In Texas, protective orders are issued by a judge in order to prevent individuals from harassing or intimidating others. Protective order violations are taken very seriously, and can result in a number of sanctions that include:
Generally speaking, initial violations of protective orders are treated as misdemeanor offenses, while subsequent offenses could be charged as felonious crimes, depending upon the circumstances. Either way, having a criminal conviction for violating a protective order can be disruptive to your life. When restraining order violations are related to divorce or child custody, it could seriously impact the result of a civil case as well.
An arrest concerning violations of orders of protection can sometimes occur if police actually catch you acting in an inappropriate manner. For example, trespassing, threatening someone else’s life and harassment are all behaviors that could land you behind bars. Most of the time, however, arrests for disobeying restraining orders come after an individual makes a report concerning unwanted behavior to the police. This can sometimes be backed by “eyewitness” testimony that may or may not be factual in nature.
The job of an attorney will be to review all the evidence involved in the allegations in order to determine if the state of Texas is able to meet its burden of proof. After doing so, a motion to suppress certain evidence could be filed if it appears that the evidence is not relevant to the charges at hand. The lawyer will also look for gaps in eyewitness statements in an effort to discover inconsistencies that would reveal an ulterior motive for making them.
Contact Brett A. Podolsky at 713-227-0087 for a free evaluation of your case.
