Misdemeanor Assault in Texas

I got an assault charge in Texas (Dallas) a few years ago, and I had to sit through a year of probation to handle it. Of course, it was costly. I had to do community service hours, pay a fine, restitution, and  the monthly fee to the Dallas Probation department. It's all a big scam.

Not only does it not make sense because no one remembers what happened that night, but it's petty, and it only made me more mad.

I decided to take it to trial, since I thought I couldn't lose. The duty for the prosecutor was to show that there was, without a doubt, an instance of assault. The prosecution could not prove it, and it resulted in a tie in the jury. Finally, someone decided to back out of their decision - I'm sure no one wanted to be there all day. It was a simple matter of, "Let's just get this over with".

I'm sure the rest of the jury was thinking that we shouldn't have been drinking in the first place. Well, I say screw them, because they have no idea what I had to endure afterwards because of their decision. I believe I didn't do anything - I went and talked to the so-called "victim" - who said that nothing happened. The simple fact of the matter is that you are guilty until proven innocent here in Texas, and if you are charged with something, you better have your shit together for court.

Probation in Texas for Class A Misdemeanor Assault

First off - what a joke! A class A Misdemeanor assault. That basically means nobody got hurt lol. Well, it hurt me plenty - I got a year probation, my pockets drained, and free work for the "community".

Back in those days, I had a friend that I hadn't seen in a very long time, and I got a call from him out of nowhere after not seeing him in about a year or two. We caught up a little bit, and then we decided that we were going to meet up at his apartment, play a little catch-up, and get drunk. Sounded good.

I didn't know that he was bringing his uncle with him, and I didn't know his uncle at all. He was sometimes quiet, sometimes loud and boisterous. But they were family - there was no kind of tension whatsoever.

At the liquor store, my friend and I decided on getting a bottle of Southern Comfort to split between the two of us. His uncle got himself an entire bottle of tequila to himself, and the girl with us got herself a bottle that she knew she wouldn't finish, but she didn't want to drink what we were drinking. After arriving at the apartment, my friend's uncle proceeded to smoke many bowls of marijuana through a Coke can throughout the night.

Long story short, we all started getting rowdy and wrestling around the tiny apartment. My mind went blank, and everyone later on told me that they didn't remember anything either. I ended up in jail that night, though, and my friend went to the hospital. I had no idea why.

We still don't know what happened to this day, but the uncle pressed charges on me. Almost a year after I met him, I finally found out that he has some mental deficiencies, and his prescription drugs on top of large amounts of alcohol (his own plus the other girl's unfinished vodka) didn't help his disposition at all.

I tried to defend myself in court by showing that the uncle is notorious for trying to get people's money like this, and showing that his drug use impaired his memory. I honestly do not believe that everything went down the way he said that it did. The jury was almost set on hanging me, but there was one objectionable juror who wouldn't agree. I guess he/she decided to change their mind lest they have to hang out in the courtroom for another day or two.

Nobody has a clue about what happened that night, so there was already tons of reasonable doubt. But in the end, justice, and Texas probation prevailed.