Family-Violence Flags on a Bexar County Assault: The Collateral Consequences

Judge presiding over a courtroom, where family-violence-flagged assault cases in Bexar County are heard

A simple assault charge in Texas is a Class A misdemeanor, and it carries up to a year in the county jail and a fine of up to four thousand dollars.[1] That is the part most people understand when they hear “assault.” What most people do not understand until they are sitting across a desk from a defense lawyer is that the criminal punishment is often the smallest of the consequences when the case is flagged as family violence in Bexar County.

This post walks through the collateral consequences of a family-violence-flagged assault in Bexar County. The reason it matters at the first phone call is that the defense plan for these cases is different from the defense plan for an ordinary assault, and it has to be different from the first day forward.

What “family violence” means as a legal flag

Texas Family Code Chapter 71 defines family violence broadly.[2] The relationships covered include current and former spouses, parents of the same child, household members, and dating partners. The act covered is any conduct intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, or any threat that reasonably places the family or household member in fear of imminent harm.

When a Bexar County prosecutor or peace officer determines that an alleged assault falls within that definition, the case gets flagged as family violence. The flag rides with the case from the magistrate court to the County Court at Law that hears it. The flag does not change the criminal punishment range on its face. What it changes is everything else.

Firearm rights

Federal law under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(9) prohibits a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing a firearm.[3] That prohibition is for life. It is not a Texas rule. It is a federal rule, and it applies whether the misdemeanor is from Texas or anywhere else.

The practical effect in Bexar County is that a conviction on a family-violence-flagged assault permanently strips the client of the legal ability to own or possess a firearm. For clients in trades that require firearm carry, including law enforcement and certain security work, that is a career consequence as much as a personal one. A defense lawyer who does not surface this consequence at the first conversation is doing the client a disservice.

Immigration status

For non-citizens, including lawful permanent residents, a conviction for a crime of domestic violence is a deportable offense under the Immigration and Nationality Act.[4] The Act lists crimes of domestic violence as a category that triggers removal proceedings. That trigger is automatic.

This is the consequence that catches the most clients off guard. A client who has been in the United States for decades, with a green card and a family and a business, can lose all of it because of a family-violence-flagged assault that would have produced a small fine and a probation term in any other context. The defense work in these cases has to anticipate the immigration consequence from the start, sometimes including co-counsel with an immigration attorney.

Protective orders

Most family-violence-flagged Bexar County cases come with a protective order issued early in the process. The protective order is a separate proceeding. It is civil, not criminal. It forbids contact, in some cases forbids the defendant from going to the family home, and in some cases forbids the defendant from being within a certain distance of the alleged victim’s workplace or school.

The defense lawyer has to think about the protective order in parallel with the criminal case. A violation of the protective order is a separate criminal offense on top of the original charge. It is also a way the criminal case gets worse over time, because the State can use the violation to argue the original case is more serious than it looked.

Housing and employment

A conviction for family-violence-flagged assault shows up on a background check. Landlords run background checks. Employers run background checks. Licensing boards run background checks. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Medical Board, and most state licensing authorities flag domestic violence convictions and impose discipline.

The client who works in healthcare, education, or any licensed trade needs to understand at the start of the case what the licensing board will do if the conviction comes through. That answer is sometimes immediate suspension, sometimes a hearing, sometimes nothing depending on the specific board. It is rarely silent.

Custody and family court

Family-violence findings travel into family court. A finding in the criminal case can be raised in a custody dispute in the same county and almost always shifts the analysis. Texas Family Code Section 153.004 specifically requires courts to consider evidence of family violence[5] when making custody and possession orders.

The criminal defense work and the family court work have to be coordinated. Often the criminal defense lawyer is not the family court lawyer, but the two have to be communicating from the start of the case.

What the defense plan looks like

Knowing all of the above, the defense work on a Bexar County family-violence-flagged assault has a different shape than an ordinary misdemeanor.

  • The plea analysis is different. A plea offer that produces only a fine is still a conviction, and the conviction is the thing that triggers the firearm and immigration and licensing consequences. Sometimes the right call is to litigate hard and force the State to a Class C disposition that does not carry the family violence finding.
  • The motion practice is different. Motions to suppress, motions to challenge the family-violence designation, and motions to challenge the protective order all sit on the same docket and have to be planned together.
  • The conversation with the alleged victim is delicate and runs through procedural rules. Defense investigators handle most of this, not the lawyer directly.
  • The timing is different. Family-violence cases sometimes resolve faster than ordinary assaults, and sometimes much slower, depending on the alleged victim’s posture and the State’s evidence.

What this office handled

Forrest Good represented people charged with assault in Bexar County, including cases flagged as family violence. The first conversation in these cases covered the consequences listed above so the client knew what they were actually facing. The work was then built around the consequence that mattered most for that client.

The assault practice page covers the broader assault practice. The Bexar County criminal defense page walks through the local procedural arc.

This article is part of the firm’s free educational library. Forrest Good PLLC is not accepting new clients. Anyone seeking a criminal defense lawyer in San Antonio can find one through the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association at www.sacdla.com or the State Bar of Texas at www.texasbar.com.

References

  1. Tex. Penal Code §§ 22.01, 12.21 (West 2024) (assault offense and Class A misdemeanor punishment range). [link]
  2. Tex. Fam. Code § 71.004 (West 2024) (defining “family violence”). [link]
  3. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) (2018) (Lautenberg Amendment). [link]
  4. Immigration and Nationality Act § 237(a)(2)(E)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) (2018) (deportability for crime of domestic violence). [link]
  5. Tex. Fam. Code § 153.004 (West 2024) (history of domestic violence considered in conservatorship and possession determinations). [link]

About Forrest Good, Esq.