Me & Wife/Heated Argument/Both Arrested

[jppaul]

Alvin, TX

Me and my wife were having a heated argument and in the heat of the movement my wife called her brother and left a message crying. He called the cops to check on her.

Cops me to my home, they saw one nail scratch on my face and asked me who did that, this is my first encounter with cops and I told them its my wife. The officer talked to my wife and she told him that I pushed her to the wall. Both of us are arrested and taken to the city Jail. Our friends posted Bond for both of us. Both of us are charged with Minor Assault - Family Violence

These are the options we have now.
1. Go to the court and talk to the judge
2. No Contest

I have few questions.

1. Will it make any difference if we go to the judge and explain him that we did not hit each other and were having a heated argument.
2. We are not gonna press charges against each other. Does that mean the record will be deleted automatically.
3. We never had any previous incident not even a traffic ticket, Can someone please explain how serious this is.

We have 3 days before we go to the Judge. We have no idea how the law works, please help me decide what would be the best thing to do.

Thanks a lot in advance

Paul

 

[justalayman]

questions.

1. Will it make any difference if we go to the judge and explain him that we did not hit each other and were having a heated argument.

1. then how do you explain you told the police you pushed her and the scratch on your face is from her?
   
   
   

   [*]We are not gonna press charges against each other. Does that mean the record will be deleted automatically.

   No because you do not press charges. The DA presses charges and if he believes they should be brought, that is what will happen.
   
   
   

   [*]We never had any previous incident not even a traffic ticket, Can someone please explain how serious this is.

have to get back to you on that one.

We have 3 days before we go to the Judge. We have no idea how the law works, please help me decide what would be the best thing to do.

the best thing would be to get a lawyer. A lawyer may be able to minimize the damages. Especially since you are not familiar with the courts, your really should be speaking with an attorney.

 

[jppaul]

Hi Mr Justalayman

We greatly appreciate your response. After going through the response, I understand the severity of the situation. I am planning to meet an attorney today evening. Before that, we are planning to go to the Court and talk in detail about everything.

My wife talked to the court clerk last Friday and the clerk told my wife that this is like a traffic ticket and will go away after some time as there are no charges. We did not understand it completely. We are going to the court today to talk in detail and understand what the scenario is. Will post what ever answers we get and would greatly appreciate your opinion.

Thanks a lot.

Paul

 

[justalayman]

I would suggest speaking with the attorney FIRST. I have never heard DV referred to as "like a ticket". It can be quite serious.

as well, not sure what you would speak to the judge about but having an attorney to assist you would help prevent you from incriminating yourself, which can happen quite easily.

and what do you mean there are no charges? You said you were arrested. While you may not have been arraigned on charges yet, a court has a long time to file charges and since this happened over the weekend, I would not expect to see charges filed this early in the week.

while the charges might be dropped, it is too early in the situation to make that call and the court clerk is not in a position to advise you on that anyway.

 

[jppaul]

Hi Justalayman

When we were arrested our bond was set at $296 each, my friends paid of that amount and bailed us out.

When my wife called the Court Clerk this is what she was told. You can come and talk to the Judge this Thursday or you can come to the Service Window before Thursday and sign the“Plea”. Then you don’t have to come to the court. She also told that all this will remain on the record.

I am thinking, since we already paid the $296 bond each should we go and sign the plea and get this over with OR should we go to the Judge and contest the charges. I understand that talkin to an attorney is the best thing to do, will definitely talk to an attorney. I would like to know if signing the plea and finishing this off a good option.

Thanks

Paul

 

[LdiJ]

Hi Justalayman

When we were arrested our bond was set at $296 each, my friends paid of that amount and bailed us out.

When my wife called the Court Clerk this is what she was told. You can come and talk to the Judge this Thursday or you can come to the Service Window before Thursday and sign the“Plea”. Then you don’t have to come to the court. She also told that all this will remain on the record.

I am thinking, since we already paid the $296 bond each should we go and sign the plea and get this over with OR should we go to the Judge and contest the charges. I understand that talkin to an attorney is the best thing to do, will definitely talk to an attorney. I would like to know if signing the plea and finishing this off a good option.

Thanks

Paul

If you sign the plea you are pleading guilty, and will have the conviction on your record.

If you talk to the judge, there is at least some chance that the judge will not find you guilty...and a better chance if you have an attorney.

 

[jppaul]

Hi Justalayman & Ldij

I just talked to an attorney. She called the police and identified that the charges are Assault Class C misdemeanor. She said that we can contest the charge.

I googled and found that maximum sentence for this charge is
Maximum fine upto $500 with no jail time.

The attorney said that she will charge me $300 per person that's $600 for both of us.

Please let me know your opinion.

Thanks

Paul

 

[LdiJ]

Hi Justalayman & Ldij

I just talked to an attorney. She called the police and identified that the charges are Assault Class C misdemeanor. She said that we can contest the charge.

I googled and found that maximum sentence for this charge is
Maximum fine upto $500 with no jail time.

The attorney said that she will charge me $300 per person that's $600 for both of us.

Please let me know your opinion.

Thanks

Paul

My opinion is that you would both be better off without a conviction on your records, therefore you would both be better off without a plea.

 

[justalayman]

My opinion is that you would both be better off without a conviction on your records, therefore you would both be better off without a plea.

I would have to agree as long as that is a possibility.

 

[jppaul]

Hi everyone

First of all THANKS A LOT FOR HELPING ME CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH.

I talked to my attorney and decided to contest the charges and not plead guilty.

Thanks a lot.

Paul