Assaults and Family Violence

Texas Assault and Domestic Violence Defense

Tell us about your case.

Regardless of whether it is aggravated or not, whether it involves family violence, a deadly weapon or a public servant, no case begs to be set for trial more than an assault. Assault cases, especially in the area of family violence, are rarely witnessed by anyone other than the combatants themselves, and they boil down to one person's word against another's.

If you have been charged with assault, contact our firm and talk to a lawyer about your case.

At Bristol Myers & Associates, P.C., we take an aggressive stance in these "one-witness" cases and almost always set them for jury trial. If the accuser is uncooperative with the prosecution and/or fails to appear and testify at trial, often times the State will be forced to reduce the charges or dismiss its case altogether. The recent Supreme Court decision (Crawford v. Washington) dealing with the rights of individuals to confront their accusers means that if your accuser decides not to testify—for whatever reason—any statements they may have made previously are considered hearsay and are often inadmissible in court.

When there are multiple witnesses, their stories usually deviate from one another enough that it becomes difficult for the prosecution to prove that the accuser's story is true. Sometimes witnesses' observations will support a theory of self-defense. Self-defense means that, if our client uses reasonable force to respond to a physical confrontation started by the accuser, then our client should not be held criminally responsible for assault.

We interview witnesses, check their backgrounds and seek to uncover any bias in favor of the accuser or against our client. We also dig into the accuser's background, looking for a history of violence or false accusations, threats made to our client, substance abuse, mental health problems, and any other information that might cast the accuser as aggressive or untrustworthy.

In addition to criminal charges, civil proceedings related to the assault allegation such as protective order, divorce, or custody hearings can give Mr. Myers the opportunity to evaluate how potential witnesses will react in a criminal trial and to obtain testimony that locks them into a particular version of events. This way, we get a head start on your defense and may be able to call the witness' credibility into question if any inconsistencies should arise at trial.

Contacting Our Law Firm

Bristol Myers & Associates, P.C. handles assault and family violence cases here in Travis County and throughout the state of Texas. For a free consultation and to learn more about how attorney Bristol Myers can deliver results for you—call or contact us in Austin, Texas, today.