Texas nightmare

Texas, I was arrested in 2004, have not gotten an indictment.. do new laws apply to me, or do the laws enacted during the time I was arrested and put on bail apply..

ilden09 said:

Texas, I was arrested in 2004, have not gotten an indictment.. do new laws apply to me, or do the laws enacted during the time I was arrested and put on bail apply..

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What were you arrested for?

Any substantive law goes by the date of offense. Most procedural law changes go by the law in effect at the time the case goes to trial. But generally speaking almost any law that would apply in your case would be governed by what the law was at the time the alleged offense was committed.

If you were arrested in 2004 and there hasn't even been indictment yet then your case either fell through the cracks or you are wanted and have yet to be arrested on the specific charge for which they'd indict you.

It was for indecency with a child.. and i've been to court for traffic tickets and i've been stoped no arrest still on bond waiting. Dont they only have 180 days after a new court has been seated to indicte

They can't change the law to make something that was legal illegal. That's forbidden by the constitution. What can change is requirements for sentencing and subsequent registration of sex offenders.

There are no strict deadlines to bring any case to trial. If a person is in custody their release can be ordered under various different provisions if the State is not ready for trial. But if you're on bond the only limit on the State is your right to a speedy trial which is something analyzed on a case by case basis. You also do not have much of a speedy trial violation argument unless you file a motion for a speedy trial.

You can't hideout taking advantage of your case falling off docket, and then years later claim that your rights were violated by the delay. The delay certainly does benefit you though as it generally benefits any defendant to delay the trial.

I'm wondering if the State didn't just elect to not prosecute or the Grand Jury no bill the case and you never got notice of it. Your options are really pretty simple. Either you contact the DA's office or the court or alternatively your bondsmen and inquire about the status of the case, or you continue to go on wondering if anything is ever going to happen with the case.

The statute of limitations on indecency with a child (in 2004) that applies to your case is 10 years after the child turns 18...so that's quite a long time. If the case has in fact already been indicted there is no statute of limitations issue.

ilden09 said:

It was for indecency with a child.. and i've been to court for traffic tickets and i've been stoped no arrest still on bond waiting. Dont they only have 180 days after a new court has been seated to indicte

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Have you moved since this happened? If so did you notify the bondsman and the courts. If not keep an eye over your shoulder cause "DOG" could be there one day. 6 Years is a long time to go without hearing anything.


On a side note, just me personally but I hope they prosecute if you did in fact do this.

For 6 years i've keep in contact with my bailsbond man every monday I call at 8am.. and each year I pay 500 dollars to renew my bond the cost are racking up

Do you have an attorney yet? Sounds like you need to hire an attorney and have him/her get the case moving with a motion for speedy trial.