Harris County Family Violence Attorneys
James G. Sullivan & Associates are result driven and have worked to get over 80 misdemeanor and felony family violence related cases dismissed in just the past 5 years and many more over the past 28+ years. These dismissed cases can be expunged unlike those who complete deferred adjudication probation and cannot get their records expunged or sealed. Certainly, each case is different. Similar results may not be obtained in your case and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The attorneys at James G. Sullivan & Associates work to get the best result with the aim of getting their client’s case dismissed so they can later get their record expunged. If necessary, the attorneys will fight their case at trial.
Most couples learn to resolve their differences or even end their relationships without resorting to domestic assault or family violence. Sometimes, however, even good people gets so stressed out and feel so overwhelmed that they lose it even for a moment and strike out at their partner or another family member in a physical way.
The Consequences for Assault Family Violence
Depending on the circumstances, the prosecutors can charge Assault Family Violence either as a:
- misdemeanor, or a
- felony.
A Class A Misdemeanor Assault means that a person caused bodily injury (or pain) to their partner. If a person caused bodily injury to their partner on two or more times within a period of 12 months, it is a felony Continuous Violence Against the Family. If the person used a deadly weapon or caused serious bodily injury in the domestic assault, it is a felony Aggravated Assault. If the person choked their partner or Impeded their Breathing, it is also a felony. No matter the level of the criminal offense charged, you can expect the court to order you out of your home and have no contact until the case is resolved with your partner, spouse or family member. Punishment for those who are found guilty of misdemeanor assault family violence may also include:
- Community Supervision (Probation)
- A fine of up to $4,000.00
- Jail confinement of up to one year
- Community service
- Anger management counseling
The collateral consequences of a family violence conviction can also be devastating on your personal life and work.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has a Family Criminal Law Division that focuses solely on domestic violence. The prosecutors immediately call the alleged victim to get their statement as to what happened. The prosecutors lock in the emotional stress of the event by obtaining their immediate statement. However, facts tend to change and the importance of the incidence significantly lessens frequently after a short cooling off time.
Arrested for Assault of a Family Member? Contact James G. Sullivan & Associates at (281) 546-6428.
Defending a Houston Assault Family Violence Charge
Assault against a family member is very serious and can have far reaching consequences. The accused may be permanently barred from working in certain industries. The accused may be denied housing in apartment complexes. If you are charged with assault family violence, you should seek legal advice from a experienced criminal defense lawyers.
The defense lawyers of James Sullivan & Associates fight to get their client’s assault family violence charges dismissed or won at trial. Other domestic assault lawyers may choose to arrange a plea bargain for their clients; however, this may not be in the client’s best interest. While it is true that a defendant who successfully completes a deferred adjudication probation will not have a conviction on their record, it is also true that if that person ever gets arrested again for assault family violence then he or she will be charged with a third degree felony and if found guilty could be sentenced to between 2 to 10 years in prison. Furthermore, that person could never own a firearm under federal law even if he completes a deferred adjudication probation and also could never get their record sealed.
Negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors should be the last resort. A good domestic assault lawyer will first investigate the case, interview witnesses, analyze physical evidence and review witness statements in the offense report for inconsistencies. Such a defense attorney will also consider possible motives for making false allegations, such as jealousy, revenge or child custody issues.
James Sullivan has worked to get 80 misdemeanor and felony family violence related cases dismissed just since 2017 so his clients could get their record expunged. Sullivan won an Assault of a Family Member jury trial in 2019.
Need Legal Advice? Call James Sullivan & Associates at (281) 546-6428.
Contact a Houston Family Violence Attorney
The best way to resolve the case is by first talking with a good lawyer. Harris County Family Violence Lawyer James Sullivan will consider the merits of your case and give you an honest evaluation. He will aggressively defend you. He gets results and fights cases at trial. His legal fees are affordable, reasonable and fair.
