So You Got Arrested

Wilson, Atascosa, and Karnes County: What Happens at Your First Court Date

• BRCK Criminal Defense Attorneys • Season 1 • Episode 4

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You're in a tough spot. You or someone you know just got arrested in Wilson, Atascosa, or Karnes County, and now you're wondering, "What happens next?" The "So You Got Arrested" podcast is here to guide you through the initial steps of the legal process.

In this crucial episode, hosts  Scott Simpson and Stephen Barrera demystify your first court date. They break down what to expect, who you'll encounter, and what critical decisions you might face. From understanding charges to setting bail, this episode provides essential information to help you navigate this stressful time.

Don't go into court blind. Tune in to "So You Got Arrested: Wilson, Atascosa, and Karnes County – What Happens at Your First Court Date" for clear, practical advice when you need it most.

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SPEAKER_00:

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 BRIC 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_04:

So, Scott, I know we have kids who are around the same age this time last year. Last year, I had just come from my son's graduation from high school here in San Antonio, and his graduation ceremony was at the Alamo Dome, and it lasted about two hours. Now, that is completely different from my graduation ceremony when I graduated from La Verna, Go Bears. My graduating class was about 72 people, and the ceremony maybe lasted 30 or 45 minutes It wasn't at the Alamo Dome. It was at the high school football field, right? And he was 22 years old when he graduated. Yes, yes. And so I think I was already losing my hair at that time. But that just kind of shows the difference between, you know, what happens in these smaller rural communities versus what happens in a place like Bexar County. And so that's kind of what I wanted to talk about today is not only is there a difference in high school graduations, but there's also a difference in the

SPEAKER_01:

courts. Right. And Stephen, last week we We talked about the fact of how your first day in Bexar County Court works. And today we're going to talk about your area of expertise. So which counties of you did you grow up doing most of your practice in?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. So I started practicing in Wilson County, Carnes County, Atascosa County, that whole area back in about 2007. So I've been doing it for quite a while and I still maintain a practice out there. So if you go out to Wilson County or Carnes or Atascosa, you may see me running around those This courthouse is doing my thing.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think you'll see billboards maybe once in a while with the pictures of us on

SPEAKER_04:

there. Yes, yes, yes. Billboards and all of our attorneys and it's a good group.

SPEAKER_01:

So in terms of talking to everybody about what to expect on your first day in court, did you want to go one county? I'm assuming the counties are very different.

SPEAKER_04:

So it's interesting because in these smaller rural areas, unlike Bexar County, they're not big enough to have their own district courts, for example. District court is a court that hears felony cases. And so because these counties are smaller, they actually share the same court. So when it comes to felonies, the procedures are gonna be the exact same for every county. So in Wilson County, for example, they share their district court with Atascosa County, Carnes County, LaSalle County, Freo County. There's two judges, Judge Russell Wilson and Judge Jennifer Dillingham, who preside over all five counties. So if you're charged with a felony in Wilson and you're charged with a felony in Atascosa, the judges are gonna be the same and the procedures are pretty much going to be the same. Now, it's going to be a little different if you get charged with a misdemeanor because out in those counties, they each have their own prosecuting attorneys for misdemeanors, and that's going to be your county attorney's office. So the procedures are going to be different on misdemeanors, but they're generally all going to be the same for felonies.

SPEAKER_01:

So if you go to court on a felony and the time you go to court, it happens to be Judge Dillingham, will it always be Judge Dillingham every time or is sometimes You could switch to Judge Wilson.

SPEAKER_04:

That's a great question. No, actually, you're not always going to get the same judge. It just depends on what your next court date is. So the way it works is Judge Dillingham and Judge Wilson alternate weeks that they are presiding over the bench. And so just depending on when your next court date is going to be, that's going to change which judge you might get. So

SPEAKER_01:

I'm making an assumption that they kind of coordinate with each other so they run their courts similarly. Is that fair? They do.

SPEAKER_04:

So they all share the same court coordinator. And then when you're in court, the same clerks are there, the same bailiffs. So they pretty much have the same procedures every time you go to court.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's talk about felonies then. So if you have been arrested and you bonded out on a felony in any of these counties, what should you know when you're heading to court for your first time?

