have been very cooperative and gave the item back to the person I stole it from. An attorney explained that I will have to do 24 hrs of community service, and a tips class before my court date, so I can get unsupervised probation, and eventually file for non disclosure, so the charge can be taken off my record. Please give me real advice, I know I did wrong, I just need to know what to do now. Thank you.


Asked on 3/05/13, 10:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

You only get a court appointed lawyer if you qualify, and making a cash bond means that you probably won't qualify. Your lawyer is telling you about getting a deferred. Talk to whoever you hire about the possibility of getting a pretrial diversion. Depends on the county and your situation but if given, you can later expunge your record. Remember, you get what you pay for.

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Answered on 3/05/13, 2:12 pm


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