James Sullivan graduated from Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College, the most selective and prestigious trial advocacy program in America. Sullivan has a proven record of defending people from all walks of life, faiths and countries in courts throughout Texas. This is one of his many client reviews on his Google profile:
My husband and I live in Oklahoma and had a domestic violence case open in Houston, Texas last year. The charge was assault of a family member. Upon being notified of a warrant for my husband’s arrest, I needed to hire an attorney asap. I googled top rated defense attorneys in Houston and came across James Sullivan. I contacted him around 6 pm on a Wednesday evening and explained our detailed situation and he spent about 45 min on the phone with me explaining what we needed to do and how we would achieve a positive outcome. He was very caring and well experienced!
We came to Houston the next day to have our first face to face consult, and he was able to get us in court the very next day! My husband was facing a serious charge and jail time. Mr. Sullivan not only got him a PR bond, but more importantly got the prosecutor to agree to dismiss the case in exchange for my husband doing 8 hrs of community service and taking a brief online anger management class. My husband was able to do that in Oklahoma so, thanks to Mr. Sullivan, we only had to drive down to Houston once, as he will get the case dismissed before the next setting.
At first, we were worried that my husband might lose his career over this, might have to return to Houston multiple times to fight the case, might go to jail, or even be on probation. Instead, and incredibly, Mr. Sullivan worked out a deal to get my husband’s case dismissed within 2 days of first talking to him! I am beyond thankful for his quick work on our case, his professionalism and caring demeanor!
~Crystal LaBree
Contact James G. Sullivan & Associates for a free phone consultation at (281) 546-6428 about your assault family violence charges in Harris County, Montgomery County, and Fort Bend County.
The following lists only recent case results. Certainly each case is different. Similar results may not be obtained in your case and past performance is no guarantee of future results.
| CHARGE | ACCUSATION AND RESULTS | COURT |
| 2022 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed by the Grand Jury on 10/7/2022. Client was falsely accused of threatening to kill his wife with a handgun. | 232nd |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed by the Grand Jury on 09/29/2022. Client was falsely accused of choking his 15 year old son. | 232nd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 09/20/22. Client was falsely accused of attacking her ex-girlfriend in her ex’s apartment when she went with her mother to retrieve her belongings. This same ex falsely accused the client of breaking into her apartment and attacking her right after Xmas. Sullivan got that case in the 179th dismissed on 03/15/22. | 10 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 09/16/22 right before Sullivan set the case for a trial. Client was accused of striking her husband when in fact he was the abuser. | 12 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 09/15/22 right before Sullivan set the case for a trial. Client was accused of hitting his wife while he was driving. | 5 |
| Assault of a Family Member as 2nd Offender | Case dismissed on 08/30/22. Case was filed on 05/14/20. Client missed court date in March 2021 and was arrested on a felony warrant in August 2022. Sullivan was retained a week later and got the case dismissed a few days later. Client was accused of pushing his girlfriend to the floor. Client was previously convicted of choking the same girlfriend 5 years before. | 183rd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 07/28/22. Client was accused of hitting his girlfriend when it was actually the other way around. | 10 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 06/30/2022, one week before the jury trial. Client was accused of injuring his girlfriend when she was trying to snatch his cellphone from his hand. | 7 |
| Interfering with Emergency Call | Case dismissed on 06/23/2022. Client was accused of breaking his wife’s phone so she couldn’t call 911. | 4 |
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed by the Grand Jury on 06/14/2022. Client was accused of trying to run over his wife with his pickup truck and her son claimed to be a witness. | 482nd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 06/09/2022. Client was accused of hitting the father of her child. | 7 |
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member & Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Aggravated Assault case dismissed and Choking case reduced to a misdemeanor assault of a family member with deferred adjudication on 04/19/22. The case was about to be set for a jury trial. The Client was accused of choking his girlfriend and causing her to suffer hip and pelvis fractures. The Client defended himself when his girlfriend pulled a gun on him. | 351st |
