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State Crime Process | Houston Criminal Laws

Dan Cogdell | 748 Views | 09/09/2015

State Crime Process in Texas

You’ve been charged with a state crime here in the state of Texas, and you want to know what the process is, how long does it take? what does it involve? What should I expect? Hello, my name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a criminal defense lawyer here in the state of Texas.

In state case here in Texas, there is generally four or five different settings that all cases usually go through.

Arraignment Setting

The first is an arraignment setting. At the arraignment setting your lawyer gets a copy of the charging instrument against you, and you learn exactly what the nature of the allegation is. In that first setting, the arraignment setting, your lawyer will generally also get a copy or at least ask for a copy of the offense report. In the state of Texas now, at least after January 1st of 2014, you’re actually entitled by statute to get a copy of the offense report that law enforcement has. It’s a great tool, it’s a great aid.

Non-Issue Setting

The second type of setting, generally speaking, is what’s called a non-issue setting. Usually that setting is four to six weeks or so after the first setting, and at that non-issue setting it’s typically a situation where your lawyer confers with the opposition, confers with the DA, and gets an update on what the new evidence is, where the case is going, how compelling the case is, and so forth.

Disposition Setting

The third type of setting in a Texas state case, usually is called a disposition setting. It’s at this second or third, or sometimes fourth setting, that generally speaking the parties have an idea if the case is headed to a trial, or if the case is headed to a plea, or if the case is likely to get dismissed. But at disposition setting, usually the judge wants some sort of feedback, some information as to how the case is likely going to be decided. The next setting, usually, is a pretrial conference setting. And at that setting, if your lawyer has filed any motions or needs any legal rulings or assistance from the court, it’s at this setting, the pretrial conference setting, when the lawyer seeks that sort of relief from the judge.

Trial Setting

The last type of setting in Texas is generally either a trial setting or a setting for a plea agreement. Know this, if your case is set for trial, you need to be prepared, and your lawyer needs to be prepared to go to trial on that day. Having said that, not all cases always get tried on the first trial setting. Sometimes it takes two, or three, or four, or even more trial settings to actually get reached on the docket, because there are so many other cases set for trial. Again, it’s depending upon the judge. Some judges set cases preferentially, and especially some don’t. If your case is set for a plea, or a plea agreement, or to be resolved by a plea bargain agreement, the judge expects it to be resolved on that day. So should your case get set for a plea, don’t come to court expecting it to get reset, or continued, or dismissed.

Now understand, all of these settings are generally speaking. It’s an overview of what usually happens in a case. It is always case-specific how your case gets resolved or handled, it may be very different than what I’ve just outlined. I know you’re going to have additional questions. I know you’re going to need additional answers. Call me here, I can help, it’s what we do. My name is Dan Cogdell. Thank you for listening.

By: Dan Cogdell

State Crime Process | Houston Criminal Laws

State Crime Process in Texas

You’ve been charged with a state crime here in the state of Texas, and you want to know what the process is, how long does it take? what does it involve? What should I expect? Hello, my name is Dan Cogdell. I’m a criminal defense lawyer here in the state of Texas.

In state case here in Texas, there is generally four or five different settings that all cases usually go through.

Arraignment Setting

The first is an arraignment setting. At the arraignment setting your lawyer gets a copy of the charging instrument against you, and you learn exactly what the nature of the allegation is. In that first setting, the arraignment setting, your lawyer will generally also get a copy or at least ask for a copy of the offense report. In the state of Texas now, at least after January 1st of 2014, you’re actually entitled by statute to get a copy of the offense report that law enforcement has. It’s a great tool, it’s a great aid.

Non-Issue Setting

The second type of setting, generally speaking, is what’s called a non-issue setting. Usually that setting is four to six weeks or so after the first setting, and at that non-issue setting it’s typically a situation where your lawyer confers with the opposition, confers with the DA, and gets an update on what the new evidence is, where the case is going, how compelling the case is, and so forth.

Disposition Setting

The third type of setting in a Texas state case, usually is called a disposition setting. It’s at this second or third, or sometimes fourth setting, that generally speaking the parties have an idea if the case is headed to a trial, or if the case is headed to a plea, or if the case is likely to get dismissed. But at disposition setting, usually the judge wants some sort of feedback, some information as to how the case is likely going to be decided. The next setting, usually, is a pretrial conference setting. And at that setting, if your lawyer has filed any motions or needs any legal rulings or assistance from the court, it’s at this setting, the pretrial conference setting, when the lawyer seeks that sort of relief from the judge.

Trial Setting

The last type of setting in Texas is generally either a trial setting or a setting for a plea agreement. Know this, if your case is set for trial, you need to be prepared, and your lawyer needs to be prepared to go to trial on that day. Having said that, not all cases always get tried on the first trial setting. Sometimes it takes two, or three, or four, or even more trial settings to actually get reached on the docket, because there are so many other cases set for trial. Again, it’s depending upon the judge. Some judges set cases preferentially, and especially some don’t. If your case is set for a plea, or a plea agreement, or to be resolved by a plea bargain agreement, the judge expects it to be resolved on that day. So should your case get set for a plea, don’t come to court expecting it to get reset, or continued, or dismissed.

Now understand, all of these settings are generally speaking. It’s an overview of what usually happens in a case. It is always case-specific how your case gets resolved or handled, it may be very different than what I’ve just outlined. I know you’re going to have additional questions. I know you’re going to need additional answers. Call me here, I can help, it’s what we do. My name is Dan Cogdell. Thank you for listening.

By: Dan Cogdell