SPEAKER_04:

So in these counties, Wilson County, Atascosa County, Carnes County, including Freo and LaSalle, it's a little different than Bexar County. Last Last episode, we were talking about how in Bexar County, you might actually have to attend court before your case has been indicted, these pre-indictment settings, right? In Wilson County, Atascosa County, and Carnes County, those are known as the 81st to 18th judicial districts. There's no such thing as a pre-indictment setting. So you're not actually attending court until your case has been indicted by a grand jury. It's officially filed in court, and now court proceedings are... underway.

SPEAKER_01:

So you don't have like an arraignment setting after you're arrested to make sure you have an attorney or anything like

SPEAKER_04:

that? So the way it works out in those areas is the magistrate at the time that you're arrested may ask you if you want a public defender. And then depending on that answer, they may assign you a public defender. Or by and large, what happens is when you go to that first court appearance, the arraignment, the judge will ask you, do you have an attorney or would you like a public defender? And then the public defender, if you don't have an attorney and you don't want to hire your attorney or you can't afford an attorney, they'll assign the public defender's office at that setting. But is the arraignment after indictment? It is after indictment. So what happens is when your case goes to the grand jury and it gets indicted, if your case is indicted, you'll receive a notice from the district clerk at the address that is on your bail bond paperwork. So that's important. So I always tell people, hey, they're going to send notices to whatever address you gave to that Bell Bond company, that's where your court notices are going to go to. They're going to mail you something saying you have court on such and such date. Now, if you have an attorney and your attorney has actually sent in a letter to the court saying, hey, I represent this person, they'll also notify your attorney that you have court. And the good thing about these courts, the district courts where the felonies are pending, the 81st and the 218th, is they have a website. And the website, the 218th, 31st.org, I believe. They have a court calendar. And so they'll show you the court dates for the various counties and when they have court.

SPEAKER_01:

But I know that I've heard you talk about times where people have moved and not gotten their notices, and then they just assume that there's nothing they have to do.

SPEAKER_04:

That's very common. And so that's where people can get into trouble. So now if you have an attorney, the good news is your attorney's checking on it, right? But your attorney's

SPEAKER_01:

calls.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, absolutely. But if you don't have an attorney yet and you've moved keep in mind that they're sending that paperwork to whatever address they have on file and if you haven't notified anyone you may get that notice hey you have court you didn't find out about it you don't appear and then you get a warrant

SPEAKER_01:

they don't care that that you didn't get you moved that's not going to make a difference

SPEAKER_04:

no that's your responsibility so if you change address you have to notify the court hey i changed my address um but again that's why it's important to to have counsel counsel who's experienced in those areas to know what to expect and kind of guide you through that process.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Do you want to talk about where they go to each of the different courthouses?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. So if you're charged with the felony in Wilson County, you are going to the Wilson County Annex. Now that's the old Floresville Elementary School. It's off of Railroad Street. That is where every court proceeding that you're going to have is going to take place. In Atascosa County, you are at the Atascosa County Justice Center, and it's a building right behind the old courthouse in Jerdenton. You know, the big courthouse that you see that's the tallest building in Jerdenton, there's a building right behind it. That's the Justice Center. That's where you're going to go. And in Carnes County, you're going to go to the renovated Carnes County Courthouse right off of Panamaria Street. So it's a big, beautiful building, beautiful courtroom that's two stories with a balcony. It was renovated, you know, by the Historical Society. It's a beautiful place. It's on the second floor. That's where you're going to go. Um, and so, and then in Frio and LaSalle, it's the same thing. You're going to go to those local County courthouses.

SPEAKER_01:

And so I know we talked about it last week, but I think it bears repeating about what to wear when you go to court.

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. So you want to dress respectfully. Okay. Now, uh, in Wilson County, Atascosa, Carnes, a lot of these areas are rural. So people will ask me, well, do I need to wear slacks? You don't, uh, you can wear your jeans, you can wear your boots. Um, you know, uh, Wear a nice shirt, a polo shirt, a button-up shirt. Just don't draw attention to yourself. I can tell you that in these counties, because the dockets aren't as large and the prosecutors are right there, they do take notice of what people are wearing. And so if you get a guy that walks in and he's charged with a drug case and he's wearing a medallion with a marijuana leaf, as soon as we get to the back and we confer, the prosecutor is going to ask whose client is that. And so you don't want to do that. You don't want to draw attention to yourself, dress respectfully. Women, you know, you can wear jeans, you can wear a nice blouse, wear a dress, whatever the case may be, but you want to dress respectfully for that court and not bring attention to yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Because some judges have an issue with spaghetti straps. Can you talk about that in terms of the dress revealing in that?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So here's the issue. You don't want to draw attention to yourself from the judges or from the prosecutors. And unfortunately, Unfortunately, a lot of times because they have the male inmates going in and out of court, you don't want ladies, you don't want to be shown too much because the court, the judge may ask you to step outside. They may ask you to cover up, whatever it is. Again, you don't want to bring attention to yourself, especially if that attention is negative. So I always say, look, just wear what you would wear to church and you should be fine.

