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TexasGal wrote:Injury to a child falls under the Title 5 Penal Code does it not? I understood those specifically are not allowed to drop off after 10 years since they are crimes against persons, but it also states a child is someone 14 and under. The child in this case is older than that.

Lawyers can do interesting things.

fickman wrote:

recaffeination wrote:It depends on the felony. After ten years, deferred adjudication doesn't count as a conviction for CHL purposes for some felonies but for others it's always a conviction unless they're pardoned.

Injury to a child.

It was when he was 21 for a liaison with a girl who represented herself as of age but was - as he learned a year later - six weeks shy of 17. The prosecutor agreed that it was not a severe case and changed it from sexual assault to the injury charge so that he wouldn't be a registered offender for life. . . they also recommended the deferred adjudication.

I'm afraid your family member may be in some deep legal trouble.

Are you sure the charge was injury to a child and not sexual assault of a child? As I learned on jury duty for a child porn case a "child" is anyone 17 or younger. Here's a link to the relevant law. http://penalcode.austintexascriminaldef ... 2.011.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

IANAL just a CHL instructor.

TexasGal wrote:Injury to a child falls under the Title 5 Penal Code does it not? I understood those specifically are not allowed to drop off after 10 years since they are crimes against persons, but it also states a child is someone 14 and under. The child in this case is older than that.

The basic thrust of a plea bargain is to plead guilty to an offense they didn't commit to avoid the risk of the trial for a worse offense. The facts of the original offense don't have to match what they plead guilty to.

posse wrote:

TexasGal wrote:Injury to a child falls under the Title 5 Penal Code does it not? I understood those specifically are not allowed to drop off after 10 years since they are crimes against persons, but it also states a child is someone 14 and under. The child in this case is older than that.

The basic thrust of a plea bargain is to plead guilty to an offense they didn't commit to avoid the risk of the trial for a worse offense. The facts of the original offense don't have to match what they plead guilty to.

In most cases the lesser offense is included in original offense for which they are charged. Prior to accepting the plea bargain, the defendant must admit his guilt to the judge.

WildBill wrote:Prior to accepting the plea bargain, the defendant must admit his guilt to the judge.

Isn't that a part of pleading guilty? The quilty plea can be to a lesser included offense or it can also be to something different, like pleading to an equipment violation to avoid a moving violation. That allows the prosecutor to add 1 to their win statistics and the county gets their money but the driver's insurance rates don't go up.

scud runner wrote:

WildBill wrote:Prior to accepting the plea bargain, the defendant must admit his guilt to the judge.

Isn't that a part of pleading guilty? The quilty plea can be to a lesser included offense or it can also be to something different, like pleading to an equipment violation to avoid a moving violation. That allows the prosecutor to add 1 to their win statistics and the county gets their money but the driver's insurance rates don't go up.

Yes it is. However, Posse was suggesting that the guilty plea is for an offense that the defendant did not commit.

I think the equipment violation example shows that's possible. So does fickman's example.

scud runner wrote:I think the equipment violation example shows that's possible. So does fickman's example.

I don't have enough details to have an opinion about fickman's example. I agree that the type of plea bargain in your example happens almost every day of the week.

MoJo wrote:I'm afraid your family member may be in some deep legal trouble.

Are you sure the charge was injury to a child and not sexual assault of a child? As I learned on jury duty for a child porn case a "child" is anyone 17 or younger. Here's a link to the relevant law. http://penalcode.austintexascriminaldef ... 2.011.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

IANAL just a CHL instructor.

Quite sure. This was six years ago - he's almost done with his deferred probation. He's almost out of his legal trouble.

The sexual assault of a child was the original charge from the detectives; the prosecutor changed it to the injury to a child charge because 1) the victim had "lured" a handful of college guys into the same trap via a social networking site of dubious distinction, 2) the victim had misrepresented her age (this was proven by the chat transcripts), 3) there was no "knowing each other" in a biblical sense involved. . . that is to say they never consummated anything, 4) the victim was 6 weeks shy of the legal age, 5) there was one encounter, 6) the encounter had been over 18 months in the past when the victim's dad brought forth charges (she refused to participate), 7) my family member had no criminal history at the time, and 8) my family member cooperated from the start of the investigation and never hid anything (in fact, if he hadn't cooperated, they likely wouldn't have had enough evidence to get through the grand jury).

He worked for a LEO department at the time of the charges and used the association representation initially. He realized his free attorney was outmatched and hired a private attorney who worked the deferred deal out. The DA was very cooperative and had an interest in not making him be a registered sex offender for life - they recommended changing the charge to avoid ruining his life.

It was a bad situation to be sure, and it ultimately led to his salvation, so God had a good outcome planned the whole time. It also led him to a career change, to meet his current wife, and now they have two little kiddos and he's been a model citizen ever since.

The only question I have is if that category of crime will preempt him from ever being eligible for a CHL.

The disposition says:

Disposition: (Judicial Officer: REDACTED)
1. LESSER INCLUDED INJURY TO A CHILD
Deferred

Plea: (Judicial Officer: REDACTED)
1. LESSER INCLUDED INJURY TO A CHILD
Guilty

Sentence: Deferred Adjudication (Judicial Officer: REDACTED)
1. LESSER INCLUDED INJURY TO A CHILD
CSCD 7 Years , 0 Months , 0 Days with Community Service of 240 Hours
ORDER OF DEFERRED ADJUDICATION

His balance for payments and fines is $0. He paid those off within a year. He also completed the community service within a year or two. He's now in his last year of deferred.

The explanation from his attorney and the DA of the deferred is that once it is completed, he will not show a conviction on his record. Obviously the charge will still be there for a thorough background check and he'd need to report the arrest on a CHL application. He doesn't want to waste the money on the application if it's an automatic denial, though. Like I said, he doesn't think he'll be eligible but I told him to find out for sure before giving up on it.

fickman wrote:8) my family member cooperated from the start of the investigation and never hid anything (in fact, if he hadn't cooperated, they likely wouldn't have had enough evidence to get through the grand jury).

There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Anyway, there's Texas Government Code Sec. 411.1711
A person is not convicted, as that term is defined by Section 411.171, if an order of deferred adjudication was entered against the person on a date not less than 10 years preceding the date of the person's application for a license under this subchapter unless the order of deferred adjudication was entered against the person for:
(1) a felony offense under:
(A) Title 5, Penal Code;

PENAL CODE
TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON
CHAPTER 22. ASSAULTIVE OFFENSES
Sec. 22.04. INJURY TO A CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL.