An Austin assault lawyer defends people accused of misdemeanor or felony assault under Texas Penal Code § 22.01 and § 22.02. At the Law Office of Jorge Vela, your defense is led by Jorge Vela a former federal and state prosecutor who spent seven years building the government’s cases before moving to the defense side. The firm represents clients charged with assault throughout Travis County and Central Texas. Call (512) 537-1237 for a confidential consultation, available 24/7.
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Assault Defense Attorneys Serving Austin
The Law Office of Jorge Vela defends clients facing assault charges throughout Austin and Travis County. Attorney Jorge Vela, J.D., built his career on the other side of the courtroom, serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Texas and an Assistant District Attorney in Travis and Webb Counties. As your assault defense attorney, we build your defense around how the state actually prepares its case, what evidence it prioritizes, and where its arguments break down.
Our firm represents clients across Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell Counties, and Jorge’s legal analysis has been featured on Fox News, Scripps News, Sirius XM, and NBC DFW. You’ll work directly with a criminal defense attorney in Austin who has tried hundreds of cases, including aggravated assault, in Travis County courts from both sides.
What makes a former prosecutor effective as your assault defense lawyer?
When you hire a former prosecutor, you’re hiring someone who understands exactly how the state evaluates evidence, selects witnesses, and presents its case to a jury. Jorge personally tried cases involving aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, and intoxicated manslaughter during his time as a state prosecutor, and he secured a life sentence against the head of a Laredo drug trafficking organization while serving as a federal AUSA. Every one of those trials taught him what makes a prosecution strong and, more importantly, what makes it fall apart. Your defense benefits directly from that insider knowledge.
Assault Charges Under Texas Law: Classifications and Penalties
Texas Penal Code § 22.01 defines assault as intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another person, threatening someone with imminent bodily injury, or making physical contact you know the other person will find offensive or provocative.
Assault by contact or assault by threat is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a maximum $500 fine and no jail time. Assault causing bodily injury, defined as physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition, is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Texas sorts assault into six charge levels, from a Class C misdemeanor to a first-degree felony. The charge level sets the punishment range and the court that hears the case.
Charge | Level | Jail or prison | Max fine | Where it is heard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Assault by threat or offensive contact (§ 22.01(a)(2)–(3)) | Class C misdemeanor | None | $500 | Austin Municipal Court |
Assault causing bodily injury (§ 22.01(a)(1)) | Class A misdemeanor | Up to 1 year | $4,000 | Travis County Courts at Law |
Assault on a public servant, or family-violence assault with a prior conviction (§ 22.01(b)) | Third-degree felony | 2 to 10 years | $10,000 | Travis County District Court |
Aggravated assault — serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon (§ 22.02) | Second-degree felony | 2 to 20 years | $10,000 | Travis County District Court |
Aggravated assault against a family member or public servant, or with a deadly weapon causing serious injury (§ 22.02(b)) | First-degree felony | 5 to 99 years or life | $10,000 | Travis County District Court |
How does simple assault differ from aggravated assault in Texas?
Simple assault under § 22.01 covers bodily injury, threats, and offensive contact, all misdemeanor-level offenses in most circumstances. Aggravated assault under § 22.02 is a separate and far more serious charge. The state must prove either that you caused serious bodily injury, meaning injury creating a substantial risk of death or permanent disfigurement, or that you used or exhibited a deadly weapon. A standard aggravated assault is a second-degree felony carrying two to twenty years in state prison, and it rises to a first-degree felony when the alleged victim is a public servant, witness, informant, or intimate partner.
When do assault charges become a felony in Texas?
Assault causing bodily injury becomes a felony when specific aggravating factors apply. If you have a prior conviction for assault involving family violence, a second offense is automatically elevated to a third-degree felony carrying two to ten years in prison. Texas law also enhances assault to a felony when the alleged victim is a public servant, emergency services worker, security officer, or hospital employee performing official duties at the time. Certain conduct like assault by strangulation also carries its own felony classification, and the 2025 Texas legislative session expanded these enhancements further to include utility workers.
What is assault family violence in Texas?
Assault family violence is a standard assault charge under Texas Penal Code § 22.01 with an added family violence finding, which applies when the accuser is a family member, a household member, or a current or former dating partner. That finding changes the case in three ways. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office pursues family violence cases under a no-drop policy, so the case can move forward even if the complainant asks to stop it. A magistrate can issue an emergency protective order at the time of arrest that removes you from your home and bars contact with the alleged victim. And a conviction, even a misdemeanor, ends your right to own a firearm for life under federal law. When a charge arises from a relationship, our domestic violence defense lawyer handles the family violence exposure alongside the underlying assault.