SPEAKER_01:

What about being on time?

SPEAKER_04:

That is a big thing in those courts, okay? So the judges, I know in Bexar County, courts start at different times. One of my frustrations with Bexar County is sometimes court will be set for nine and I always show up early, so I'll be there at 8.45 and the judge doesn't take the bench until 9.30, which upsets me. But in those courts, the judges are very prompt. The judges take the bench at exactly nine o'clock and they will start calling the list of cases that are set And then if you're not there when they're calling your case, at the end, they'll ask now, is there anybody here whose name wasn't called? And you raise your hand and say, well, me. Well, I did call your name, sir. Where were you at nine o'clock? You know, why weren't you on time? So I always tell clients, you're Court starts at nine, you need to be there at 8.45. Do not walk in while the judge is calling the docket.

SPEAKER_01:

And talk about be there means in the courtroom versus in the lobby.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, that's a very good point. So you need to be inside the courtroom sitting. Now, there are times where the courts get full and people spill over into the lobby. If you have a case pending, so let me give you an example. Let's say you go down there with your wife or you go down there with your mom and dad, your mom and dad don't have to be in court, but you need to be in court because when they call your name, you have to have a response because if not, then I'm there saying, judge, let me check on him. Let me see if I can find him. And now the judge is looking out and highlighted your name on the docket because you weren't there for the call of the docket. So not only do you need to be there, you need to be inside that courtroom when the judge is calling the list of cases.

SPEAKER_01:

I've seen it at Escosa where the mom's there answering, but the defendant's not actually in the courtroom.

SPEAKER_04:

The judges do not like that. You do not want your sister answering for you or your mama answering for you. You need to be there and you need to be present. We used to have a judge out there who, if you were late, he would stick you in the box, meaning he would ask the bailiff to take you into custody, sit you in the jury box until you could give him an explanation as to why you were late. Again, that's not going to necessarily affect the outcome of your case, but you don't want to start bringing negative attention to yourself at the outset of your case.

SPEAKER_01:

But if it's a close call as to whether you get probation or not, and the judge remembers you've been late a couple of times, it can affect it.

SPEAKER_04:

It's all about being respectful. It's about being respectful to the court, being respectful to the judges, and being respectful to their time.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Something I wasn't familiar with in Bayer, you talk about be prepared to pass a UA. Tell me about that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04:

I guess we ought to tell them what a UA is. A UA is a urinalysis. It's a drug test, right? So here's the issue. This is coming up more and more in these courts where the judge may ask at the time of the resolution of the case, if it's a plea or whatever. Mr. Smith, could you pass a drug test today? And the judge may determine various things about your plea bargain or whatever it may be. If you say, yes, I can pass the drug test and you do, or no, I can't. But I've also had prosecutors. So let me tell you, recently I had a case where we went to court and I was advocating for my client. It was a drug case and the prosecutor said, if they pass a drug test today, I'll dismiss the case. If they're, you know, the type of person you're telling me, let's back it up. Let's see if they pass that drug test. Unfortunately, in this instance, when I talked to the client, he said, no, I'm not going to pass. So from the first time you start going to court, you need to be prepared to pass a drug test because you don't know when those opportunities are going to come up. I can tell you, I had that circumstance come up and I had another circumstance come up just this week where the prosecutor had been asking for time the entire time and then finally said, look, I'll consider probation if they pass a drug test today. And so just be prepared when you're going to court, be clean, be ready to go because you never know if they're going to ask you to take a UA that day. We have more stuff that we're going to talk about after the break. You're with So You Got Arrested. Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_02:

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

SPEAKER_01:

our clients move on with their lives. So we're back. Stephen, I know you've talked about a lot of things to expect on your first day in court in Atascosa and Carnes. Well, And Wilson County. And Wilson County. How long do they have to plan on being there in court for their court settings?

