Metairie, LA asked in Criminal Law for Texas

Q: My ex and his girlfriend put stalking charges on me and now I have a warrant for my arrest in Texas

the allegations on me are incorrect and false,I tried contacting the police officer who is investigating this and I gave her my name and number and she never contacted me when she was investigating this, when I found out I had a warrant I called her and asked her why she didn’t get my side of this, she was very rude I have even emailed her the proof that their report was a lie and where my ex and his girlfriend were texting and harassing me, and I did text my ex and his girlfriend back but I never stalk them, i have also tried contacting the local DA in the county and no one will return my calls,I need advice because the warrant and bond is 100,000 and no one will listen to me I don’t have the money for this and I’m in a different state

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1 Lawyer Answer
Kiele Linroth Pace
Kiele Linroth Pace
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Austin, TX
  • Licensed in Texas

A: In Texas, it is possible to commit the felony offense of Stalking if, ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION, you:

1. Send a message containing an obscene comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is intended to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass someone.

2. Send a message containing a threat to hurt someone or to illegally damage someone's property.

3. Send a message containing a false report that someone has died or been seriously injured in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the message.

4. Send a message with content that would cause a reasonable person to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended.

5. Send messages repeatedly, regardless of the message content, such that the repetition itself is reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend someone.

Now, you are probably thinking, "But content-based restrictions on speech are presumptively unconstitutional and subject to strict scrutiny!" True, but some types of speech are unprotected, like obscenity, threats, fighting words, fraudulent misrepresentation, advocacy of imminent lawless behavior, and defamation. Sot it appears that items #1 and #2 above are probably unprotected.

In overturning the Stolen Valor Act, the court declined to carve out an exception for False Speech so the constitutionality of item #3 is questionable.

Item #4 is probably not protected and probably won't survive strict scrutiny since the Texas Revenge Porn law didn't. Its a shame that someone will have to suffer a conviction before they have standing to challenge this part of the law.

That leaves #5 which isn't really a restriction on speech so much as on an annoying behavior and even if it limits speech, it is content-neutral and so only subject to intermediate scrutiny.

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