Does Texas recognize a separate battery charge?
Texas does not have a separate battery statute. Many states draw a line between assault, which involves a threat, and battery, which involves physical contact, but Texas combines both under § 22.01. If you’ve moved to Austin from another state or you’re searching for information about battery charges in Texas, the conduct you’re looking for falls entirely under the assault statute.
Which Travis County Court Will Handle Your Assault Case?
Where your assault case is heard depends on the charge level, and each court runs on its own timeline and prosecutor. Class C misdemeanor assault, the threat-or-contact level, is handled in Austin Municipal Court. Class A misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury goes to the Travis County Courts at Law. Felony assault, including every degree of aggravated assault, goes to the Travis County District Courts at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center on West 11th Street. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office prosecutes felony and family violence cases, while the County Attorney handles most misdemeanors.
Knowing the court is not a formality. The prosecutors, the docket speed, and the plea and diversion options differ between the misdemeanor courts and the district courts. Jorge Vela has tried cases in these Travis County courtrooms from both sides, first as a prosecutor and now as a defense attorney, and that courtroom-level knowledge shapes how each case is positioned from the first setting.
How long does an assault case take in Travis County?
A misdemeanor assault case in the Travis County Courts at Law usually resolves within a few months, while a felony assault case in the district courts can take a year or longer, especially when it involves pretrial motions or heads toward trial. The timeline depends on the charge level, the strength of the state’s evidence, and whether the defense files motions to suppress. Getting a defense attorney involved early, before charges are formally filed, often affects the outcome more than anything that happens later.
Common Defenses Against Assault Charges in Austin
Your criminal defense attorney can challenge assault charges on several grounds under Texas law, and the best approach depends on the facts of your case. Lack of intent is one of the most common defenses, because the state must prove you acted intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly. Accidental contact and witness misidentification in chaotic situations can both undermine that standard.
Constitutional violations also play a role in many assault cases. If police conducted an unlawful arrest, failed to read your Miranda rights, or obtained evidence through an improper search, your attorney can file motions to suppress that evidence before trial. Assault charges in Austin tied to the city’s nightlife, especially incidents along 6th Street, frequently involve disputed facts, conflicting witness accounts, and limited physical evidence. An experienced assault defense lawyer can expose these weaknesses through cross-examination and raise self-defense or other affirmative defenses on your behalf.
Is self-defense a valid defense for assault charges in Texas?
Texas Penal Code § 9.31 says you’re justified in using force when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect yourself from another person’s unlawful force. Texas is also a stand-your-ground state, which means you have no legal duty to retreat before defending yourself as long as you’re lawfully present at the location and haven’t provoked the confrontation. The force you use must be proportional to the threat, so a successful self-defense claim requires showing your response matched the danger you faced.
Can assault charges be dropped if the victim doesn’t want to prosecute?
One of the most common misconceptions about assault cases is that the alleged victim can simply decide to drop the charges. In Texas, only the prosecutor has the authority to dismiss an assault case, regardless of what the complainant wants. An alleged victim can file an affidavit of non-prosecution, a sworn statement telling the Travis County District Attorney’s Office they don’t wish to move forward, but that document doesn’t bind the prosecutor. The state can still proceed using police reports, body-cam footage, and other witness testimony alone. Travis County does have the highest dismissal rate among major urban Texas counties, but reaching that result usually requires experienced defense counsel working the case early.
What role does the Castle Doctrine play in Texas assault cases?
Texas law gives you stronger self-defense protections when the confrontation happens inside your home, your occupied vehicle, or your place of business. Under §§ 9.31 and 9.32, the Castle Doctrine creates a legal presumption that your use of force was reasonable when someone unlawfully and forcibly enters or attempts to enter one of those protected spaces. That presumption makes it significantly harder for prosecutors to argue your response wasn’t justified. You can’t have provoked the other person or been engaged in criminal activity at the time, and the doctrine applies whether the charge involves bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or a deadly weapon.
Long-Term Consequences of an Assault Conviction in Texas
An assault conviction follows you long after any jail sentence or fine is paid. It creates a permanent criminal record that appears on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing boards. A family violence finding reaches further than the sentence itself, including the lifetime loss of your right to possess a firearm under federal law and a direct effect on child custody. For non-citizens, an assault conviction can trigger removal or block a green card or naturalization, which is why assault charges and immigration status have to be handled together from the start.