SPEAKER_04:

So the courts are a little different in these counties, in Wilson, Carnes, and Atascosa, because unlike Bexar County, when you go to court in Bexar County, the court that you're in is only hearing criminal cases, right? The courts aren't like that in these counties. The courts hear the felony criminal cases, but they also hear civil cases. They hear divorces. They hear oil and gas cases. And so you don't know how long you're going to be there. So I always tell clients, you need to plan on being there the entire day because we may get there, the judge may call all the cases, and then the judge may do a three-hour hearing on an oil and gas case, and then we're stuck there waiting before we can approach on our case, even to get a reset. So let me kind of talk about that a little bit because that's also different in Bexar County. In Bexar County, a lot of times when your cases get reset, it's just the clerk that gives you the reset. In these courts, it doesn't work that way. The judge has to approve your reset form. They have to sign off on it before you can leave. And that becomes an issue because there are times where people leave before the judge has signed off on their reset. So your reset is just the form telling you, hey, this is when you got to come back to court, right? So the client has to sign off on it, the defendant, and the judge has to sign off on it. So if I'm in front of the judge and my client's already left and she says, well, I want to give your client or Judge Wilson says, I want to give your client this next court date, where are they? They need a sign. And I say, judge, I think they've already left. There's a possibility you're going to get a warrant because you have left before you've been excused by the court. So plan on being there all day. We try to get you out as soon as possible, but you need to schedule that entire day off. And please do not leave until your attorney tells you that you can leave. You will get in so much trouble for doing that. But not only that, to that issue, I've had clients leave when the prosecutor is offering one of these, hey, if they pass a UA, I'll dismiss or I'll do this. And then the client's already left. And then I'm calling them to get them back to do the UA. And they're not answering their phone. So do not leave until your attorney's excused you.

SPEAKER_01:

I just don't get why somebody would leave without talking to the person they hired to handle a case. You got to communicate with your attorney on these

SPEAKER_04:

things. I think what happens is maybe they don't know that it's gonna take the full day sometimes, or hey, I gotta get back to work, or so-and-so brought me here, they need to go to work. Unfortunately, I know it's inconvenient, but plan on taking that entire day off.

SPEAKER_01:

But also, if you do have something coming up that you have to be out by noon, tell your attorney at 9 o'clock in the morning. Don't tell him at 11.59 like, oh, I have to leave right now. Absolutely. Give him a heads up because you might be able to push that to the front of the line.

SPEAKER_04:

Absolutely. Communication is key. If you tell your attorney, hey, I need to be out of here by a certain time, your attorney will get you out in time.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So in a little bit, we're going to talk about misdemeanors, but I want to go into that by talking about something that applies to both. Tell me about the bail bondsman in these counties and what you have to be doing with your bail bondsman. Did they come to court?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. So the bail bond system is a little bit different in these counties because unlike Bexar County where they have a pre-trial services who are checking in to make sure you follow your bond conditions, in these counties, it's really your bell bondsman that's keeping an eye on you. They're making sure that you don't run away to Mexico or do something like that. And because these counties are so small, a lot of times the bell bondsman actually show up to court to see whether you're there or not. So it's important to be there. And if you're late, your bell bondsman gets a little nervous And I've had bell bondsmen come up to me and say, well, where's so-and-so? It's 930. So you need to be there on time because not only is the court looking out for you, but your bell bondsman may be sitting there in court expecting your arrival. Can you talk about what happens if you get crossways with your bell bondsman? If your bell bondsman gets nervous about whether you're a flight risk or you failed to check in with them, because again, we don't have pretrial services in these counties who are checking in on you at your bell bondsman. So if you're not checking in with them, they can try to get off that bond and a warrant for your arrest is going to issue. So you need to stay good with your bail bondsman by checking in with them and by making those court appearances.

SPEAKER_01:

So if you have a family member who's still in jail, will they be brought out into the courtroom?

SPEAKER_04:

Not necessarily. So because these are small counties, they have smaller, you know, smaller sheriff's department. They have fewer deputies at hand. A lot of times what they'll do is they'll keep the defendants at the jail unless they need to appear in front of the judge for something like some contested matters being heard or they're addressing a bond issue. So if you're going to court hoping to see your loved one and your loved one's locked up, they may not be brought into court that day. Just be aware. Ask your attorney. They'll give you they'll tell you whether or not they're going to come out that day.

