Assault Crimes Lawyer In Conroe, TX
Texas builds its violent crime charges from a short list of facts: how badly someone was hurt, who that person was, and whether a weapon was involved. This page gives an overview of those charges, their penalties and how a case moves through the Montgomery County courts.
What Are Assault Crimes In Texas?
Texas assault law starts with Penal Code § 22.01, which covers causing bodily injury, threatening imminent bodily injury and offensive contact. Added facts raise the level: serious injury or a deadly weapon makes it aggravated assault under § 22.02, a family or dating relationship makes it family violence, and the victim's age, disability or public role can make it a felony.
Understanding Texas Law
How Does Texas Law Define Assault Crimes In Montgomery County?
Nearly every charge in this category begins with Penal Code § 22.01, the assault statute. It covers three kinds of conduct: causing bodily injury, threatening someone with imminent bodily injury, and making contact the other person would find offensive or provocative. Only the first is a Class A misdemeanor. The other two are Class C, a fine with no jail.
Everything else in the category is that base offense with a fact added, or a separate statute written for narrower conduct. Each added fact is one more element the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
Four questions sort most of these charges:
- How badly was the other person hurt? Serious bodily injury, or a deadly weapon, makes it aggravated assault
- How are the two people connected? A family, household or dating relationship makes it a family violence case
- How old or how able is the person? A child, an elderly person or a disabled person makes injury a felony at every level
- Was the person on duty? A public servant raises the level, and a peace officer or judge raises it further
Threats, reckless danger with a firearm, and restraining someone each have a statute of their own: terroristic threats, deadly conduct and kidnapping.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Assault Crimes In Texas?
The level of an assault charge sets the court, the bond and the range of punishment. The table lists the main charges in this category. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
Fine only, no jail.
Fine up to $4,000.
Fine up to $10,000.
- Assault by threat or offensive touch
- Class C misdemeanor under § 22.01(a)(2) and (a)(3). A fine of up to $500 and no jail.
- Assault causing bodily injury
- Class A misdemeanor. Up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
- Terroristic threat, § 22.07
- Class B misdemeanor at the base level, rising as high as a third degree felony depending on the target and the purpose of the threat.
- Deadly conduct, § 22.05
- Class A misdemeanor for reckless conduct. Third degree felony for knowingly firing at people, or toward a home, building or vehicle.
- Family violence assault
- Class A on a first bodily injury charge. Third degree felony with a qualifying prior, or when breathing or circulation was impeded. Second degree with both.
- Public servant, peace officer or judge
- Third degree felony for a public servant on duty. Second degree felony for a peace officer or judge.
- Aggravated assault, § 22.02
- Second degree felony, two to twenty years. First degree in a short list of circumstances.
- Injury to a child, elderly or disabled person, § 22.04
- State jail felony up to first degree felony, depending on the harm and the mental state.
- Unlawful restraint and kidnapping
- Unlawful restraint starts as a Class A misdemeanor. Kidnapping is a third degree felony, and aggravated kidnapping is first degree.
A family violence conviction, even at the Class A level, brings the federal firearm bar in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), and Penal Code § 46.04(b) adds a five year state prohibition of its own. Felony convictions bring the felon-in-possession rules on top.
Real Questions
What Do People Ask About Assault Charges In Texas?
What changes before there is any verdict?
What can outlast the sentence?
Is a threat without any touching a crime?
What if a crash caused the injury?
Why are cases involving children or older adults treated differently?
Possible Defenses
How Can Assault Crimes Be Defended?
The useful defenses depend on the charge, but a few apply across the category. An attorney looks at what the state can prove, what the evidence shows and what the law allows. No result can be promised.
Chapter 9 of the Penal Code justifies force in several situations, including self-defense and defense of others. Once the evidence raises it, the state has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Deadly force is held to a stricter standard than ordinary force.
A charge is only as strong as its added fact.
Many assault felonies rest on one added element, such as serious injury, a weapon, a relationship or a victim's age. That element gets the closest look, because if the state cannot prove it, the case can fall back to a lower offense.
The evidence often includes 911 audio, body camera footage, medical records, photographs and text messages, and the defense can ask for it under art. 39.14.
The Added Fact
Can the state prove the injury level, weapon, relationship or victim status that raises the charge?
Justification
Does the evidence raise self-defense, and can the state disprove it?
The Mental State
Was the act intentional, knowing, reckless, or an accident?
The Recordings
What do 911 audio, body camera and phone video show about the first minutes?
The Accounts
Are the statements of the complaining witness and others consistent with the physical evidence?
Bond And Orders
Are the bond conditions and any protective order being followed while the case is open?
Local Process
What Happens After An Assault Arrest In Montgomery County?
The early steps follow state law. The courts, the prosecutor's office and the jail below belong to Montgomery County, and the misdemeanor and felony courts sit in different buildings, so the notice for each setting should be checked.
Booking And The Magistrate
After booking, a magistrate sets bond and conditions. In a family violence arrest, the magistrate can also issue an emergency protective order.
Charging
A misdemeanor proceeds on a complaint and information. A felony has to be indicted by a grand jury first.
Evidence And Court
Discovery, motions and settings follow in the court that has the case, ending in a dismissal, a plea or a trial.
