Texas Criminal Defense
Lawyers who try cases.

Jury Trial on a 25-to-Life Charge: Not Guilty on Both Counts

Charge

Super Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and Indecency with a Child

Charge level

First-degree felony with a 25-year minimum

What our client faced

25 years to life with no parole eligibility

Venue

Tarrant County district court

Resolved by

Jury trial

Handled by

Varghese Summersett

For most of this case the State's offer was 30 to 40 years in prison. On the eve of trial it became probation on a reduced charge, with lifetime sex offender registration attached. Our client turned both down, and we tried the case. The State was allowed to bring in a second accuser, and a bond issue put our client in custody partway through trial, in front of the jury. What the jury also saw was how little investigating had been done. The lead detective admitted he never sought a search warrant, never pulled the surveillance video from the home, and never went to the house.

Result Varghese Summersett obtained: not guilty on both counts.

Felony Strangulation Allegation Ended Without an Indictment

Charge

Assault Family Violence by Impeding Breath or Circulation, Tex. Penal Code 22.01(b)(2)(B)

Charge level

Third-degree felony

What our client faced

2 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000

Venue

Tarrant County

Resolved by

Grand jury

Handled by

Varghese Summersett

The arrest rested on one person's description of a domestic argument. What no one else in the case knew was that our client had recorded video of it. We found that video, preserved it, and compared it with the written police report and then let the complaining witness watch it. On a recording, she agreed that her report reflected how she had perceived the moment, not what the video showed. A case that looked like a strangulation felony on paper looked very different on camera.

Result Varghese Summersett obtained: the grand jury returned a no-bill. No indictment and no felony prosecution.

Registration Felony and Probation Revocation Both Dismissed

Charge

Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registration Requirements, plus a petition to revoke probation

Charge level

Third-degree felony

What our client faced

2 to 10 years in prison and the loss of his probation

Venue

Tarrant County

Handled by

Varghese Summersett

The State's case was an absence. No call to schedule our client's annual registration update appeared in the department's phone log, so officers obtained a warrant and arrested him at home. A missing log entry can show that a call was not recorded. It cannot show that a person made no effort to comply. Our client said he had gone to the station in person weeks earlier and spoken with a specific officer, and two different officers had recorded him telling that same account on body camera, naming the same officer each time. We used that against the new charge and the revocation at once.

Result Varghese Summersett obtained: the felony registration charge was dismissed and the petition to revoke probation was dismissed as well. No plea and no new supervision.