SPEAKER_01:

Plus, what can happen if they bring your loved one out and you start trying to communicate with them while they're out there?

SPEAKER_04:

They will remove you from the court. So you are not allowed to have communications with your loved one while they're in court. That goes to another issue too about what to wear, right? So I had a case recently where I had a client who was going to accept a plea, which was going to cause him to go to TDC. So he was going to be away from his family for a little while.

SPEAKER_01:

TDC, be in

SPEAKER_04:

prison. Be in prison. And so his wife showed up. to court wearing shorts. And so they wouldn't allow her in the courtroom. And it was devastating for her because she wanted to be there to see her husband as her husband was taking his plea bargain. Fortunately, we got an agreement that we would take the plea later on in the day to give her a chance to go home and change her clothes. But that's just another example of why you have to dress appropriately.

SPEAKER_01:

But that's just because you have so much influence there that you're able to make these magical things happen.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I've been doing it a little while So, you know, you know who to talk to.

SPEAKER_01:

So we've been talking a lot about felonies and how to go to court for felonies. What's different in these different counties when you come from misdemeanor or county court in front of the county judge?

SPEAKER_04:

Sure. So in misdemeanors, the place that you go to might be different, right? In Wilson County, the misdemeanors are heard at the old Wilson County Courthouse, right there, downtown, right off of C Street, across from the brick Floresville office. You're going to go to the second floor in that old courthouse, and that's where your case is going to be heard. In Carnes and Atascosa, you're going to go to the same place where the felonies are heard. But in Atascosa, it's actually a different courtroom. So you're going to go into that justice center. If you have a felony, you're going to go to the left. If you have a misdemeanor, you're going to go to the right. But you still need to be there for that first court appearance unless your attorney has told you otherwise.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Anything else we need to know about showing up for the misdemeanors besides things we've already covered?

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

When you show up for the misdemeanors and the felonies, this is where it's a little different than Bexar County. So in Bexar County, Scott, when you're there in court and you're talking to a prosecutor, you're doing it there in the courtroom, right in front of everybody, the defendants, the judge. It doesn't work that way in these counties. In these counties, after the judge calls the cases, all the attorneys, you're going to hear the judge say, I'm going to release the state and anyone not having matters on the civil docket to confirm. And that just means, hey, prosecutors, defense attorneys, you guys go talk. We go to a back room in all of these counties. Your attorney and the prosecutors are going to go to a back room and they're going to be back there talking about cases. In the meantime, you can remain in the court or you can remain in the lobby. Don't leave. There are plenty of times where people see that as an opportunity to go get a breakfast taco, go down the street to get a cup of coffee. Don't do that because you don't know when your attorney's gonna come out looking for you. Maybe there's something that came up and talked to the prosecutor that needs to be discussed. If you're not there, it makes the entire thing complicated. Got

SPEAKER_01:

it. And so... in terms of how many pre-trial hearings will you get before you actually get put on a trial docket? How does it work if you've done the plea negotiations, you have a client and yourself has decided, it looks like we're gonna have to go to trial on this, how does that work?

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, so that can be a little frustrating in these courts because by and large, these courts want you there at least once a month until your case is resolved, right? So, and especially if you have a felony But even a misdemeanor, it can take a year and a half to two years on a misdemeanor. It can take two years or longer on a felony before you end up in trial. And you're going to court once a month the entire time that that case is pending. I know people get frustrated. They tell me, Steve, I keep having to take off work. I'm sorry. We do what we can. If I know that, hey, this case is going to be a trial, I'll do whatever I can to set it out as far as possible while we're working our way to the front of the line for trial. But just be aware that there's times where by the time we get to trial, we've made 15 or 20 court appearances. I know it's frustrating, but unfortunately, it's required. And just know that we're there too. So it's not easy on any of us, but it's a necessary part of the case.

SPEAKER_01:

In terms of deciding what's going to go to trial, do they look at how old the case is or how many times has it been set?

SPEAKER_04:

So it goes by the age of the case. The oldest cases go first, but then they also follow the priority list that's set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure, where if you are in custody, you haven't been able to make bail, you kind of jump to the head of the line. So they follow that procedure.

