Criminal Defense Lawyers

If you are facing criminal charges and time in a Texas jail, then you need an experienced Austin criminal defense lawyer on your side. Whatever the nature of the offense that you have been charged with: assault, drunk driving, theft, drug charges, probation revocation, or any other misdemeanor or felony, you need an expert criminal defense attorney to handle your case.

Austin DWI/DUI Lawyers

If you have been charged with DWI, the consequences can be severe. A conviction could result in prison time, probation, and/or increased insurance premiums. A conviction can have devastating consequences for your job as well as your reputation. If you caused an accident while allegedly driving drunk, resulting in injury, you could face a personal injury lawsuit in addition to criminal charges of intoxicated assault and/or vehicular manslaughter.

Texas has some of the harshest penalties for drunk driving. If you have your driver’s license suspended for suspicion of drunk driving, the state can require you to pay a hefty sum to retain your license. In addition, DWI is the only misdemeanor offense in Texas for which deferred adjudication is not available.

An experienced Austin DWI attorney can increase your chance for an acquittal. This can be accomplished by attacking the validity of the field sobriety tests. A DWI conviction can leave you in financial crisis. Loss of your driver’s license can impose a heavy burden on you. You will need an expert Austin criminal lawyer to obtain an acquittal or dismissal of charges.

Domestic Violence Lawyers

If you have been accused of domestic violence, you could be looking at felony charges and prison time. Your employment record could be tarnished and you may have difficulty finding new employment.

It’s important that you have the right kind of representation. Domestic assault cases tend to carry very little sympathy from judges, prosecutors, and jurors, therefore you will need an aggressive Austin criminal law attorney to pursue your case and negotiate with the prosecution. Your criminal law attorney should be someone who has experience getting family violence cases dismissed or obtaining acquittals. If you have been charged with domestic assault, remember that a guilty plea can result in extended jail time, fines, and/or probation. If convicted, information regarding the domestic violence offense will be available to the public. Your conviction could remain on your criminal record for your lifetime.

Drug Charges

Texas has some of the harshest penalties for illicit drug use. If you have been charged with possession, manufacturing or distribution of a controlled substance (marijuana, cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, illegal prescription drugs, etc.), you will need an expert Austin criminal defense attorney to represent you.

An experienced attorney will be able to provide you with the best defense possible if you are charged with any offenses involving illegal drugs. The attorney can attempt to prove that the drugs seized were not illegal drugs, the person accused was not in possession of the drug, or the seizure of the drugs was in violation of the constitutional rights of the accused.

Illicit drugs are categorized differently, some carrying more severe penalties than others. Depending on the amount of the illegal drug, you could be charged with a misdemeanor or a severe felony. With a drug conviction comes potential jail time, fines, suspension of driver’s license, and a glaring criminal record. Many people with drug convictions encounter difficulties gaining employment as potential employers are often wary of applicants with a history of using drugs.

Your criminal defense attorney will conduct a thorough investigation of your case, including determination whether an informer was used by law enforcement to aid in your arrest. The attorney will investigate the validity of the information provided by such an informer and determine whether your 4th Amendment rights were violated in the process.

Sex Crimes

Under Texas law, sex crimes can cover a range of offenses, all carrying different ranges of punishment. Sex crimes can include rape, sexual assault, child molestation, statutory rape, indecent exposure, obscenity, possession of pornography and prostitution among others.

Texas has severe punishments for most sex crimes. If the offense involves a child or violence the penalties can be extreme, including the requirement that you register as a sex offender. Sometimes the court will require a defendant to register as a sex offender even without a conviction. For this reason and many more, it is extremely important that you have an experienced Austin criminal defense attorney working on your side so that allegations of sex offenses don’t permanently scar your record.

Usually, people who have been falsely accused of sex crimes against children tend to offer unconditional cooperation throughout the investigation process. What they don’t realize is that the cooperation in combination with the reprehensible nature of the offense, often leads to prosecution of the offense even though an experienced Austin criminal defense attorney could have helped you avoid prosecution all together. An attorney can investigate the facts and assist the prosecution in determining that they need to wind up their investigation without initiating any formal charges. If the evidence is submitted to a grand jury, your attorney can attempt to convince the grand jury to drop the case due to lack of sufficient evidence. Even if your case proceeds to trial, an experienced Austin criminal defense attorney can work to have your case dismissed or result in an acquittal. It is important to remember to avoid speaking with law enforcement without having your criminal defense attorney present. For instance, innocent people often agree to a polygraph test only to find out the results were a false positive, which can give the impression of guilt. It is always important to consult your lawyer before you talk to police or agree to providing statements or undergoing tests.


Juvenile Offenses

If your child is accused of a crime, the choices you make right now can affect their life forever.
The Texas juvenile law system is very different from the adult criminal justice system. Children have different rights and different punishments. However, many of the crimes are the same, and a child can be charged with anything from DWI to murder. An experienced Austin criminal defense attorney can help you with all kinds of charges, including DWI, assault, theft, sexual assault, and drug offenses.

After being convicted of a juvenile charge, there a few different possibilities. A child can be placed back in the home under probation, or can be taken from the home and placed in the Texas Youth Commission. Also, a conviction can affect the child's chances of getting into schools and getting good jobs.

If you need a lawyer who will treat your family with attention and compassion while vigorously fighting the charges, White & Measells today.

Expunctions

Texas law allows for a person charged with a criminal offense to, in some scenarios, expunge the record of his or her arrest. This is attainable if (1) the person was not indicted for a felony arising from the arrest, or (2) the person was indicted for a felony, but the indictment was dismissed due to false information, mistake or other absence of probable cause.

If you have been arrested and either had the charge dismissed or received an acquittal, you may be eligible for an expunction provided all the following are true: you has not been convicted of a felony within the five years preceding the arrest sought to be expunged, you were not convicted of the criminal offense for which you were arrested, you were not ordered by a court to complete community supervision (probation) for that crime.

If you have been arrested for a Class C misdemeanor (such as speeding, public intoxication, or minor in possession), you may have the arrest expunged if you receive deferred adjudication for the alleged offense. Deferred adjudication means a final conviction is not entered against you while you complete a probationary period. Thereafter, the charge is dismissed, but the arrest remains on your record unless expunged.

There are several advantages to having a criminal offense expunged. Job and other types of applications often ask "Have you ever been arrested for a criminal offense?" If you have had an arrest expunged, you may answer no, and may also deny the expunction. (Note, however, that many law enforcement, security and military agencies expect applicants to disclose even expunged arrests; failure to do so may result in termination. Such is also the case for people applying for a license from such entities as the State Bar of Texas or the State Board of Medical Examiners.)