Use of previous court transcripts in assault case?

[Terry Gilliam]

What is the name of your state? Texas
My question is regarding my use of transcripts in a court hearing for a man that assaulted me. I was brought to trial as well and all of my charges were dismissed.There was only one witness to the assault, but it was a friend of the assailant.In my preliminary hearing, the assailant's friend admitted to several key events that took place leading up to the assault.My question is this.Assuming I can obtain the transcripts of that witness's testimony, willl I be able to(will I even be offered the chance to?) use them in the assailant's court hearing?I am required to be there to testify against him,and am assuming I will be questioned by his attorney. The man is pleading not guilty to the charges brought against him.To elaborate a bit more, the police had attempted to charge me with simple assault , since the assailant, after being arrested elsewhere from fleeing the gas station where this occured at, lied to police to convince them this was mutual.The assailant and I have known each other for about ten years and used to be fairly close friends.

[CavemanLawyer]

Was there even a court reporter at your trial? They usually don't have them for Class C trials unless you file a motion requesting one. Assuming there is a record of your trial, the prosecutor could surely use it to impeach any witness who tries to testify differently than they did the first time. You can tell the prosecutor about the existence of the transcript and let their office purchase it or you can purchase it and furnish it to them if you want. You'd need to find out who the court reporter was for your trial and purchase it through him/her.

[Terry Gilliam]

Now I have a new questionand it is this. I know that phone records exist as do text messages from the older man threatening me.However, my cell phone at the time has long since died(permanently).As a victim testifying, do I have the right to call for a continuance so I may get a subpeona or court order to locate said calls and or messages?I don't have an attorney, but if I did, which I may be hiring, will this be possible?

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by Terry Gilliam

Now I have a new questionand it is this. I know that phone records exist as do text messages from the older man threatening me.However, my cell phone at the time has long since died(permanently).As a victim testifying, do I have the right to call for a continuance so I may get a subpeona or court order to locate said calls and or messages?I don't have an attorney, but if I did, which I may be hiring, will this be possible?

I know of no utility company who keeps track of text messages.

But even if it did, they would be irrelevant.

[CavemanLawyer]

The content of any call or text message is not going to be maintained, but a log of incoming and outgoing call and text traffic is maintained for so many years. You can request a continuance to gather this information but whether you get the continuance or not is at the discretion of the court.

You don't have to subpoena records for your own phone service, you can just request it from your provider. Also if there are old text or voice messages on your broken cell phone you can try to bring it to the DA's office and let one of their investigators try to retrieve them.