So You Got Arrested
The Texas justice system can be messy- we talk to the key players to uncover what really happens. Hosted by BRCK Criminal Defense Attorneys, this podcast dives into real stories and hard truths from inside the Texas criminal courts.
We explore what happens after an arrest, how charges are fought, and what it's like to face the court system in places like San Antonio, South Texas, Austin and the Texas Hill Country.
Whether you’ve been arrested, have a loved one in jail, or just want to understand the criminal defense process in Texas, this show gives you raw, unfiltered insight from criminal lawyers, legal experts, and those directly impacted by the system.
So You Got Arrested
San Antonio Criminal Court: What Happens on Your First Court Date
This episode of the "So You Got Arrested Podcast Show" is essential listening for anyone facing their initial appearance in the San Antonio criminal justice system. We break down the process step-by-step, from understanding the charges against you to navigating bail, setting future court dates, and the crucial role of legal representation. Gain valuable insights into what to expect, how to prepare, and the immediate decisions that can impact your case.
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The Texas justice system is messy. So let's break it down. You're listening to So You Got Arrested, the podcast that tells you what really happens after an arrest. Hosted by Brick Criminal Defense Attorneys, we talk to the people who've lived it, worked in it, and been shaped by it. Whether you're facing charges or just want to understand your rights, your options, and the smart moves that could change everything, we've got your back.
SPEAKER_02:So Scott, do you remember Spuds McKenzie? I do remember Spuds McKenzie. He was the original party animal. He was this little... Harrier dog who promoted Budweiser well when I was a kid I was about 10 years old I was a huge Spuds McKenzie fan and so I would always wear the Spuds McKenzie t-shirts to school and then at some point the school said hey you can no longer wear any t-shirts or clothing that promotes alcohol or tobacco so I had to put away my Spuds McKenzie t-shirts my Joe Camel satin jacket so I had one of those as well I guess my parents were doing a bang up job of raising me I put all that stuff away. But I was thinking the other day, you know, if I was to find one of those vintage Spuds McKenzie t-shirts, it may still fit. I don't know that I've grown a whole lot since I was 10 years old. And I was going to wear that t-shirt to court. Do you think that'd be a good idea or a bad idea? I
SPEAKER_00:don't think that makes the right first impression. I try to tell my clients to, I'm not saying wear a suit to court, but at least wear a shirt with a collar and slacks. We've had issues where our clients have shown up in shorts. That's a definite, they won't They don't let you in the courtroom with shorts. It's a problem.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. And we kind of touched on some of these issues in our last episode, but we did get some emails to our justarrestedpodcast at gmail.com. We had an email asking us for more information about what to expect when you go to court in Bexar County. So that's what we're going to address. You're listening to So You Just Got Arrested from Cuffs to Courts, answering your questions about what to expect when you go to court. So I want to talk about Bexar County specifically. And you bring a lot of experience to the table with that because you were a longtime prosecutor there. I want to talk about that first day in Bexar County Court. What do I wear? Where do I go? What can I expect? How long will I be there? So let's talk about Bexar County. Generally speaking, how do you know when your first court date is going to be?
SPEAKER_00:So usually when you get arrested and magistrated, they give you your court date when you leave. Now, when you have an attorney, your attorney We'll generally let you know. I know at Brick Defense, we let you know the day before. So you're going to get set for court every 30 to 60 days until the case is resolved one way or the other, whether we have to go to trial, whether we have to work it out. And so some courts, when you get your reset date, they just tell me and I tell you, but I make my client take his phone out. I make sure he puts it in his phone. Some courts make you sign a reset form and give you a copy of it. But you're responsible. I know when I was an attorney on my own. I would try to call my people, but you're all grownups. You're responsible to get to court.
SPEAKER_02:Now, is there a database or somewhere that people in Bexar County can look to figure out what their court date is?
