Will Violating My Bond or Pretrial Conditions Hurt My Case?




Many people who get DWIs have never been in trouble before. The shock of going to jail and having a pending case is enough to send their stress levels skyrocketing.  What is important to know is that most counties impose "pretrial conditions" even before going to court.  These pretrial conditions are serious. Beware.   When the court gives you a specified deadline to have an interlock installed, it is not a joke.  Please do so.  When you have an alcohol violation, this compounds the difficulty of your case.  We frequently have clients show up to court with  warrants for their arrest due to bond violations (typically for an interlock violation).  Do not brush this off.  Normally, the courts also notify the prosecutor, who makes a note in the file.   Some bond violations take all morning to address. Our firm charges for bond violations for 2 reasons.  One- it requires time and makes handling your case more difficult. Two- we want to encourage our clients to stop these bond violations.  Judges get very angry when DWI defendants repeatedly violate bond conditions. The chances of going to jail for longer then increase.  Most north Texas counties do not allow any alcohol consumption while on bond or on probation. The urine tests (etg tests) generally go back 5 days. Some counties have random testing.  This evidences that there is a whole lot of punishment which occurs before any actual punishment.  So much for "innocent until proven guilty."  Reasonable bond conditions are: do not get arrested.  Today's modern bond conditions appear way out of line with what is necessary to ensure a citizen accused's attendance in court and the public safety.  Sure, a client who keeps getting arrested while out on bond needs serious bond conditions.  Does everyone? No. Most first time DWIs (regardless of alcohol amount) do not need this overkill. The kicker is none of this is free.  Pretrial services are not free.  Our clients are paying for these fees (much like probation) monthly, as well as their interlock providers and separately for any drug or alcohol tests.  The best way to look at all this government intrusion is to view it as a job interview. The better you do for the longer you do it, the more it helps your case.

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