| Unlawful Restraint | Case dismissed on 04/12/2022. Client was accused of holding his girlfriend against her will. | 13 |
| Injury to the Disabled | Case dismissed on 04/11/2022. Client was accused of injuring her abusive ex-husband. | 177th |
| Assault of a Pregnant Family Member | Case dismssed on 02/16/2022, the day before trial. Client was accused of choking his pregnant sister. | 209th |
| Burglary of a Habitation with intent to commit Assault | No Probable Cause found on 01/18/2022. Sullivan persuaded the Judge to find No PC against his female client who was invited to her girlfriend’s apartment, was attacked by her girlfriend, and was lied on by her girlfriend afterwards. The State dismissed the felony charge on 03/15/2022. | 179th |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 01/04/2022. Client was accused of striking his girlfriend. | 13 |
| 2021 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Injury to a Child (2 cases) | Cases dismissed by the Grand Jury on 11/30/2021. Client was accused of injuring her children by spanking them. | 183rd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 10/07/2021, a few days before trial. Client was charged with a felony injury to a child and a misdemeanor family violence from the same incident in 2020. The felony case was dismissed on 05/27/2021, the county criminal court prosecutors refused to dismiss the family violence charge, so I set it for a jury trial. The complainant, his wife, already admitted that she was drunk the night her daughter lied and said client had knocked her down. The complainant then went after the Client who pushed her back in self defense. | 16 |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed on 10/05/2021 by chief prosecutor after she read the grand jury defense packet. My client was very drunk, depressed and feeling suicidal the night he and his husband discussed the problems in their marriage. His spouse called 911 for mental health intervention. The police show up, and arrested my client on false charges. | 183rd |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed on 10/04/2021, the day of trial. Client and his wife have been in an arranged marriage for 30 years. The wife made up the accusations, presumably as a pretext for divorce, however their own teenage children were witnesses to the non-event and were prepared to testify in support of their father. | 228nd |
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 09/16/2021. Client was accused of threatening his baby’s mama with a knife. The complainant has mental problems, and took out her frustrations on my client. Case was originally filed right after the March 2020 quarantine. | 262nd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 09/07/2021. Client accused of hitting his girlfriend, and then running away while in handcuffs. The State agreed to dismiss the family violence charge, and the client pled guilty to time served on the misdemeanor escape charge. | 1 |
| Burglary of habitation to commit Assault | Case dismissed on 08/31/2021. Client was accused of forcing his way into his boyfriend’s apartment to attack him. | 180th |
| Burglary of habitation to commit Assault | Case dismissed by the Grand Jury on 08/25/2021. Client was accused of trying to force her way into her ex-boyfriend’s apartment to attack his new girlfriend. However, her ex and the new girlfriend lied to the police. | 263rd |
| Violation of a Protective Order | Case dismissed on 07/09/2021. Client was at least the 4th or 5th man accused of family violence in two different counties by a mentally unstable nympho that goes from failed sexual relationship to failed sexual relationship. When she’s bored with one guy, she seduces a new guy. She then accuses the first guy of family violence and gets a protective order in order to get him out of the picture. My client’s family violence case was dismissed on 11/03/2020, and now his felony violation of protective order is dismissed. | 209th |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 06/29/2021. Client was accused of attacking his wife on his wedding night. | 1 |
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed by the Grand Jury on 06/10/2021. Client was accused of striking her former roommate with a board. However the former roommate, a large and strong butch woman in the LGBTQ community, was the aggressor and put the client in a chokehold. Client had to fight for her life. The former roommate had bipolar disorder, self medicated with alcohol and drugs, and had a history of stealing and detroying property of other roommates and then playing the victim. The police did a minimal investigation and chose to believe the former roommate over the client, the actual victim. | 338th |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed on 05/28/2021. Client was accused of choking his wife who was highly intoxicated. The allegations were false. His wife attacked him and then threw his young daughter down who had tried to separate them. Client restrained his wife to protect his child. Her young son called the police. As a result of the false allegation and the wife’s alcoholism, the couple divorced. | 351st |