SPEAKER_00:So if you Google Bexar County court records, the district clerk has a criminal records portal, and you go in there. Now, the tricky thing is, if your name is Richard Rodriguez, you're gonna pull up a whole bunch of stuff. Whereas your name, if it's something unusual, when you type in your name, last name, first name, it'll pull up all the court cases you have. So then you just click on that case. Every case when it first starts out is going to say the year that you were charged and then PF. What does PF stand for? Pre-file. Okay. So it'll say 2025 PF and then six numbers. After you're charged, that PF goes away and then it becomes in county court, it'll have a CC in the middle of it. In district court, it'll have a DC in the middle of it. So if
SPEAKER_02:you're a situation where maybe you're not the one accused, but maybe it's your son or your daughter and you just want to help them out or you want to make sure that they're doing the right thing and they're showing up on time, you can get on this website to get the information? Correct. You
SPEAKER_00:can look at the website, get the information. It tells you some other things like it's going to have your date of birth. It tells you what court to go to. It won't tell you what floor it's on, but we'll get to that in a second. But it'll tell you what your court date is. Now, one of the things I got to tell you is if you have a warrant for your arrest and It disappears from the public website. So if you had seen your court before and then all of a sudden you look and it's no longer in there, you must have missed something or messed something up because there's a warrant for your arrest and it's disappeared from the website.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So if your name is not appearing, then that may mean that you have a warrant out for your arrest.
SPEAKER_00:Now, I would caution you. So let's assume you've seen it before. Okay. Because there may be cases where you think you're charged, where the charges haven't actually been, like police tell you. There's people who call us and think they're charged, but they haven't actually been arrested yet. Okay. So they may not be in the system. Exactly right.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So let's say that they do find out when that first court date is through their bondsman, through the magistrate, through their attorney, and they have this first court date. What should they be wearing that day?
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So... Don't wear shorts. Wear a nice shirt. Don't wear a t-shirt that says something like legalized marijuana. Or Spuds McKenzie. Or Spuds McKenzie. I would say don't wear any t-shirt. I mean, I know a lot of people in the courthouse wear t-shirts. Maybe it's because I'm an old man and it's going to get off my lawn moment, but I just think you should wear, it can be a polo shirt with a collar on it, but t-shirts, because what it was, so somebody had this t-shirt that had a big political statement on it, you don't know what the politics are of the judge that you're in front of or the prosecutors in that court. So if you have something that's making a political statement and the prosecutor is responsible for deciding whether to go forward in your case or give you a good deal or not, sees that, all of a sudden they think differently about you. So don't be an idiot. Wear just a nice colored shirt and a nice pair of slacks and come to court early and walk in when the courtroom doors open and sit down and wait for your name to be called.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think the advice advice that I usually give to clients is don't wear anything that's going to bring attention to yourself right I mean you don't want the prosecutor saying is that your client back there that's wearing that whatever the whatever it may be right
SPEAKER_00:which is the so earlier you talked about so sometimes when there's people come in a full-blown suit right and that does bring attention to yourself because you're the only one sitting out there in a suit not that I won't criticize you for wearing a suit I'm just saying you're going to be the only one in there with a suit and look and it does make a good impression though because the opposite of what we said before the prosecutor the judge is sitting there saying geez one of those defendants they're in a suit they must be pretty professional so all of a sudden you have a different perception and you think well geez what is it they were charged with maybe that's a bullshit charge yeah
SPEAKER_02:you're bringing attention to yourself for the right reason in that circumstance so okay now people have decided okay this is what I'm going to wear to court I'm not going to wear the t-shirt I'm not going to wear the shorts I'm going to look professional where do they go so there's two courthouses in Bear County. Where are they going?
