Dallas Probation Violation Lawyers

A Motion to Revoke or Motion to Adjudicate is not a new criminal case. It is a proceeding within an old case. The underlying conviction or guilty plea is not relitigated; the question is whether the defendant complied with the terms of community supervision. Because the state only has to prove the violation by a preponderance of the evidence, and because the judge who imposed the original sentence typically hears the motion, revocation proceedings have their own tactics, their own leverage points, and their own range of outcomes.

Deandra Grant Law represents people facing Motions to Revoke, Motions to Adjudicate, and related probation-compliance issues in Dallas County. Call (214) 225-7117 to discuss your case.

Two Kinds of Community Supervision

Everything about a Texas probation violation depends on which kind of community supervision was imposed at sentencing. The two kinds produce fundamentally different exposure if the state later files a violation motion.

Straight Community Supervision — CCP Article 42A.053

A judgment of conviction is entered at the original sentencing, but the prison sentence is suspended and the defendant is placed on supervision. If the state later files a Motion to Revoke and the court grants it, the court may:

• Impose the original suspended sentence in full.
• Impose a lesser amount (the court is not required to impose the whole sentence).
• Continue supervision with modifications.
• Continue supervision with a short jail sanction under Article 42A.302.

Critically, the court cannot impose a sentence greater than the original suspended sentence on a straight-probation revocation. The ceiling is fixed at sentencing.

Deferred Adjudication Community Supervision — CCP Article 42A.101

The defendant pleads guilty or no contest, but the court defers a formal finding of guilt and places the defendant on supervision. If the defendant successfully completes the term, the case is dismissed. If the state files a Motion to Adjudicate and the court grants it, the court:

• Enters an adjudication of guilt and may impose any sentence within the statutory range for the underlying offense.
• Is not limited by the original plea agreement’s terms on punishment.
• Can impose a sentence greater than what the defendant would have faced at the time of the original plea.

This is the most important single fact about deferred adjudication: the favorable-outcome promise at the front end becomes substantially harsher exposure at the back end if the defendant is adjudicated. A case that the defendant thought could produce no more than the originally-discussed punishment can, on adjudication, produce the statutory maximum for the offense.

Types of Violations

Two categories of allegations account for the majority of Motions to Revoke and Adjudicate:

Technical Violations

Noncompliance with specific conditions imposed at sentencing:

• Missed reporting appointments.
• Failed drug tests or failure to submit to testing.
• Failure to complete required counseling, treatment, or education programs.
• Failure to complete community service hours.
• Failure to pay fees, fines, costs, or restitution.
• Travel or contact violations (leaving the jurisdiction without permission; contact with protected persons or co-defendants).
• Failure to maintain employment or attend school as required.

New-Offense Violations

Commission of a new criminal offense while on supervision. The state can proceed on the new offense and on the resulting revocation motion simultaneously; a finding of the underlying conduct by a preponderance can support revocation even if the new criminal case has not been tried or has not yet resulted in a conviction.

How Violation Proceedings Work

The Motion and the Capias

The state begins by filing a Motion to Revoke (for straight probation) or Motion to Adjudicate (for deferred adjudication), usually signed by a probation officer and approved by an Assistant District Attorney. The court ordinarily issues a capias (an arrest warrant) at the time the motion is filed. The defendant may learn of the motion when arrested, when served at home, or when a lawyer pulls the case information.

Bond

Bond in revocation cases is set at the court’s discretion under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 17.09. Revocation bonds are frequently higher than bonds on a new case, and in some circumstances bond may be denied, particularly when the allegation is a new violent offense or when the defendant has a history of failing to appear.

The Hearing

The revocation hearing is a bench hearing before the same court that imposed the original sentence. There is no jury. The state presents evidence of the violation; the defense presents evidence in rebuttal or mitigation. The court determines whether the state has proved each alleged violation by a preponderance of the evidence.

Preponderance of the Evidence

A revocation hearing uses a civil-style burden of proof (preponderance of the evidence) not beyond a reasonable doubt. The practical effect is that evidence that would not suffice to convict at a trial may be sufficient to support a revocation. This dynamic, more than anything else, is what makes skilled representation essential at the revocation stage.

Defenses and Mitigation

Factual Denial

The state’s evidence on each alleged violation is testable. Drug test methodology, the chain of custody on specimens, the accuracy of the probation officer’s log entries, the terms of the written conditions, and the identification of the defendant in any new-offense allegation are all contestable.

Bearden Indigency Defense

When the violation is nonpayment of fees, fines, costs, or restitution, Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 (1983) requires the court to consider whether the failure to pay was willful or resulted from indigency. A defendant who genuinely cannot pay, and who made reasonable efforts to comply, cannot be revoked on that basis alone. Documentation of income, expenses, job-loss, medical costs, and efforts to make partial payments can be decisive.

Mitigation

Even when the allegations are provable, the court’s range of outcomes is wide. Presenting a mitigation case (ex. treatment history, employment, family responsibilities, specific plans for compliance going forward, and the availability of specific alternatives to incarceration) can produce continuation with modification rather than revocation.

Written Conditions and Due Process

The state cannot revoke for conduct not specifically prohibited by the written conditions of supervision. Challenges to the notice, the specificity of the conditions, and the due process of the revocation process are part of the defense toolkit.

What Outcomes Are Available

The judge has real discretion at a revocation hearing, and the range of possible outcomes is wider than most people expect:

• Motion denied. The court finds that the state has not met its burden on any alleged violation.
• Continuation with modification. The court finds violations but continues supervision on stricter terms (for example, added drug testing, additional treatment, extended supervision, or electronic monitoring).
• Short jail sanction under Article 42A.302 with supervision continued.
• Revocation with sentence less than the maximum available. The court finds violations and imposes a sentence, but one less than the original suspended sentence (for straight probation) or less than the statutory maximum (for deferred adjudication).
• Full revocation. The court imposes the original suspended sentence in full, or (on deferred adjudication) imposes a sentence up to the statutory maximum for the underlying offense.