Is seven grams a felony in Texas? First, we need to figure out what we’re talking about seven grams of. Seven grams of marijuana is not a felony in Texas. That’s under two ounces, the lowest level of possession of marijuana offense which is a class B misdemeanor. Punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2000 fine. Seven grams of controlled substance, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, is a felony.

So, punishable if it’s under one gram, that’s punishable by up to two years in a state jail felony facility. Seven grams obviously would be more than one gram. That would be punishable as a third-degree felony, up to ten years in prison. So, when somebody asks for seven grams of a felony in Texas, it could be if it’s a controlled substance.

Such as penalty group one or penalty group two substances. These are the ones we usually think of being heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. But if it’s just marijuana, then it has to be over four ounces before it becomes a felony-level offense.

Now, when we’re talking about marijuana and a small amount, it kind of depends a lot on the jurisdiction or the city. Because some of the more liberal cities, like Austin, may just give you a ticket. They do not do anything for a small amount of marijuana, say just a joint worth of marijuana. Some other cities will arrest you for any amount of marijuana and put you in jail and require you to make bail. They may prosecute you for a class B-level possession of marijuana case.

Summary

In Texas, substance can be a crime. It varies on the drugs. The 15 grams of marijuana is six months in prison and a $2,000 fine. Holding more than seven grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, or heroin is illegal. Under one gram is a misdemeanor punishable by two years; seven grams or more is a third-degree offense with ten years.

Can assault charges be dropped in Texas? Here’s the loyalty answer for you. Yes and no. Sometimes, what people mean by dropping a case differs from another term. We often use it for essentially dropping a case, which is a dismissal. So, all assault cases can be dismissed. We achieve many dismissals in assault cases. 

But often, we hear somebody say the complaining witness, the victim in this case, wants to drop charges. Most district attorneys’ and prosecutors’ offices in Texas have what they call a no-drop policy on family member cases or all assault cases. But particularly in family member cases.

So what this means is that a person who’s the victim, say, a woman who got allegedly assaulted by her husband. She doesn’t have the power to go to the district attorney or the police and say. I want to drop charges, drop these charges. They’ll tell the person in that situation that we have a no-drop policy. You don’t have the power to drop this case. 

So, that’s a general policy for most district attorneys and prosecutors in Texas. But what often happens when we show the prosecutor we will fight this case. That we’re not rolling over, not pleading guilty, not accepting a plea bargain, give us a jury trial.

When the jury and the judge said, Prosecutor, bring your witnesses in and prove this case. Quite often, we get a dismissal at that point. We can have a much better chance of getting dismissed when the complaining witness says she does not want to prosecute. She wants to drop the case. She doesn’t want to come to testify. She doesn’t want the person to be convicted or go to jail.

So, even though they have this no-drop policy when the case comes up for a trial, we’re often able to get the case dismissed. So it’s gone and can ultimately be expunged from the person’s record. Generally, there’s a no-drop policy in Texas. But yes, cases can still be dropped or dismissed ultimately.

Summary

Dropping assault charges may seem hard. It is because people interpret withdrawing differently. It usually means case dismissal. Ending the lawsuit assault in Texas has a “no-drop policy,” especially in family or assault cases. However, this policy allows for flexibility. Things change when a defense attorney fights the issue instead of pleading guilty or granting a plea bargain. 

Well, the good lawyer’s answer to this is, it depends. Sometimes people can be released with just a ticket and no bail at all required. So assault by contact or offensive contact is a Class C ticket-level offense in Texas, punishable by fine only.

So if a person could be detained and arrested even for assault, but then possibly only given a ticket, can be released without any requirement of bail or bond. Otherwise, a person could be charged with a Class A level assault, bodily injury, or assault on a family member, sometimes called domestic violence. The person may be required to post some type of bail. Bail can be anywhere from $500 to $1000 to $1500 and up, depending on the circumstances.

In Texas and Tarrant County particularly, you can be seen by a multitude of different possible magistrates or judges who can all decide on their own what level of bail to set. There’s a lot of variety in how much the bail may be in different cases. Sometimes, depending on some of the factors in the case, how severe the bodily injury is, or other factors that may make it worse than some other cases, the bail might be higher, but it’s usually around $500 or more.