- Misdemeanor court
- Filed in one of the Montgomery County Courts at Law and prosecuted by Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.
- Felony court
- Presented to a grand jury and, if indicted, heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office prosecutes it.
- Who makes the arrest
- Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS Highway Patrol, Montgomery County Constables, Precincts 1 through 5, Willis Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Oak Ridge North Police Department, Magnolia Police Department, Splendora Police Department, or Roman Forest Police Department.
- Where you are booked
- The Montgomery County Jail at 1 Criminal Justice Drive, run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.
- If the case is appealed
- Appeals go to the Ninth Court of Appeals in Beaumont.
Next Steps
What Should You Do After An Assault Accusation?
These steps are general information, not advice for any one person.
Read Your Bond Conditions
Follow every no-contact or stay-away term, even if the other person reaches out first.
Hold Back The Facts
Statements to police, the other person or friends can become evidence.
Save What You Have
Keep messages, photographs and the names of anyone who saw what happened.
Ask About Firearms
A protective order or a conviction can restrict them, so ask before moving or selling any.
Track Court Dates
A missed setting can lead to a warrant and a bond problem.
Stay Off Social Media
Posts about the incident or the other person can be used by the state.
The pages for each charge go deeper on elements and defenses. Before any decision that cannot be reversed, such as a plea, it helps to speak with a lawyer. Mitchell Law Firm offers a confidential conversation about assault charges in Montgomery County.
Official Texas Sources
Read The Law Behind This Page
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 22: Assaultive offenses
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 20: Kidnapping and unlawful restraint
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 9: Justification, including self-defense
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12: Punishment ranges
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 46: Weapons, including the family violence firearm rule
- Texas Family Code Chapter 71: Family violence definitions
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 17: Bail and emergency protective orders
- Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 39: Discovery of the state's evidence
- Texas Government Code Chapter 411: Orders of nondisclosure
Who Handles Your Case
The Texas Lawyer Who Speaks Science
Attorney Brennon Mitchell isn't just a seasoned Conroe 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.
Assault Charges
Assault Charges We Handle In Conroe
Assault
One statute, three kinds of accusation, and a range that runs from a fine-only ticket to a felony.
Aggravated Assault
An assault plus serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon: a second degree felony, and first degree in situations the statute lists.
Vehicular Assault
Not an offense by that name in Texas. An injury crash is charged under one of four statutes, and the one chosen sets the range.
Deadly Conduct
Creating a risk of serious injury with no one needing to be hurt: a Class A misdemeanor, or a third degree felony when shots are fired.
Family Violence
An assault or threat between family, household members or dating partners, with protective orders, firearm limits and a finding that stays on the record.
Injury To A Child Or Elderly Person
A felony at every level, graded by the harm and the mental state, and chargeable for failing to act as well as for acting.
Kidnapping
Unlawful restraint, kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping: three levels of one idea, separated by intent, deadly force and purpose.
Terroristic Threats
A threat of violence made with a listed purpose: Class B at the base, and up to a third degree felony depending on the target and the intent.
Common Questions
Assault Crime Questions People In Conroe Ask
Where are assault cases heard in Montgomery County?
A Class A or Class B misdemeanor in this category is filed in one of the Montgomery County Courts at Law. A felony, such as aggravated assault or kidnapping, goes to a grand jury and, if indicted, is heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on West Phillips Street, where the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office prosecutes it. The misdemeanor and felony courts are in different buildings.
Is a first assault charge in Conroe, TX a misdemeanor?
An assault under Penal Code § 22.01 is a misdemeanor unless the statute's enhancing facts are present. Causing bodily injury is a Class A misdemeanor. Threatening imminent bodily injury, or making physical contact the other person would regard as offensive or provocative, is a fine-only Class C. A first offense can still be charged as a felony when, for example, the person hurt was a public servant on duty.
What is the difference between assault and aggravated assault in Conroe, TX?
Aggravated assault under Penal Code § 22.02 is an assault plus one of two added facts: serious bodily injury, or the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon. That added fact moves the offense from a misdemeanor to a second degree felony, with a range of two to twenty years in prison, and it moves the case from the Courts at Law to the district courts.
Who makes assault arrests in Montgomery County?
Arrests come from city departments such as the Conroe Police Department, from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, from Texas DPS, and from the county constables in Precincts 1 through 5, among others. Whichever agency makes the arrest, the person is booked into the Montgomery County Jail on Criminal Justice Drive and brought before a magistrate, who sets bond and any bond conditions.
Can an assault charge in Conroe, TX affect the right to own a gun?
A family violence conviction, even at the Class A misdemeanor level, triggers the federal firearm prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), and Texas Penal Code § 46.04(b) adds a five year state prohibition. A felony conviction of any kind brings the state and federal felon-in-possession restrictions. Bond conditions and protective orders can also restrict firearms while a case is still pending.
Should I talk to police before calling a lawyer after an assault accusation in Conroe, TX?
Texas law does not require anyone to give officers their version of events, and whatever is said can be used against the speaker. The first statements at the scene often become the heart of an assault case. Talking with an attorney first helps a person understand the accusation and the choices before anything is said on the record.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
Your Freedom Is Our Fight
Bond conditions in an assault case can start on the day of the arrest. Call or request a consultation to go over where the case stands.
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