SPEAKER_01:

So even though your case may be older than somebody who's been in jail for a year, but you've been waiting for trial for a year and a half, it's possible the guy that's been in jail may jump you and go to trial.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes. And you kind of want that to be the case, right? I mean, you want somebody who is locked up to have their day in court, you know, maybe a little bit faster than somebody who has made bail and is able to be out and working and be with their family while their case is pending.

SPEAKER_01:

And as far as the different prosecutors in the different counties, is it make much of it? I mean, it's all the same district attorney. Is there nuances that people need to know about? Like in this county, they always do this or anything like that?

SPEAKER_04:

No. So it's all one DA's office as far as the felonies go. And that specific DA's office, they're going to have their policies and procedures that all the prosecutors follow. It's a little different once you get to the misdemeanors because the misdemeanors, again, they have their own dedicated prosecutors and each misdemeanor prosecuting office may have their own policies. Like for example, my partner, Chris Cavazos, was a longtime prosecutor in Atascosa County and they had their policies there. And so then maybe I'd go to Carnes and I'd ask if we could do the same thing and maybe the Carnes County Attorney's Office wouldn't want to do it, right? So it's a little different with the misdemeanors It really is kind of a local thing, their local policies. But in the felony courts, that DA's office is going to have their district-wide policies that they follow.

SPEAKER_01:

And so a lot of the misdemeanors we have involve family violence type of cases. Sure. And sometimes clients get frustrated, like, well, she doesn't want to proceed with the charges. Why is this case still pending? Can you talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. So I've had this come up in court where where people ask, does the prosecutor represent my wife or my girlfriend or my husband, whoever the complaining witness is on that case? No, the prosecutor represents the state of Texas. And the reason that they're pursuing the case is because they're saying you violated the laws of the state of Texas. So what that means is they don't have to do whatever it is that your loved one wants them to do. That can be a good thing if your loved one is saying, no, throw that guy under the prison, right? Or it can be a bad thing if your loved one one is saying, hey, I don't want this to go forward. I want this drop. They don't have to abide by that. Now, in the district court, in the felony courts, they actually have, specifically when it comes to family violence cases, they do have policies and procedures. If your loved one wants to help out and try to do what they can to make that case better for you, there's a class that they can take called the RISE class that's done through the DA's office. Of course, you can always sign a document saying, hey, I don't want this prosecuted. It doesn't mean they're going to do it, but they do have a set policy. But again, that's where it helps to have somebody who knows those areas and knows what's available in those courts for your loved ones to take part in.

SPEAKER_01:

Because a lot of times the clients are frustrated because they think this case should have been dismissed yesterday.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. And unfortunately, it's not the case. And keep in mind that in these smaller counties, I know in Bexar County, you have dedicated courts for family violence In these smaller counties, you don't have that, but you may have a dedicated prosecutor. I know that in some of

SPEAKER_01:

these courts- Or like a victim advocate.

SPEAKER_04:

That's it. Yes. In some of these courts, they have an entire prosecutor whose job may be paid for by a grant to prosecute family violence cases, right? So their entire job is to prosecute these cases and they don't always let go of them so easily. So don't assume just because your loved one is saying, hey, I don't want to go forward that the case is going to be dismissed. You may have a prosecutor who's saying, look, my position is paid for by prosecuting these cases. So I'm going to try to play this out as far as I can. Not

SPEAKER_01:

that they're doing anything unethical. No. They're looking at the facts of the case. That's it. Not necessarily what the victim wants, but are there injuries? They listen to 911 call, those type of things.

SPEAKER_04:

And a lot of times, keep in mind that the prosecutor ultimately doesn't have to decide whether to fish or cut bait on a case until it's actually up for trial. And that's where it's put up or shut up. And so So they can sit on that case until they see, okay, you know, my witness here isn't going to be very cooperative. Maybe I'll let this one go. But again, by that time, maybe you've gone to court 10 or 15 times and you're frustrated. You know, we try to get it resolved as soon as we can, but sometimes the case just has to play out.

SPEAKER_01:

And sometimes what we know as a prosecutor and defense attorney is the victim changes their mind about what they want to have done with the case.

SPEAKER_04:

Absolutely. And so when it comes to this first court appearance, just remember, dress respectfully, arrive early at least 15 minutes early. Be inside court when the case is called and your attorney may go confer, but that doesn't mean that you're free to leave. Stay in that courtroom until your attorney tells you that you can leave and you sign that reset form and you get the form signed by the judge. You do that and you'll have a much easier experience in court. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00:

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.