It is also possible to be released on pretrial release where you’re just supervised by the Tarrant County Pretrial Release Agency or the pretrial release agency of another county. They just supervise your release on bond and make sure that you show up for court. They don’t require any type of payment other than maybe a small administrative fee of about $35 or so. Otherwise, bail could be $500, $1000, $1500, or more. Then you can give that amount of cash to the county.

The county holds that cash until the case is resolved and then you get that money back, minus a small fee of, again, around $35 or so. However, a person also may have the option of hiring a bond person to post their bond. So bonds, people who write bonds, bondsmen or bondswomen usually charge somewhere between ten and 20% of the face amount of the bond. So if the face amount of the bond is, say, $1500, they may charge one hundred and fifty dollars to three hundred dollars to write the bond for the person. Now, that’s a fee for their service, so you don’t get that back when the case is resolved.

But that way a person can pay less than the total amount of the bond and tie up less money to be able to get out of jail. But for many people, if they have the money, they prefer to post that full amount of cash bond so that they can get the money back when the case is over.

Summary

In Texas, the outcome of arrests varies. For minor offenses like assault by contact, a ticket suffices, and no bail is needed. More serious charges, like bodily injury or domestic violence, may require bail ranging from $500 to $1500. Magistrates decide to bail, leading to diverse amounts. Pretrial release, supervised by agencies, needs a small fee. A bond can be paid fully or via a bondsman (10-20% fee), refundable if the full amount’s posted.

Is Texas a no-tolerance state for drugs? Well, the short answer is it depends. It depends a great deal on the jurisdiction or the city.

For instance, more liberal cities have more liberal attitudes towards drugs. Some cities are much more conservative and have much more strict attitudes towards drugs. But typically, any controlled substance – cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, those types of substances, I would say that everywhere in Texas is zero tolerance or no tolerance for any amount of that type of drug.

Now, the difference might be when we’re talking about marijuana. So, if it’s a small amount of marijuana, many cities have a very relaxed attitude towards it and may not arrest a person at all for just a joint or just a small amount of marijuana. Or they may just issue a ticket, the same as like a traffic ticket, punishable by fine only up to $500.

But some other cities are still much more strict. And for any amount of marijuana, they will arrest you and punish and prosecute you for possession of marijuana under two ounces. A class B level offense, punishable by up to 180 days in jail. Or if it’s two to four ounces, a class A level offense, punishable by up to a year in jail. And if it’s over four ounces, that can be a felony.

So the short answer is it depends. But, only regarding marijuana would I say anywhere in Texas do they have less than a zero tolerance for drugs.

Summary 

In Texas, the rules about drugs are not the same everywhere. For potent drugs like cocaine and heroin, there is zero-tolerance all across the state. But when it comes to marijuana, it is different.

In some places, having a small amount might get you a fine, like a traffic ticket. In others, even a little bit can lead to arrest and jail time. So, for most drugs, it is zero tolerance, but for marijuana, it depends on where you are.

A drug crimes attorney can guide you through your case.

What cannot be expunged in Texas? Well, if a person is arrested and charged with a crime in Texas and they receive a probation, a straight probation, or a deferred adjudication, or if a person is found guilty and given probation or a jail sentence or a prison sentence, they are not eligible to have that expunged. Only offenses or arrests that result in a case being dismissed or a finding of not guilty can be expunged.

Now, there are some offenses, such as an arrest for murder, which can never be expunged because there’s no statute of limitations for murder. There are some other offenses where it gets really tricky to figure out the statute of limitations, such as sexual offenses or sexual assault offenses.

Sometimes, there’s a situation where the statute of limitations doesn’t start until the person realizes or remembers that this thing happened to them when they were young. They suddenly, 20 years later, remembered that this happened, and then the statute of limitation starts running. It gets really technical in those situations to figure out what the exact statute of limitations is.

So, those may or may not be offenses that can ultimately be expunged. But, there’s always the situation where a district attorney or a prosecutor can agree to allow the case or the arrest to be expunged, even though the statute of limitations has not expired.

In those situations, it’s possible. But, good representation is needed to advocate on the behalf of a client to be able to convince the prosecutor to agree that that’s a situation where the person ought to be able to have that offense or arrest expunged. Even though, say, the statute of limitations has not expired.

Summary 

In Texas, certain criminal records cannot be expunged. If a person is arrested and charged with a crime and receives probation, those records cannot be expunged. Only cases resulting in dismissal or a not-guilty verdict can be expunged. Some offenses, like murder, can never be deleted due to the absence of a statute of limitations.