An arrest in Austin flips life upside down fast. Between magistration, bond conditions, and calls from investigators, it’s easy to miss a deadline or say the wrong thing. This guide cuts through the noise. It explains how Austin criminal courts work, what “Austin Criminal Defense” actually looks like in practice, and how defendants can protect themselves after arrest. It also covers defense strategies for DUI/DWI, assault, and drug charges, plus what 2025 policy and legislative shifts mean on the ground. For case-specific guidance, an experienced local firm, such as The Law Office of Ryan Deck, can calibrate these steps to the facts, the prosecutor, and the judge actually assigned to the case.
Common criminal charges in Austin courts explained
Austin sits in Travis County, so where a case lands depends on the charge:
- Municipal Court: Class C misdemeanors (fine-only) like certain traffic offenses.
- County Court at Law (Travis County Attorney): Class A and B misdemeanors, DWI, assault causing bodily injury (non-felony), theft under $2,500, marijuana possession under two ounces (still illegal under state law), interference with emergency call, etc.
- District Court (Travis County District Attorney): Felonies, aggravated assault, burglary, drug delivery/possession with intent, firearm offenses, fraud, state jail felonies and above.
Key charges seen most often in Austin:
- DWI (Driving While Intoxicated): Under Texas Penal Code §49.04, DWI (often called “DUI” colloquially) for adults is a Class B misdemeanor on a first offense, enhanced to Class A for blood alcohol concentration ≥ 0.15 or if there’s an open container. Prior convictions or crashes with injury can elevate penalties or the charge (e.g., intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter).
- Assault: Assault causing bodily injury (Penal Code §22.01) can be a Class A misdemeanor: if there’s an affirmative finding of family violence, it triggers firearm consequences and enhanced penalties for future cases. Strangulation/impeding breath is typically a third-degree felony.
- Drug offenses: Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 481 sorts substances by penalty group. Simple possession can range from a misdemeanor (marijuana < 2 oz) to first-degree felonies (certain quantities in Penalty Groups 1/1-B, including fentanyl). Constructive possession and search-and-seizure issues are common battlegrounds.
- Theft/property: From shoplifting to catalytic converter theft and organized retail theft, enhancements depend on value and prior convictions. Recent legislative attention has stiffened penalties in some property-crime areas.
Understanding these categories helps defendants and their Austin criminal defense lawyer set early strategy and anticipate potential enhancements or diversion opportunities.
How defendants can protect their rights after arrest
The hours and days after arrest matter. A few moves can protect both the case and the person’s future.
- Invoke rights, clearly: “I’m invoking my right to remain silent and my right to a lawyer.” Then stop talking. Miranda applies to custodial interrogation, but statements made casually (or on jail calls) still get used.
- Don’t consent to searches: Officers may ask to look through a phone, car, or home. Refusing consent forces them to rely on a warrant or an exception, and that matters later in suppression motions.
- ALR deadline (DWI): For DWI arrests, there’s about a 15-day window to request a DPS Administrative License Revocation hearing. Miss it and a license suspension can kick in automatically.
- Magistration and bond: In Travis County, defendants generally see a magistrate within 48 hours. Pretrial Services may recommend a personal bond: conditions often include no-contact orders, interlock for DWI, or drug testing. Follow every bond condition to the letter.
- Preserve evidence now: Save ring-camera footage, rideshare receipts, text threads, medical records, and witness names. Much of this disappears in days, and it can be the difference between dismissal and conviction.
- Avoid social media: Posts get screenshotted. Prosecutors pull context from memes and comments, fairly or not.
Get counsel early: A local Austin criminal defense attorney, such as The Law Office of Ryan Deck, can contact prosecutors, triage bodycam requests, schedule an ALR hearing, and begin mitigation (treatment, classes, letters) that improves negotiation leverage.
A quick note on “helpful” statements: even honest explanations often fill gaps the State couldn’t prove. Silence isn’t stubborn, it’s strategic.
DUI, assault, and drug offense defense strategies in 2025
DWI/DUI strategies
Texas calls it DWI for adults, but many still say “DUI.” Either way, 2025 defense work in Austin focuses on the same pressure points:
- The stop: Was there reasonable suspicion? Lane drift on a windy night isn’t always enough. Dash/bodycam can contradict the report.
- Field sobriety tests: NHTSA protocols require specific instructions and clues. Deviations erode reliability. Video often shows officers rushing the instruction stage or conducting tests on sloped or poorly lit surfaces.