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so you go to the Justice Center, not the courthouse. The old Bear County courthouse is for the civil court. The Justice Center is 300 De La Rosa. The parking garage is right at the catty corner to it at Flores and Nueva. And so if you get there by like 830, you can get spots in the parking garage still. And then when you walk in, you have to clear security. So you can't bring a little pen knife with you. You're not going to be allowed to put that in. You can't bring mace and your pocketbook with you. You're not going to be allowed to bring that in. You're going to have to remove your belt when you go through security. Just think about it like you're going through airplane security. It's not as tight as airplane security, but imagine it like that. Okay, you're going to go through security, then you go through into the Justice Center, and at the bottom of the first steps, there's two big boards that have where each court's located.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, and so when we talk about going through security, things like that, I would imagine that it's important for people who have cases pending, it's their first time there, they don't know what to expect, maybe arrive a little early. Yeah, so if
SPEAKER_00:your court starts, some courts open at nine, some courts open at 9.30, County court nine doesn't call their docket till 10. So if you're thinking that I gotta be in the courtroom at nine, so let me roll up to the parking garage at 840 or 845, you're gonna be kinda tight. You gotta walk across the street, you gotta wait for the light, you gotta clear security, and sometimes there's 10 people in line in security, then you have to walk through into where it is and find out what court you're in, and then find the court. So it's a process.
SPEAKER_02:And sometimes, I always try to use use the old adage when I explain to clients about appearing in court that being in court 15 minutes early is on time and being on time is late. There are some
SPEAKER_00:judges who are more forgiving if you come in a little late. There are other judges that if you come in late, they're going to take you into temporary custody and put you in the box. Now, pretty much always, they're going to let you eventually get out of the box at the end of the morning, but you're going to be sitting there in custody in cuffs because you came late. And plus, let's not even... Remember, did you make a good impression now in your first appearance in court that you're sitting there in the box? Right. As we just talked about. Right.
SPEAKER_02:And sometimes, I know in Bexar County, when people arrive to court, sometimes the doors are locked.
SPEAKER_00:What does that mean? So all the courtroom doors are locked until the bailiff opens the courtroom doors for you to come in. They're not going to have you come in until the judge is getting ready to get on the bench and call the docket. So when you first go to your courthouse, to your courtroom, everybody's going to be sitting in benches outside waiting for the doors to come. So I generally have like four cases set every morning. So I'm running around like looking at each door to see which one opens first, which gets me to my next point. If you have an attorney, Don't be crying because he's not there because he's got four or five courts. You have to be in court on time. Your attorney does not. Your attorney has the whole morning to get there, and they're going to go to different courts. And a lot of times, if they're going to your court last, it's because they have the most to do in your court. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Now, when you go to court, if your loved ones go with you, are your loved ones going to be allowed in court?
SPEAKER_00:Generally not. Usually it's too crowded because of how many people are sat on that docket. It's not just you sitting on that docket that morning. So Usually, only the people who have cases pending can go into the courtroom. And then after around 1030, when people start to filter out and get their reset dates, then the deputy will let... family members come in. Every once in a while, it's a small docket and they'll let everybody in. But for the most part, the deputy will stand up and say, we're going to be crowded today. Only the people with cases, family members wait outside.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And that comes up a lot because we have a lot of circumstances where loved ones want to be there in support. The wives, the moms, the dads, the brothers and the sisters. And so they show up at the courthouse with their loved one in support of them.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And it's fine to be supportive. So one of the things... They're your charges. So we've talked about this many a time. Sometimes family members are pressuring you to do something that doesn't necessarily make sense. Remember, you're the one who has to pay the penalty if things don't go well, if you decide that you don't want to take what we think is a reasonable plea offer and you want to fight it, not because you think you want to fight it, because a family member is telling you you ought to fight it. Sure. Unless they're going to go serve the time with you, you better think twice about
SPEAKER_02:that kind of thing. So it's good that they're supportive, but at the same time, they're not. actually the one facing the charges like you are.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. I mean, there are better advice than the advice you got from the guy who's been to prison twice in the jail cell when you were first booked who thinks they know everything about the criminal justice system, but not much
SPEAKER_02:better. So you're in court now. You've been able to get in. Maybe your family is waiting outside in the hallway. As you get into the court, where should you sit?
SPEAKER_00:So it's open seating, but you can't be standing up. You can't have a hat on. So if you have a hat, you better take it off before you walk into the the courtroom and you just find yourself a seat and sit down. If
SPEAKER_02:you go in and you're wearing a hat or your cell phone goes off, what's the consequence of that?
