Vehicular Assault Lawyer In Beaumont, TX
Vehicular assault is what people search for, but it is not the name of any Texas offense. When driving hurts someone, the prosecutor picks from several statutes, and this page explains which ones, the penalties, the defenses and how a case moves through Jefferson County.
Is There A Vehicular Assault Charge In Texas?
Texas has no offense called vehicular assault. A driver who injures someone is charged under a specific law, most often intoxication assault under Penal Code § 49.07, aggravated assault with a vehicle as a deadly weapon under § 22.02, failure to stop and render aid under Transportation Code § 550.021, or racing causing injury under § 545.420.
Source: Texas Penal Code Chapter 49, Intoxication And Alcoholic Beverage Offenses
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Handle Vehicular Assault?
Some states have a crime called vehicular assault. Texas does not. After a crash with an injury, the file is sorted into whichever statute fits what the investigation found about the cause and about what the driver did afterward.
Intoxication assault, Penal Code § 49.07. Serious bodily injury caused to another by accident or mistake while driving in a public place intoxicated. No intent to hurt anyone is required.
Aggravated assault, Penal Code § 22.02. An assault in which the vehicle is alleged to be a deadly weapon. It requires a culpable mental state toward the injury, such as recklessness.
Failure to stop and render aid, Transportation Code § 550.021. The collision may be no crime at all. Driving off without stopping and helping is. See hit and run for that charge.
Racing on a highway causing injury, Transportation Code § 545.420. A race or speed contest on a public road in which someone is hurt.
What the state must prove for intoxication assault:
- Operation of a motor vehicle in a public place
- Intoxication at the time of the crash
- Serious bodily injury to someone else
- A causal link between the intoxication and that injury, whether by accident or mistake
One crash can carry more than one count. A driver alleged to be intoxicated who also left the scene can face intoxication assault and failure to stop and render aid together. They are separate offenses with separate elements, and a conviction on one does not depend on the other.
If the injured person dies, the case moves to the homicide statutes, including manslaughter.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Injury Crash Charges In Texas?
Each of these is a felony when someone is hurt. The level turns on the statute charged and on how serious the injury is. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
A third degree felony, with a fine that can reach $10,000.
A second degree felony, with a fine that can reach $10,000.
- Intoxication assault
- Third degree felony. Two to ten years and a fine of up to $10,000, with higher levels for certain injured persons under the statute.
- Aggravated assault with a vehicle
- Second degree felony. Two to twenty years and a fine of up to $10,000. A deadly weapon finding restricts probation and affects parole.
- Failure to stop and render aid
- Serious bodily injury is a third degree felony. Other injury is punishable by up to five years in prison or up to a year in county jail, and a fine of up to $5,000.
- Racing with injury
- Third degree felony for bodily injury and second degree felony for serious bodily injury or death.
- Driver's license
- A DWI-related arrest involving a breath or blood test can start a separate administrative license case with its own deadline.
Since the statute chosen sets the range, the difference between two possible charges for the same crash can be large.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Vehicular Assault In Texas?
Can I be charged if the crash was an accident?
Does the injury have to be serious?
What if the other driver was partly at fault?
What if I did not know I had hit someone?
Can the same crash produce both a DWI and a felony?
Possible Defenses
How Can An Injury Crash Charge Be Defended?
Every one of these charges requires the state to tie the defendant's conduct to the injury. For intoxication assault, the injury has to be caused by the intoxication, and a crash that merely involved a driver who had been drinking does not meet that. An attorney reviews the crash evidence, the testing and the medical records. No result can be promised.
Penal Code § 6.04 sets the causation rule, and it is often the first thing examined.
Serious bodily injury decides the level.
Intoxication assault needs serious bodily injury, meaning a substantial risk of death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of a bodily function. The medical records decide it.
Failure to stop and render aid turns on a different question, which is whether the driver knew a collision had happened. The state has to establish that knowledge as an element.
The Vehicle Data
What do the event data recorder and any dash or phone video show about speed and braking?
The Scene
Do the measurements, skid marks and reconstruction support the state's account?
The Blood Test
Were the timing, chain of custody and laboratory analysis handled correctly?
The Injury
Do the medical records show serious bodily injury, or a lesser one?
Causation
Did the intoxication cause the injury, or did another factor?
Knowledge Of The Crash
For leaving the scene, did the driver know a collision happened?
Local Process
What Happens After An Injury Crash Arrest In Jefferson County?
An injury crash starts with a scene investigation, and the felony case then moves through the grand jury and district courts of Jefferson County.
Investigation And Arrest
Officers work the scene, and a driver may be asked for a breath or blood sample. A blood draw can be obtained by warrant. An arrest leads to booking and a magistrate's bond decision.
Grand Jury
A felony injury crash charge is presented for indictment. Grand jurors can indict as charged, indict a lesser offense or return no bill.
District Court And Evidence
Discovery under article 39.14 and expert review of the crash and lab evidence come first, then a plea, a dismissal or a trial. A separate license matter may run alongside.
- Where it is heard
- In the district courts at the Jefferson County Courthouse on 1085 Pearl Street after a grand jury indictment.
