How to Argue a Houston Probation Violation Defense

When you are on probation, you are required to follow a set of rules administered by the court at the time of your sentencing. For the most part, these rules are easy to follow and thousands of people do so each year. But, there are times when people decide to ignore the probation terms presented to them, which results in a violation. If this happened to you, it’s best to work with a Houston probation violation defense lawyer for your case.

Probation Violation Defense in Houston

So, you’ve violated your probation terms and don’t know where to turn. The first thing you need to do is consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney. The reason for this is that an arrest warrant will be issued. This provides law enforcement officials the ability to take you into custody and return you to jail whenever they see you. They can stop you without probable cause if they know who you are and know of your warrant.

Common Probation Violations

Some common probation violations include the following:

• Drug test failure
• Committing another crime
• Possession of a weapon
• Failure to report to a probation hearing
• Failure to complete required community service hours
• Failure to pay fines
• Violating a no-contact order

Common Probation Violation Defenses

Some common defenses to probation violations include the following:

• The subject was incapacitated at the time when failure to appear occurred. For example, the subject was in the hospital or was already detained.
• The subject was allowed to conduct community service in lieu of making payments for their crime. If failure to pay is discussed, the defense lawyer will provide the judge with documentation regarding community service on their client’s behalf.
• If the subject was to avoid drugs and alcohol while on probation and a violation occurred; they could argue that the test was a false positive, that the test was tampered with, or that the chain of command was not followed when the sample was handled.
• If a no-contact order has been violated, the defense lawyer could argue that the subject did everything in his or her power to avoid contact and that it was inevitable, especially if there are children involved.

Contact an experienced probation violation defense attorney in Houston to discuss your case today.