SPEAKER_00:So if your cell phone goes off, sometimes the deputy may take the cell phone and hold on to it until you're done for the court for the day. I've had judges make them come back at five o'clock to pick up their cell phone. That was back when cell phones first started. I don't think that people do that anymore. We were around when no such
SPEAKER_02:thing as cell phones existed. I was around when they had pay phones outside the court. So that doesn't exist anymore. So once you've found your place to sit, at some point, the judge will come in. Yes. Now, when the judge comes in, what's expected of you?
SPEAKER_00:So when the judge comes in, the deputy or bailiff, the bailiff is a Bexar County deputy. And they'll say, all rise. Everybody stands up. And then when the judge takes their seat, the deputy will tell you to be seated.
SPEAKER_02:And then the judge takes the bench. And then now it's showtime.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So she's going to call her. He's going to call all the names on the docket, and when your name gets called, you have to stand up to answer here. If you don't stand up and you don't answer here, you may be marked absent and a warrant could go out for your arrest for not showing up to court.
SPEAKER_02:Now, I know that there's times where people are worried, like, hey, if I go to court, is the person on the other side of the case, maybe? Let's say this is a case involving a fight between two people. Are they going to be there? Domestic violence case.
SPEAKER_00:Whatever it is.
SPEAKER_02:Are they going to be there?
SPEAKER_00:No, they're not going to be there. Generally, that first setting, the... The first setting, the prosecutors, that's probably the first time they've ever touched that case. We can go into that in a little bit more depth after the break. But most of the time, that first setting is just to make sure you have an attorney. And that's all that's going to happen. You're going to be out of there within an hour and a half.
SPEAKER_02:And then a lot of times people worry, hey, at that first setting, am I going to get rearrested for this case?
SPEAKER_00:No, you're not going to get rearrested unless you didn't meet the conditions of your bondsman. So if your bondsman told you to call in every week, and you didn't call in every week, and then they got off your bond, now there's going to be a warrant for your arrest. So do what your bondsman tells you to do.
SPEAKER_02:And generally speaking, as long as you have an attorney who's experienced, they know what they're doing, they kind of take away some of that unknown and things that you might be fearing for that first court
SPEAKER_00:appearance. There's all kinds of things that we can't go through everything that can come up, but that's where our expertise comes in and we help walk you through it.
SPEAKER_02:So we're coming up on the break, but after the break, we're going to get to more of these topics of what to expect your first day in court. and Barrett County.
SPEAKER_01:The attorneys of Brick Criminal Defense have helped over 5,000 clients move on with their lives. When an arrest or accusation turns your life upside down, we have the knowledge, experience, and integrity to get your life back on track. Traditional legal ethics, modern legal tactics, the best defense possible to get you through the criminal justice system. Search Brick Criminal Defense to see our reviews and find out why so many of our clients have trusted us to fight for them. Brick Criminal Defense, helping our clients move on with their lives.
SPEAKER_02:So we're back at So You Just Got Arrested. From cuffs to courts, a discussion about what to expect when you get charged with a crime. Today's episode, we're talking about what you can expect in Bexar County. Are there issues that you see that apply to certain types of cases, complications that we have to deal with?
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so one of the frustrations that people have is the first couple times you go to court, nothing's happening. And then they get frustrated, like, what's going on? What's happening with the case? Let me tell you what's going on. So if you have a DWI... The case, that first court setting, the file is generally not down there yet. The DA hasn't done what's called the information, the charging instrument. And so there is no file. So you're showing up and the court's just going to give you a reset and you're going to leave without anything happening. Now, a couple of things on that. So they're waiting for the results from your blood draw. It can take up to six months for them to get a blood draw. And you may have to come to court like every couple of months and then just tell you it's reset because we don't have the results yet. If you blew, it'll be... They have that evidence right then and there, but it still has to be processed through the intake section of the DA's office, which is behind right now. So it's still taking like three months to get the case filed. So you're going to be frustrated, like, well, why is nothing happening in my case? Because the DA still has to look at the case. Do the charging instrument and get the case filed. And until that happens, there's not even a case down there for the prosecutor in the courtroom to look at. There's another group of prosecutors who are handling it at the intake level.