| Injury to a Child | Case dismissed on 05/27/2021. Client was accused of injuring his stepdaughter. Client and his wife fell off the wagon during the pandemic. One day while his wife was highly intoxicated, the stepdaughter got mad because Client made her do her chores. The stepdaughter then lied to her mother and said Client knocked her down. Her mother flew into a rage and went after Client. | 337th |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case reduced to misdemeanor with deferred adjudication probation on 05/13/21. If client had not said what he did to the police, the result may have been better. | 339th |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 05/10/2021. Client was accused of attacking her husband while she was drunk. | 8 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 04/21/2021. Client was accused of pushing his wife down while he was drunk. | 12 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 04/05/2021. Client was accused of punching his girlfriend outside of his apartment after they returned from a night of drinking. He did not want her to come inside. After he went in and locked the door, she climbed over his second story balcony, entered through the unlocked sliding door, went to the kitchen and grabbed a sharp knife. He had to take it away from her. They made up. She spent the night. The next day she called the police and failed to mention how she herself committed a serious felony by breaking in and grabbing a deadly weapon to threaten or to attack my client. | 7 |
| Aggravated Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 03/19/2021. Client was accused of trying to run his ex-wife off of the road in January 2019. The allegations were completely false. Due to the pandemic and new prosecutors who were unable to distinguish between a good case and a dog case, my client’s case dragged on much longer than it should have. By the fourth jury trial setting, the last prosecutor finally evaluated the case and dismissed the case. | 351st |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 02/24/2021. Client was accused of striking her adult son while intoxicated. | 8 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 01/13/2021. Client was accused of knocking his wife down. | 15 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 01/11/2021. Client was accused of striking his wife. | 10 |
| Assault of a Family Member as a Second Offender | Case dismissed on 01/06/2021. Client accused of striking his live in girlfriend while both were drunk. Client had a prior family violence case against the same girlfriend. | 230th |
| 2020 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 12/31/2020. Client was accused of family violence against his wife. | 16 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 11/04/2020. Client was at least the 4th or 5th man accused of family violence in two different counties by a mentally unstable nympho that goes from failed sexual relationship to failed sexual relationship. When she’s bored with one guy, she seduces a new guy. She then accuses the first guy of family violence and gets a protective order in order to get him out of the picture. My client was falsely accused and the only male victim willing to fight his case at trial. | 1 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case dismissed on 10/15/2020. Client, a soldier in the Army, was falsely accused of assault by his girlfriend outside a bar while passing through town. Sullivan got the case dismissed within 4 days of being hired. Client was about to be sent overseas. | HCCCL 16 |
| Assault Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed on 08/20/2020. Client was accused of choking his wife during an argument. The first prosecutor assigned to the case failed to present the defense packet to the grand jury, but then the next prosecutor agreed to do the right thing and dismissed the case. | 174th |
| Assault of a Family Member as a second offender (2 cases) | Cases dismissed by the Grand Jury on 07/30/2020. Client was accused of attacking his two brothers. His case was enhanced with two prior family violence convictions. | 263rd |
| Assault Family Member | Case dismissed on 06/24/2020. Client accused of slapping his wife on two different occasions. | HCCCL 11 |
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | After a punishment hearing on 02/27/2020, Sullivan persuaded the judge to grant deferred adjudication. Client accused of injuring his wife with fire while intoxicated. The DA’s best offer was 4 years TDC. | 337th |
| Assault Family Member by Choking | Case dismissed on 01/24/2020. Client accused of choking his then girlfriend. | 185th |