Professional licensing boards in nursing, teaching, law enforcement, and real estate can suspend or revoke your credentials based on an assault conviction in Texas, whether the underlying charge was a Class A misdemeanor for bodily injury or a violent felony like aggravated assault. A protective order may also restrict where you can go and who you can contact, and these orders can remain in effect well beyond the resolution of your case.
How does an assault conviction affect your record and future in Texas?
An assault conviction creates a permanent criminal record that appears on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing agencies. For first-time offenders, deferred adjudication, a form of court-supervised probation, may let you avoid a formal conviction, but it doesn’t erase the arrest from your record. You would still need to petition for an order of nondisclosure, and Texas law imposes a two-year waiting period before you can file.
If your case involved domestic violence or family violence, the path forward is harder. Texas law makes family violence assault records permanently ineligible for nondisclosure, meaning your record remains visible regardless of how much time has passed.
Can you lose your right to own a firearm after an assault conviction?
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) permanently prohibits firearm possession for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and most family violence assault convictions in Texas qualify. This federal ban applies even when the underlying charge is a misdemeanor, with no exceptions for hunting or sporting firearms. Texas state law separately bars anyone convicted of a felony from possessing a firearm for five years after completing their sentence. Many people don’t realize that accepting a family violence plea can cost them their gun rights for life.
How do assault charges affect immigration status?
If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, an assault conviction can carry immigration consequences as serious as the criminal penalties themselves. Aggravated assault qualifies as an aggravated felony under federal immigration law, which can trigger mandatory deportation with limited options for relief. Even a misdemeanor assault may be classified as a crime involving moral turpitude, a category that can lead to inadmissibility or denial of naturalization.
Facing a criminal charge alongside the possibility of losing your right to stay in this country is overwhelming. Jorge handles both criminal defense and immigration under one roof, so you won’t need to coordinate between two separate attorneys who may not understand how each field affects the other.
How Jorge Vela Defends Assault Cases in Austin
Attorney Jorge Vela has tried hundreds of criminal cases in Texas courts, including aggravated assault, from both the prosecution and the defense side. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Texas, he prosecuted violent and complex federal cases and secured a life sentence against the head of a Laredo drug trafficking organization. As a state prosecutor in Travis and Webb Counties, he tried assault, aggravated robbery, and intoxicated manslaughter cases. His legal analysis has been featured on Fox News, Scripps News, Sirius XM, and NBC DFW.
That background is the reason to call. A former prosecutor knows how the state selects charges, evaluates evidence, and prepares its witnesses, and that insight guides every decision in your defense. Past results depend on the specific facts of each case and do not predict the outcome of yours.
What to Do After Being Arrested for Assault in Austin
The first 48 hours matter most, because evidence such as surveillance video and witness memory fades quickly and the pre-filing window can sometimes stop charges before they are filed. If you or a loved one is still in custody, our Austin jail release attorney can act immediately. Stay calm, provide officers with your name and identifying information, and request an attorney before answering any questions. Do not give a statement or sign any waivers.
Do not contact the complainant in any way, because even a well-intentioned phone call or text message can violate bond conditions or an existing protective order and lead to additional charges. While the details are still fresh, write down the sequence of events, the names of anyone who witnessed what happened, and any other facts you can recall. Share that information only with your defense attorney.
Should you talk to police after an assault arrest in Austin?
No. Anything you say during or after your arrest can become evidence the prosecution uses against you at trial. Jail phone calls are recorded, and Travis County prosecutors routinely introduce those recordings in court. Conversations with friends, family members, or cellmates aren’t protected either, and any of those individuals can be called as witnesses. Call the Law Office of Jorge Vela at (512) 537-1237 before you speak to anyone else about your case.
Contact the Law Office of Jorge Vela Assault Defense Lawyer in Austin and have a former state prosecutor at your side
If you need an assault lawyer in Austin, you deserve one who knows how Travis County prosecutors build their cases and decide what to bring to trial. At the Law Office of Jorge Vela, we handle every stage of your defense, from the initial investigation through pre-trial motions, jury trial, and sentencing. Jorge Vela gives every client the time and attention their case requires because we don’t run a high-volume practice.
Don’t wait. The sooner you call your Austin assault lawyer, the sooner we can start building your defense. Call (512) 537-1237 any time, day or night, or contact us online. Se habla español.
