Dallas Domestic Violence Lawyer

Deandra Grant Law is a Dallas domestic violence law firm defending family violence charges in Dallas and throughout Dallas County. Family violence is not a separate crime in Texas. It is an assault charge with a relationship attached: a spouse, an ex, a dating partner, a roommate, or a relative. That one fact changes how Dallas County handles the case. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Family Violence Division screens and prosecutes these cases, the misdemeanors are heard in the County Criminal Courts at the Frank Crowley Courts Building by prosecutors who handle nothing else, and the felonies go to the Criminal District Courts in the same building.

The first order usually arrives before you do. At magistration inside the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, the magistrate can issue an emergency protective order under Article 17.292 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and must issue one when the allegation involves serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon. An EPO runs 31 to 61 days, or up to 91 days when a weapon is alleged, and it can bar you from your own home and from any contact with the complaining witness. Violating it is a new charge under Penal Code §25.07, even if the other person made the call. A longer civil protective order, up to two years and sometimes more, can follow through the family courts.

Then there is the enhancement. A first family violence assault is a Class A misdemeanor, but a prior family violence conviction, an allegation of choking or impeding breath, or two incidents inside twelve months makes it a third-degree felony with two to ten years of exposure. Whatever the charge level, an affirmative finding of family violence under Article 42.013 follows a conviction or a deferred adjudication: a federal firearm ban, a record that cannot be sealed, and a felony the next time anyone makes an allegation. The defense is built on the same evidence the State fixed in the first days. Partner Douglas Huff is an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist with digital forensics training, and managing partner Deandra Grant is a former Dallas County prosecutor with more than 30 years of trial experience; the Dallas domestic violence lawyer on your case treats the finding, not just the charge, as the fight. Physical evidence, from DNA swabs to toxicology, is tested at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, and we read the bench notes rather than the summary. Our Texas domestic violence guide covers the statute; this page covers how it plays out in Dallas, eight minutes from our Oak Lawn office.

We defend family violence cases from every corner of Dallas County: Dallas itself plus Garland, Irving, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Carrollton, Richardson, Rowlett, DeSoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, and Lancaster. Wherever the call came from, a family violence arrest books at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center, the emergency protective order is decided there at magistration, and the case is filed by the Family Violence Division and set at Frank Crowley, a building we work in every week.

Every charge we defend here has its own walkthrough: Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer, Dallas DWI Lawyer, Dallas Assault Lawyer, Dallas Drug Crimes Lawyer, Dallas Sex Crimes Lawyer, Dallas Theft Defense Lawyer, Dallas Weapons Charge Lawyer, and Dallas Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer. The courthouse, the jail, and the bond process are covered in our Dallas County court guide.

North Dallas and Preston Hollow

A family violence call in North Dallas or Preston Hollow is answered by the Dallas Police North Central Division. The arrest books at Lew Sterrett, the protective order is set before release, and the case is filed with the Family Violence Division like any other. Our Oak Lawn office is about 15 minutes down the Dallas North Tollway.

Oak Cliff and South Dallas

Southwest and South Central Division arrests make up a large share of the county’s family violence docket. Those cases follow the same path through Lew Sterrett and the County Criminal Courts, and our office is about 15 minutes away up I-35E.

Lakewood, East Dallas, and White Rock

Northeast Division territory. A family violence arrest there is a Dallas County case at Frank Crowley, with the same EPO decided at magistration, and our office is a 15-minute drive west across Mockingbird Lane.

Irving and Grand Prairie

An Irving PD family violence arrest is a Dallas County case, booked through the Irving city jail before it is filed with the Dallas County DA and set at Frank Crowley. Grand Prairie sits in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties, so the address on the offense report decides whether the case is heard in Dallas, Fort Worth, or Waxahachie. Our Irving page covers the city.

Carrollton

Carrollton spans Dallas, Denton, and Collin counties, and a Carrollton PD family violence arrest is filed in whichever county the address falls in. The Dallas County side goes to Frank Crowley, the Denton side to the Denton County Courts Building, and the Collin side to McKinney. Our Carrollton page covers the county lines.

Richardson

Richardson straddles the Dallas and Collin county line. A Richardson PD arrest south of the line is a Dallas County case; north of it, the case and the protective order run through Collin County in McKinney. Our Richardson page covers which side is which.

Highland Park and University Park

Both Park Cities run their own police departments, and both file family violence cases with the Dallas County DA. The Park Cities are about five minutes from our office on Oak Lawn Avenue, and our Highland Park page covers the enforcement posture there.

Garland, Mesquite, and the southern suburbs

Garland and Mesquite police book through their own city jails before a case is filed with the Dallas County DA. Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster cases come in the same way. Every one of them is heard at Frank Crowley, and the Dallas County court guide covers the building and the bond process.