SPEAKER_02:So there could be situations where if you're accused of a crime, you're actually having to attend court and the state is technically not even ready to proceed
SPEAKER_00:on your case. Exactly right. So everyone, we could do things like file a motion for speedy trial, but that's not going to get the case dismissed. All that's going to get them to, particularly if I have a case where I'm thinking they may want to reject it, if I'm pushing them to hurry up and do something with it, they're going to say, okay, well, then we're going to file it. And that's not necessarily the best thing for us. So you have to be patient. There's going to be a three to six month process about how this case gets processed.
SPEAKER_02:Now, if you're in that situation where maybe the state's not ready on your case, but you're having to go to court for this initial court appearance, are there things that you're attorney can do at that court appearance? Like I think last episode you were telling us about those conditions of bond. You know, maybe some of them are pretty strict. They keep you from going home. Can those things maybe be addressed at some of those settings?
SPEAKER_00:Correct. We can file a motion to take you from some people are on full house arrest because they have a family violence misdemeanor case or they have no contact with their spouse. And then I can file a motion to change the no contact to no harmful injurious contact so you can still raise your kids together and things like that. And so there's all kinds of things that we can do. And also, what I'm also doing is I'm talking. So it's one thing if you have a DWI that's not really, there's a blood draw, you were all over the road, we know it's going to be filed. But some of the family violence cases, they also, there's a three to six month backlog in terms of the intake there. But some of those cases, I'm able to get them rejected because before they're ever filed. For a myriad of reasons about, say, just because the victim doesn't want to pursue doesn't mean they're going to dismiss the case. But I can communicate with, we have a lot of cases that are brother against brother. That wasn't really the purpose of family violence. And so if two brothers get into a fight at the five-year-old's graduation, a lot of times the DA will be like, yeah, as long as everybody's okay with it, we'll dismiss it.
SPEAKER_02:Not that we're telling people you can go ahead and beat up your brother, but
SPEAKER_00:yeah. Yeah, well, I don't understand all the people getting drunk at five-year-olds parties, but that's a separate topic for another day. Anyway, but- You haven't been to parties in my
SPEAKER_02:family. Every birthday
SPEAKER_00:party has a keg. So at any rate, yeah, there's things I'm doing to try to see if I can just get them to decide to walk away from the case. But that's why it's important to have an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. But sometimes you just have to be patient with the system because we've had good success at BRIC getting some cases that they've rejected. And the other thing is, so if you have interlock on your car... And so we keep going to court. And then eventually, if we take a plea, and you're required to have interlock for half the term of your probation, you don't get credit for that time that you had at a
SPEAKER_02:pre-trial.
SPEAKER_00:So there's some reasons we want to go quickly, and there's some times we don't. And that's something, conversation you have to have with your attorney to make sure the goals that you have are communicated to the attorney so we're all on the same page with, do we want to push it? Are we happy to just let it take its time?
SPEAKER_02:Now, I know, especially in Bexar County, there are times that I've been where in court clients ask questions, like, for example, if they see me go to the back, right? And they see me walk to the back, and then I'm gone for a little bit, and they're wondering what's going on. Can you kind of tell clients what's happening if your attorney disappears to the back or your attorney stays up to the front talking to the guys at the table? Well, I can't talk about that. That's the secret things
SPEAKER_00:we do behind closed doors. No. So- It's the bat case. Yeah, yeah. The secret knowledge we have, the secret handshake. Right. No, we're just confirmed about the case. We all know each other. Sometimes I'm just talking about, hey, how was your weekend? But so it doesn't—this is my opinion. Others may disagree. It doesn't pay to have that attorney who comes in pissing everybody off. Okay. Attorneys coming in and know everybody and have good relationships with everybody get good results. So sometimes it's like, I'm going to just say hello to people because I went to law school with them. Some of them, I used to supervise when I was with the DA's office, you know, and so we're talking. But then other times we're talking about, you know, judge, this client, he's got no contact at all. I need to get it changed to no harmful injurious contact. And in the old days, I used to be able to just get that done. Now you always have to file a motion and get it set. It used to be, we were able to do some of these things without having a formal motion and we could kind of just get these things done quickly and easily. That doesn't happen
SPEAKER_02:anymore. Well, that raises a good point because I've been to court plenty of times where maybe there's something that a client there in court is bringing up to me for the first time. Like, hey, do you think you can maybe get this done today? Or do you think maybe you could change this bond condition? Or do you think maybe I can start having contact with my girlfriend who's accused me of this crime? Are there Are those all things that we can always address that day?
