Probation Violations

Hire An Experienced Houston Probation Violation Attorney

If you or your loved one is on probation or deferred adjudication and charged with a probation violation or a violation of deferred adjudication, take heart. All is not lost. You are certainly in a bad spot, but there is always wiggle room. Fight for your future. Fight for your freedom. The prosecutors still have to prove the violation of probation or the violation of deferred adjudication and the judge has a tremendous amount of discretion in the case.

I'm R. Todd Bennett, a Houston criminal defense lawyer. I am board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and have been practicing criminal law for over 25 years. If you have been arrested for a probation violation or a deferred adjudication violation, I offer an initial consultation to discuss your case and what we can do.

If you are accused of violating terms of your probation or violating terms of your deferred adjudication in any way − by failing a drug test, by not going to treatment or by being charged with a new crime − you may be held in jail without bond. You do not have the right to a jury trial, only a probation revocation hearing before a judge. The standard of proof is much lower in a probation violation case than in a jury trial. Depending on your particular situation, the judge has the discretion to keep you on probation, modify your probation, or sentence you to the county jail or to Texas state prison.

As your lawyer, I can file a motion for a bond hearing and attempt to persuade the judge to let you out of jail while your probation violation case is pending. While the judge does not have to grant this motion, I can use my years of experience as a defense attorney and a former prosecutor to present your case in the best possible light. My next goal is to resolve the probation violation at your hearing.

Sometimes the person on probation or deferred adjudication did exactly what he or she was ordered to do and in fact never violated the court's probation order. Sometimes the person did in fact violate their probation and the issue before the judge is what to do about the violation. My job as your lawyer is to evaluate your particular case and your actions while you were on probation or deferred adjudication. If you did not violate your probation or deferred adjudication, we need to prove that to the court. If you did, then my job is to explain the conduct in the context of your life situation. We need to humanize you before the judge and explain that yours is a life that should not be thrown away by sending you to jail or prison.

Arrange An Attorney Consultation

If you have been charged with violating your probation, contact me, Houston criminal defense lawyer R. Todd Bennett, for an initial consultation about your case.