- Breath/blood testing: Defense challenges include calibration logs (Intoxilyzer 9000), maintenance records, uncertainty-of-measurement, anticoagulant/preservative issues in blood vials, chain-of-custody, and retrograde extrapolation assumptions.
- ALR hearing leverage: Subpoenaing the officer for the license hearing can lock in testimony and expose weaknesses before criminal trial.
- Deferred options: In some first-time DWIs, deferred adjudication with ignition interlock may be available: successful completion can lead to orders of nondisclosure later, subject to eligibility.
Assault defenses
- Self-defense and defense of others: Texas Penal Code Chapter 9 authorizes force when reasonably believed immediately necessary. 911 audio, injuries (or lack of them), and third-party accounts matter.
- No “bodily injury” proof: “Pain” must be supported by credible evidence. Medical records and photos, or the absence of either, can be decisive.
- Recantations and context: Recantations don’t end cases, but detailed inconsistencies, intoxication, or misidentification can. In family cases, protective orders and counseling can be both compliance and mitigation.
- Strangulation allegations: These trigger felony exposure. Defense scrutinizes medical findings, terminology (strangulation vs. pressure), and whether the claimed symptoms match the timeline.
Drug case defenses
- Fourth Amendment/Article 38.23: Illegal stops, defective warrants, and rummaging beyond warrant scope lead to suppression. Car searches based on “odor,” especially post-hemp law, get close attention.
- Possession vs. proximity: Constructive possession requires more than being near contraband. Ownership, fingerprints, admissions, and exclusive control become pivotal.
- Lab integrity: For plant cannabis, THC concentration testing has been a prosecutorial hurdle since the 2019 hemp law. For fentanyl and other PG1/1-B substances, chain-of-custody and instrument validation are key.
- Intent to deliver: Scales, baggies, cash, and messages can be ambiguous. A plausible personal-use narrative, supported by treatment or expert review, can reduce exposure.
The short version: 2025 Austin Criminal Defense is still about finding pressure points, legality of the stop, the science, and the story that explains the evidence better than the State’s theory.
The role of plea deals in Texas criminal cases
Most Travis County cases resolve through negotiation. Smart plea bargaining isn’t about surrender, it’s about leverage.
- Types of deals: Charge bargaining (reducing or dismissing counts), sentence bargaining (agreed jail/probation terms), deferred adjudication (no conviction if completed), and pretrial diversion (dismissal after program completion for eligible first-timers).
- Timing and leverage: Early mitigation, treatment, classes, restitution, character letters, changes outcomes. An ALR transcript that hurts the State or a shaky lab packet improves offers. Victim input often matters.
- Collateral consequences: Immigration, licensing, firearms, housing, and employment fallout can dwarf the criminal penalty. Defense counsel should model these before accepting a deal.
- Open pleas and trial posture: If the offer isn’t right, defendants can enter an open plea to the judge or set the case for trial. Showing trial readiness often improves final offers.
Local counsel (for example, The Law Office of Ryan Deck) knows which prosecutors have flexibility on deferred options, which judges accept open pleas readily, and which facts routinely move the needle.
Sentencing laws and recent legislative updates in 2025
Texas sentencing basics
- Class B misdemeanor: Up to 180 days in jail and $2,000 fine: common for first DWI.
- Class A misdemeanor: Up to 1 year in jail and $4,000 fine: includes assault causing bodily injury and DWI with BAC ≥ 0.15.
- State jail felony: 180 days–2 years in a state jail facility: some drug and property cases.
- Third-degree felony: 2–10 years.
- Second-degree felony: 2–20 years.
- First-degree felony: 5–99 years or life.
Enhancements (prior convictions, weapon use, family-violence findings) can raise ranges significantly. Many offenses remain probation-eligible, depending on facts and history.
Updates shaping Austin cases in 2025
- Fentanyl focus (continuing from 2023 session): Prosecutors statewide increasingly pursue aggressive charging in delivery-causing-death scenarios, sometimes via “poisoning” or murder theories. Expect tighter lab practices and stiffer offers in fentanyl cases.
- Intoxication manslaughter child-support law: Texas now authorizes courts to order restitution-like child support when a defendant is convicted of intoxication manslaughter causing a parent’s death, an important financial consequence to consider in negotiations.
- Property-crime attention: Legislative changes in recent sessions increased penalties or enforcement tools around catalytic converter theft and organized retail theft: in 2025, Austin prosecutors continue to treat these as priority dockets.
Legislation evolves quickly. A local Austin criminal defense attorney will confirm the current status of any new bills from the 2025 session before advising on exposure or plea posture.