Vehicular Assault Lawyer In Conroe, TX
People search for vehicular assault, but the Penal Code has no offense by that name. When someone is hurt in a crash, the state picks a statute based on what it says caused the collision and what the driver did afterward, and this page covers which ones, the penalties, the defenses and the court process.
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?
In every injury crash case, the first question is which law the state chooses, because each has different elements and a different range. Four carry most of the load:
- Intoxication assault, Penal Code § 49.07. Driving while intoxicated in a public place and, by reason of that intoxication, causing serious bodily injury to someone by accident or mistake.
- Aggravated assault, Penal Code § 22.02. An assault in which the vehicle is alleged to be a deadly weapon. This requires a culpable mental state toward the injury, such as recklessness.
- Failure to stop and render aid, Transportation Code § 550.021. Leaving the scene of a crash that injured or killed someone without stopping and helping.
- Racing causing bodily injury, Transportation Code § 545.420. A race or speed competition on a highway in which someone is hurt.
What the state must prove for intoxication assault:
- The accused drove or operated a vehicle in a public place
- The accused was intoxicated while doing so
- Someone else was left with serious bodily injury
- That injury came from the intoxication, by accident or mistake
Intoxication assault does not ask whether the driver meant to hurt anyone. Aggravated assault with a vehicle asks the opposite, which is the driver's mental state toward the person hurt. Failure to stop and render aid is different again, because the collision itself may not be a crime. A driver can face two charges at once, such as intoxication assault for the crash and failure to render aid for leaving.
If the injured person dies, the case moves into the homicide statutes, including intoxication manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter.
Penalties And Consequences
What Are The Penalties For Injury Crash Charges In Texas?
The DA's Office runs a dedicated Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes and handles intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault and fatal hit and run cases. That means the investigation of a serious crash can begin before the vehicles are towed. These are statutory limits, not predictions.
A third degree felony, fine up to $10,000.
A second degree felony, fine up to $10,000.
- Intoxication assault
- Third degree felony. Two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A higher level applies when the injured person is a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical services worker or judge on duty, or when the injury results in a persistent vegetative state.
- Aggravated assault with a vehicle
- Second degree felony. Two to twenty years and a fine of up to $10,000. A deadly weapon finding in the judgment brings community supervision and parole restrictions.
- Failure to stop and render aid
- Third degree felony when the crash caused serious bodily injury. For other injuries, up to five years in prison or up to one year in county jail, and a fine of up to $5,000.
- Racing with injury
- Third degree felony for bodily injury. Second degree felony for serious bodily injury.
- Driver's license
- A conviction can bring a license suspension, and an arrest involving a breath or blood test can start a separate administrative case.
Because the statute chosen sets the range, the choice between charges can mean a difference of several felony levels.
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 a crash lead to both a DWI and a felony?
Possible Defenses
How Can An Injury Crash Charge Be Defended?
Each of these charges requires proof that the driver's conduct caused the injury. For intoxication assault, the serious bodily injury must have happened by reason of the intoxication, and a crash involving a driver who had been drinking is not the same thing. Penal Code § 6.04 sets the rule that the result must have occurred but for the defendant's conduct, and concurrent causes are part of that analysis. No result can be promised.
A reconstruction brings its own evidence, and each piece can be examined.
The injury decides the statute.
Serious bodily injury, the threshold for intoxication assault, means a substantial risk of death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of a bodily member or organ. A wrist that heals, or a night of hospital observation, is weighed against that definition using the medical records.
For a blood result, the questions are the same as in any intoxication case: the timing of the draw, whether it was taken under a warrant or another lawful basis, how the sample was stored and what the laboratory analysis shows. Where the state alleges the car was a deadly weapon, the charge is aggravated assault and the mental state becomes central.
Vehicle Data
What do the event data recorders in every vehicle show about speed and braking?
The Scene
Do measurements, photographs and the reconstruction support the state's account?
The Other Driver
What do the other driver's speed, lane position and phone use show?
The Blood Test
Were timing, warrant, chain of custody and laboratory analysis handled correctly?
The Injury
Do the medical records show serious bodily injury, or a lesser injury?
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 Montgomery County?
An injury crash starts with a scene investigation, and the felony case then moves through the grand jury and the felony courts in Montgomery 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
Felony injury crash charges go to a grand jury, which can indict, indict a lesser offense or decline.
District Court And Evidence
Discovery under article 39.14 and expert review of the crash and lab evidence come first, then a plea, dismissal or trial. A separate license matter may run alongside.
- Where it is heard
- Heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center on 207 W Phillips St, after a grand jury indictment. Misdemeanors are heard in a separate building.
- Who prosecutes
- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, through its Vehicular Crimes Unit in serious injury cases.
- 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.
- If the case is appealed
- Appeals go to 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.
Keep The Vehicle As It Is
Do not repair or sell it until an attorney decides whether its data recorder is needed.
Photograph The Scene
If it is safe, keep photographs of the road, signs and damage.
List Witnesses
Names of people who saw the crash matter, and memories fade quickly.
Check License Deadlines
A test result or 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.
Talk to 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 Montgomery 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, 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 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.
Related Assault Charges
Other Assault Charges Handled In Conroe, TX
Crash injury charges sit where the assault, intoxication and traffic statutes meet. See the full Assault Crimes defense overview for 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.
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
Vehicular Assault Questions People In Conroe Ask
What is vehicular assault charged as in Conroe, TX?
Texas has no offense titled vehicular assault. An injury crash in Montgomery County is charged under a specific statute: intoxication assault under Penal Code § 49.07, aggravated assault with the vehicle alleged as a deadly weapon under § 22.02, failure to stop and render aid under Transportation Code § 550.021, or racing on a highway causing injury under § 545.420. More than one can be charged from the same crash.
Who prosecutes injury crash cases in Montgomery County?
Felony crash cases are prosecuted by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. The office runs a dedicated Vehicular Crimes Unit of prosecutors and investigators that responds directly to crash scenes and handles intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter and fatal hit and run cases. The cases are heard in the district courts at the Montgomery County Criminal Justice Center.
What is the penalty for intoxication assault in Conroe, TX?
Intoxication assault under Texas Penal Code § 49.07 is a third degree felony, with two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The statute sets a higher level when the injured person is a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical services worker or judge on duty, or when the injury is a traumatic brain injury resulting in a persistent vegetative state.
What is the difference between intoxication assault and DWI in Montgomery County?
Both require operating a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated. Intoxication assault adds a result: by reason of that intoxication, the driver caused serious bodily injury to another person by accident or mistake. A crash with a lesser injury, or an injury the state cannot connect to the intoxication, does not meet § 49.07, and the charge that fits may be DWI.
Is it a felony to leave the scene of a crash with injuries in Conroe, TX?
Transportation Code § 550.021 requires a driver in a crash that injures or kills someone to stop, return if necessary, and render reasonable assistance. Failing to do so is a felony. When the crash caused serious bodily injury, it is a third degree felony. For other injuries, the range is up to five years in prison or up to one year in county jail, and a fine of up to $5,000.
Can a car be a deadly weapon in a Conroe, TX assault case?
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. Courts have held that a motor vehicle can meet that definition. When the state alleges a vehicle was used as a deadly weapon in an assault, the charge is aggravated assault, a second degree felony.
Mitchell Law Firm, PLLC
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