| 2019 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed by the Grand Jury on 12/16/2019. Client accused of striking her fiancee in the nose, resulting in him needing nasal surgery. | 262nd |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 12/04/2019. Client accused of slapping his wife several times. | HCCCL 12 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 11/07/2019. Client accused of striking her aunt in the face several times after her aunt shot her in the thigh with a shotgun. | HCCCL 12 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 10/16/2019. Client accused of slapping his wife several times. | HCCCL 4 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 10/16/2019. Client accused of striking his girlfriend in the leg with a metal object. | HCCCL 16 |
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | Case reduced to misdemeanor Terroristic Threat of a Family Member with 1 year deferred adjudication on 10/08/2019. Client threatened to kill his girlfriend. | 228th |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 09/23/2019. Client accused of pushing his wife down causing her to strike the back of her head on tile flooring. | HCCCL 12 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 09/18/2019. Client accused of striking his wife. | HCCCL 3 |
| Injury to the Elderly | Case Reduced to misdemeanor Assault Family Member with credit for time served in jail on 09/11/2019. Client injured his mother. | 209th |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 08/21/2019. Client accused of striking his girlfriend with his hand. | HCCCL 10 |
| Terroristic Threat | Case Dismissed on 08/13/2019. Client accused of threatening his baby’s mama. | HCCCL 15 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 08/06/2019. Client was accused of striking his girlfriend with his hand. | HCCCL 9 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 06/12/2019. Client accused of striking her boyfriend. | HCCCL 1 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 05/23/2019. Client accused of striking his father with his hand. | HCCCL 9 |
| Assault Family Member | Found Not Guilty at Jury Trial on 05/15/2019. Client, an Army veteran that served in Afghanistan, and his friend accused of going to his older brother’s apartment early in the morning, breaking in, dragging him outside and attacking him in the driveway. His brother’s pregnant girlfriend claimed she was also injured. After the not guilty, his friend’s assault charge was dismissed. | HCCCL 3 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 03/06/2019. Client accused of pushing his girlfriend with his hand. | HCCCL 6 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 02/12/2019. Client accused of striking and pushing his girlfriend with his hand. | HCCCL 8 |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 01/25/2019. Client accused of striking his wife with his hand. | HCCCL 10 |
| 2018 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Interfering with Emergency Telephone Call | Case Dismissed on 12/19/2018. Client accused of stopping girlfriend from calling 911. | HCCCL 6 |
| Assault Family Member by Choking | Case Dismissed by Grand Jury on 12/14/2018. Client was attacked by his baby’s mama and defended himself. | 179th |
| Assault Family Member with Prior Conviction | Case Dismissed on 11/16/2018. Client was accused of slapping her boyfriend. | 183rd |
| Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 09/26/2018. Client accused of striking his wife with his hand. | HCCCL 16 |
| Assault Family Member by Choking | Case Dismissed on 07/10/2018. Client accused of choking his girlfriend. | 176th |
| Injury to a Child | Case Dismissed by Grand Jury on 06/25/2018. Client used reasonable discipline against her 14 year old daughter after the girl stole her car for the second time. | 184th |
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 05/29/2018. Client accused of running over her boyfriend. | 178th |
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | Case Dismissed on 04/24/2018. Client accused of threatening to kill his wife and family with a firearm. | 178th |
| Aggravated Assault Family Member | Case reduced to misdemeanor Deadly Conduct on 02/07/2018. Client accused of threatening his baby’s mama with an AR-15. | 351st |
| 2017 CASE RESULTS | ||
| Assault of a Family Member | Case Dismissed on 10/23/2017. Client accused of striking his girlfriend with his hand. | HCCCL 8 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case Dismissed on 10/18/2017. Client accused of striking his wife in the face with his hand. | HCCCL 6 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case Dismissed on 06/07/2017. Client accused of striking her boyfriend with her hand. | HCCCL 10 |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case Dismissed on 05/03/2017. Client accused of grabbing his girlfriend’s jaw with his hand. | HCCCL 4 |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case Dismissed by the Grand Jury on 03/09/2017. Client accused of choking his girlfriend. | 263rd |
| Assault of a Family Member by Choking | Case Dismissed by the Grand Jury on 02/23/2017. Client accused of choking his wife. | 182nd |
| Assault of a Family Member | Case Dismissed on 02/10/2017. Client accused of striking his wife with a picture frame. | HCCCL 15 |
