Asked 2/20/2016 – Dallas, TX

I am looking for some Advice. My husband and I had a few drinks and ended up in an argument. We never touched each other or anything like that but exchanged words back and forth and I ended up calling the police due to him getting really loud. The police arrived about an hour later and he was already asleep, so I opened the door and told them what happened. The officer asked me if I wanted to press charges and I obviously said no but he made me sign a report where I hand wrote that I did not wish to make a statement. Long story short, the officer said he was going to take him in for the night and he would be out the next day. He spent the night in the County Jail and was released within less than 24 hours, he was charged with Family Violence class C. I believe the officer said it was like a traffic ticket. When he was released they gave him a paper that said time served and he pled no contest. We have been married for 13 yrs and have 3 kids. He does not have any prior Assault Charges, he has 2 DWI’S on his background. My question is “Can I still hire an Attorney? Can an Attorney get this dropped or expunged? What are we looking at?

Answer

When a plea of no contest is entered, the defendant is telling the court that he/she does NOT wish to have a trial and contest the allegations made. Time served means a final conviction is entered and a fine assessed, but the fine money does not have to be paid because the defendant has served enough time in jail at a rate which cancels the fine. If this all happened within the last week, contact a local attorney IMMEDIATELY; there is a small period of time where you can file a motion to set aside the judgment and request a new trial. Other than that, final convictions are final.