SPEAKER_00:We can't really address them that day because I haven't filed a motion. But we'll get it filed and we'll get it heard. Sometimes I'm not going to be able to get it heard until the next setting, depending on which court it is. Every court's a little bit different.
SPEAKER_02:And just so the people watching are aware, what is a setting? What
SPEAKER_00:is that? Okay, so the first time, when you're arrested, your first court date, it's called a setting. Everything's called a setting. The first one's generally called an arraignment, and then everything you have after that is called a pretrial or a pre-hearing setting. Once we've said we're not going to take the plea offer, I need it set for trial, then you have trial settings. And don't think just because it's set for trial that it's really going to go. Your trial settings generally in a misdemeanor court have about 20 cases set, and we come in and the oldest case is going to be first. first on the list, and then we may be number 12. So you're just waiting in line. We're in line. And so some of those cases plead out. Maybe one gets dismissed, and one goes to trial, and the rest of that 20 cases get set for the next trial docket a month down the road. But the one thing I wanted to say, so when I mentioned before about a lot of times the court will just give you a new setting when you first walk in, I've had clients repeatedly just walk out and leave. Sure. When I've told them, like... They're gonna give you a setting date, because they tell them, here's your new set date, you can go. And they think that, okay, well, I guess I have to go. But I still want to talk to you. There's things I'm still trying to do. I'm trying to find out, how's your bond going? Is there anything we need to get done? And then they leave and I'm like, where are you? And like, oh, the court told me to leave. I said, I told you to stay. I need to talk to you.
SPEAKER_02:The general advice that I always give to clients is when you have court, don't leave until your attorney has told you, hey, we're done for the day. You're okay to leave. But that That raises another question that people always ask is, when I'm going to court for the first time, let's say I've never been, I have no experience with the court system, how it works, I know I have to be in court that day, how long should I expect to be there?
SPEAKER_00:I generally get people out within
SPEAKER_02:two hours. Okay. So should I only take two hours off of work? If I'm taking off work, what should I take off?
SPEAKER_00:I think it's safe to go in after lunch.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:I think you have to plan on being there all morning, but I think it's pretty darn safe that I'm going to be done by lunchtime and you can plan on coming in after lunch break.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. And in terms of getting that new court date, so you're in court, you're now wearing your nice clothes, your attorney showed up, he's talked to the prosecutor. Smoothing with the prosecutor. Talk to the prosecutor, talk to the judge. He's gotten you your new court date. Do you get something telling you when your new court date is?
SPEAKER_00:Depends on the court. A lot of courts will just tell me and I'll go tell my client, okay, we're coming back. Like today, it was August 23rd, okay? So I tell them August 23rd and I make my, bring out your, put out your phone, put it in the calendar, make sure you have it. And then we put it on our calendar And then because you have representation, our office does notify you the day before. But it's your responsibility to get to court, not us, our responsibility to get you. But I did want to talk about the felonies because they're different than misdemeanors. Sure, absolutely. Whenever we're ready for that. Yes, absolutely. Okay, so everything we were talking about before about misdemeanors, DWIs, family violence cases, and there's 13 different... misdemeanor courts that handle criminal cases, two that handle just civil. So you could go to any one of those courts. If you're in family violence, it's going to be either seven or 13. Everything else goes to all the different courts. The difference is on a felony, once you first get arrested, they have six months to get you indicted if you're on bond, which is Obviously, we're talking about you going to court. If you're in jail, they bring you to court. You don't have to worry about going to court. So if you're on bond, they have a long time, and you get one pre-indictment setting, but all the pre-indictment settings are in one court. It's Magistrate Najera's court, and he's on the second floor of the Justice Center.