- Who prosecutes
- The Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
- Who makes the arrest
- Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Port Arthur Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Port Neches Police Department, or Groves Police Department. Crashes on county roads and in nearby towns such as Port Arthur, Nederland, Port Neches, Groves, Nome, China, Bevil Oaks, Fannett, and Hamshire can involve more than one agency.
- Where you are booked
- Arrestees from every law enforcement agency in the county are booked into the county's jail system.
- If the case is appealed
- the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After An Injury Crash?
Crash evidence can disappear quickly. These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Do Not Discuss The Crash
Statements to police, insurers or the other driver can become evidence.
Hold On To The Vehicle
Do not repair or sell it until an attorney decides whether the data recorder is needed.
Photograph The Scene
If it is safe, keep pictures of the road, signs and damage.
List Witnesses
The names of people who saw the crash matter, and memories fade fast.
Check License Deadlines
A test result or a refusal can start a separate license case with its own deadline.
Avoid Social Media
Posts about the crash or the people involved can be used by the state.
Speak with a lawyer before giving a statement, since the charge chosen depends on what the evidence suggests about intoxication, intent and what happened afterward. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about an injury crash charge in Jefferson County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 49: Intoxication assault and DWI offenses
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 22: Aggravated assault
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 6: Culpable mental states and causation
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 550: Accidents and accident reports, including the duty to render aid
- Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545: Rules of the road, including racing on a highway
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment ranges
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Beaumont trial lawyer. He's one of the few in Texas, and the entire country, to earn the prestigious title of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist. That means he's gone beyond the courtroom and into the laboratory, receiving in-depth, hands-on training in forensic chromatography, the same kind of testing used by crime labs to try and convict Texans every day.
What does that mean for you?
It means when the state uses blood alcohol or drug testing to try to prove its case, Mr. Mitchell knows how to challenge it. He's trained to:
- Analyze lab results and spot faulty science
- Cross-examine forensic experts with precision
- Break down complex chemical evidence in plain language for juries
This is not the kind of background you find in most criminal defense attorneys, and it could make the difference between a conviction and a clean slate.
Brennon graduated from Texas A&M University School of Law and practices from offices in Orange and Conroe.
Client Reviews
What Clients Say About Brennon Mitchell
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and is decided on its own facts.
Related Assault Charges
Other Assault Charges Handled In Beaumont, TX
An injury crash overlaps with DWI, traffic and homicide charges, and the same event can produce more than one. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for Beaumont.
Assault
Three offenses share one statute, from a fine-only Class C to a felony when the facts or the person involved change.
Aggravated Assault
An assault plus serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon. A second degree felony, and first degree in a narrow set of cases.
Deadly Conduct
Reckless danger to another person is a Class A misdemeanor. Firing a gun at people or toward a building or vehicle is a third degree felony.
Family Violence
An assault between people in a family, household or dating relationship, with a protective order, firearm limits and a finding that stays on the record.
Injury To A Child, Elderly Or Disabled Person
A felony at every level, graded by the injury and the mental state, and chargeable for a failure to act as well as for an act.
Kidnapping
Unlawful restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping are three levels of one idea, from a Class A misdemeanor to a first degree felony.
Terroristic Threats
A threat of violence can be a crime without any contact. The level runs from a Class B misdemeanor to a third degree felony.
Common Questions
Vehicular Assault Questions People In Beaumont Ask
Is vehicular assault a crime in Beaumont, TX?
Texas has no offense named vehicular assault. When driving injures someone in Jefferson County, the state charges under a specific statute, most often intoxication assault under Penal Code § 49.07, aggravated assault with the vehicle as a deadly weapon under § 22.02, failure to stop and render aid under Transportation Code § 550.021, or racing on a highway under § 545.420.
What is intoxication assault in Jefferson County?
Intoxication assault is causing serious bodily injury to another person, by accident or mistake, while operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. It is a third degree felony, with two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The statute sets higher levels for certain injured persons.
Can a car be a deadly weapon in an assault case in Beaumont, TX?
Penal Code § 1.07 defines a deadly weapon to include anything that, in the manner of its use or intended use, is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Texas courts have held that a motor vehicle can meet that definition. When the state alleges a vehicle was a deadly weapon in an assault, the charge is aggravated assault.
What happens if a driver leaves the scene of a crash with an injury in Beaumont?
Transportation Code § 550.021 requires a driver in a collision involving injury or death to stop, return if necessary, and give reasonable help. Leaving is a felony. If the crash caused serious bodily injury it is a third degree felony. For other injury, the range is up to five years in prison or up to a year in county jail.
Does intoxication assault require the driver to be at fault in Jefferson County?
The statute requires that the serious bodily injury was caused by the intoxication, not merely that an intoxicated driver was in a crash. Penal Code § 6.04 addresses causation, and it can be contested when another driver's conduct, road conditions or a vehicle defect played a part in the collision.
Can an injury crash be charged without alcohol in Beaumont, TX?
Intoxication assault needs intoxication, but other charges do not. A driver can face aggravated assault if the state alleges the vehicle was a deadly weapon and proves the required mental state, failure to stop and render aid for leaving the scene, or racing with injury. Each statute has its own elements.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
Crash evidence such as vehicle data, scene measurements and witness memory does not keep. Calling early leaves more of it available.
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