How To Get Failure To Appear Dismissed Texas

Failure to Appear / Bail Jumping

The Failure to Appear in court for a required court appointment in a criminal example is oftentimes called "bail jumping." Bail jumping is a divide offense under Texas Penal Code § 38.10. To back up a conviction for this offense, the evidence must prove that the defendant, who was released from custody on condition that he or she after announced, intentionally or knowingly failed to appear, in accordance with the terms of her release.

Failure to appear is a misdemeanor, just information technology is enhanced to a 3rd-degree felony if the offense for which the accused's appearance was required was a felony. Id. § 38.10(f).

Houston Failure to Appear Lawyer

If you missed a court appointment or are defendant of "bail jumping," contact an experienced criminal defense attorney. Matt Horak represents clients charged with bond jumping and the failure to appear in courtroom throughout the greater Houston area including Harris County and in The Woodlands in Montgomery Canton, Texas.

Telephone call Horak Police force today at (713) 225-8000 or toll-free at [phone-tollfree] in you are in Houston, Leap, Pasadena, Baytown, Tomball or anywhere in Harris or Montgomery Counties.

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Bail Jumping Problems in Harris Canton

• Bail Jumping Under Texas Section 38.10
• Statute of Limitations for Bail Jumping
• Defenses to a Failure to Announced
• Felony Bail Jumping Charges

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Bail Jumping Nether Texas Department 38.10

Texas Penal Lawmaking Ann. 38.10(a) provides: "A person lawfully released from custody, with or without bail, on condition that he subsequently appear commits an criminal offence if he intentionally or knowingly fails to appear in accordance with the terms of his release."

The elements of the offense of bond jumping are as follows:

1. a person;
2. released from custody;
3. conditioned upon appearing again;
4. intentionally or knowingly;
5. fails to appear in accordance with the terms of his release."

See Yuncevich v. Land, 626 S.W.2d 784, 785 (Tex. Crim. App. 1982).

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Statute of Limitations for Bail Jumping

The statute of limitations for bail jumping is 3 years. See Tex.Lawmaking Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 12.01(7). The courts have held that the statutes of limitations should exist "liberally interpreted in favor of repose" as it is intended to:

limit exposure to criminal prosecution to a certain fixed menstruum of time post-obit the occurrence of those acts the legislature has decided to punish by criminal sanctions. Such a limitation is designed to protect individuals from having to defend themselves against charges when the basic facts may have become obscured by the passage of time and to minimize the danger of official punishment because of acts in the far-distant past. Such a time limit may also accept the salutary issue of encouraging law enforcement officials promptly to investigate suspected criminal activeness.

See State five. Ojiaku, 05-13-00840-CR, 2013 WL 6801041 (Tex. App. Dec. 23, 2013), petition for discretionary review refused (Apr. 9, 2014) (citing Toussie v. Usa, 397 U.S. 112, 114–15, 90 S.Ct. 858, 25 L.Ed.2d 156 (1970)).

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Defenses to a Failure to Appear

In many of these cases, the person accused of failing to announced will prove that they did not receive notice of the court date.

The courts take held that proof that the accused was gratuitous under an instanter bond is prima facie proof of notice to appear. Run across Solomon five. State, 999 Due south.Westward.2d 35, 37 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1999, no pet.). In these cases, the fact that the person is on bail is enough by itself to satisfy the prosecutor'due south burden of proving that appellant intentionally and knowingly failed to announced in accordance with the terms of the release unless appellant can found evidence to the contrary. Meet id.

If the person accused of failure to announced shows that he or she did not have notice, then the prosecutor for the State of Texas must produce further evidence sufficient to justify a rational factfinder in finding that appellant had actual notice, or engaged in a course of behave designed to avoid receiving notice. Southwardee Etchison v. Country, 880 S.Due west.2d 191, 192 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 1994, no pet.).

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Felony Bail Jumping Charges

The tertiary degree felony of bail jumping and failure to announced occurs when a person:

1. is lawfully released from custody with or without bail;
2. on a felony charge;
3. on the condition that he subsequently appear in court on that accuse; and
4. he or she intentionally and knowingly; and
5. fails to appear in courtroom in accordance with the terms of his release.

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Finding an Attorney for a Failure to Appear

If you failed to appear in courtroom then the court may issue a no bond warrant for your abort. Additionally, a carve up criminal charged tin can exist brought, especially if the pending charges are felony charges. If your failure to appear was a mistake or inadvertent, then contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Houston, TX.

Matt Horak can assist yous mount an aggressive defence force to fight the underlying criminal charges and new allegations of failure to appear or bail jumping. Phone call Horak Law today at (713) 225-8000 or toll-costless at [phone-tollfree] to hash out the case. Matt Horak represents clients on these serious felony and misdemeanor charges throughout Houston in Harris County and in The Woodlands in Montgomery Canton, Texas.

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Source: https://www.matthoraklaw.com/criminal-defense/failure-to-appear/

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