SPEAKER_02:And so just to clarify, a pre-indictment setting is just where you're going to court before your case has officially been indicted or formally charged. Correct. So it's not technically pending in any specific district court. at the time.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly right. And so say, I've worked out like a pre-indictment plea once in a while, and you don't know what court it's going to, so once we do, we do the plea in front of Judge Nahara, and then we get assigned out to be on probation with whatever the next court up is.
SPEAKER_02:So if somebody has one of these court appearances to make before, on a felony, before their case has been officially indicted, are they always going to Judge Nahara's court? Yes. Okay. Always. And that is, you said where,
SPEAKER_00:on the second floor? Second floor. So If you walk up the steps, turn to the right, there's the first courthouse on the right, first courtroom on the right. He's very pleasant. They have really good prosecutors in there. But the prosecutors, there's two prosecutors who go into that pre-hearing court every day. They are not, once again, the intake prosecutors. But they do have the ability to try to work stuff out, agree to lower bonds. A lot of times I'll go in there, my guy may still be in custody, and I can go in there and get them to agree to a bond. Or like I was doing with another of our clients the other day, I got them to agree to waive the fees on the GPS monitoring because, you know, GPS is global positioning. A lot of people on bond for violent crimes, they have a GPS monitor on their ankle. Right. Okay. And they can get pricey. And so there's all kinds of, some of them are full house arrest so that we can get the DA to agree to partial where you can go work because we need you to go work so you can pay for your attorney.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. Absolutely. Or you can be a productive member of society.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly right. And show you're a great candidate for probation because you've been doing well and paying your taxes and productive member of society. So
SPEAKER_02:I know that when it comes to these first court appearances, people get intimidated by them, you know, and people get scared because they don't have experience going through these things. And so it sounds to me as if if they follow your general advice of, hey, dress respectfully for the court. Don't wear something too outlandish or something that's going to draw attention to yourself. Get there, giving yourself plenty of time to find parking, plenty of time to get through security. You know, show up to court. When you get into that court, listen for the judge. And when the judge calls your name, stand up, say that you're there, and then follow the advice of your attorney afterwards. It sounds like maybe it's a much easier process or, you know, not as intimidating as a lot of people have in their heads.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And I'm not saying you shouldn't be nervous when you picked up a criminal case. It's nerve wracking. Sure. I can tell you that if you have a misdemeanor, you're not going to go to jail unless you get probation and mess it up. Okay. Okay. Felony is a different matter. You could be looking at serious time. But the attorney can explain all this to you. And when you know how it works, it's better than it being a mystery. Now, what I always tell my clients is, I guarantee you I'm going to get the best result possible. You may not like that best result, but we're going to get you the best result. Sure.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. And best result means different things for different cases, right? Right. And so I For example, I know recently you've had success in trial and court where people have gotten acquitted, but then there's cases where you're dealing with the facts that you're given, and maybe somebody has to end up taking a plea bargain of some kind.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. There's cases where we can't go to trial on this. We have nothing to argue. Right.
SPEAKER_02:When people are going to court for the first time, is there any additional bit of advice that you would have for them?
SPEAKER_00:So I'm just going to reiterate, be patient. Don't get into more trouble. Anything we're trying to do to make this the best result possible can be helped by you doing things like, hey, I enrolled in college. Hey, I have a good job now. We can communicate that to the prosecutor and the judge to get you the best result possible.
SPEAKER_02:And that's it for us today on So You Got Arrested. We appreciate your time. Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_03:Thanks for listening to So You Got Arrested. If you found this podcast helpful, share it with someone who needs to hear it. For more legal insights and real talk from the front lines of the Texas justice system, follow us and subscribe. And remember, brick criminal defense has your back. For more information, visit us at brckdefense.com.